Oubliette

Assessing January Goals/Setting February Goals

2012-01-30T05:45:00.002-05:00

JANUARY GOALS
Crazy Class Project Challenge: Resume work on The Sweetheart Tree's Holly & Hearts class pieces. This has been moving along nicely, in spite of several visits from the dreaded frog. Although I have not finished either the sampler or the ornament, I am down to the last four rows of the sampler and should see a finish in February.
2010/11 WIPs: Continue to work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler. Finished 1/21/12. Resume work on Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons. I am amazed at how quickly this one is going. In just one week of steady work I have stitched just a little less than half a page of chart.
Off Goal Progress: worked on a new start BH&G Tooth Fairy Pillow.

FEBRUARY GOALS
Crazy Class Project Challenge: Finish The Sweetheart Tree's Holly & Hearts Sampler and resume work on the ornament. Next project will be Phyllis Mauer's Kogin Tea Cozy.
2010/11 WIPs: Finish Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons.
2012 Start: Earned when finished with both the Workbasket Quaker Sampler [from the 2010-2011 WIP List] and The Sweetheart Tree's Holly & Hearts Sampler [from the Class Project List]: The Primitive Shop ornament from the Town Square SAL.
Sewing and Assembly Finish: Town Square SAL Star Theatre ornament and CEC Mitten ornament.

Weekend Progress Report: January 29, 2012

2012-01-29T19:30:00.000-05:00

This entire week has been devoted to Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons, which was on my list of Crazy January Challenge 2011 projects, and therefore qualifies as a 2010-2011 WIP. I am in the home stretch, working on page one [I started from the bottom and worked up]. But if the past is any indication, this page could take as long as three or four months to complete. I am hoping that won't be the case though, since I have been moving pretty quickly on this project during the past week. I think I have a better understanding of the flow of the design now and that helps me stitch more effectively. It's not my usual m.o. to work on a single project. Most of the time I have a five project rotation going. But in 2012, I have challenged myself to clean up my stitching act. The plan is to use a three project rotation this year since I am concentrating on finishing up class projects and the more recent WIPs. Three different projects seems to be just enough to give me the variety I crave but few enough to keep me focused on the goal of actually finishing pieces ... instead of starting something new two or three times a month and ending up with a huge pile of WIPs. In theory, I should end 2012 with a whole bunch of finishes and a very short list of UFOs/WIPs.

The Plan Unravels

2012-01-28T19:45:00.002-05:00

The PLAN had been to switch back to the Holly and Hearts Sampler on Thursday and, with luck, have a second finish in January. But I just wasn't in the mood to search for a tiny error in the back-stitched tracery that, though tiny, threw off the entire symmetry of the row. So I kept going with Tracery Dragons since that was moving along quite nicely with barely a frog in sight. Oh, there were a few teeny frogs involving the removal of a dozen or so misplaced stitches, but nothing major. So instead of having another finish [the Sampler] for January, I have made more progress than expected on a WIP. Not a bad trade-off. Who knows, maybe I'll even manage two finishes in February: the sampler and the dragons. Here are some before and after photos to demonstrate just how much progress has been made. [Note to those unfamiliar with Teresa Wentzler's designs: if you try to stitch her designs in a rational order, working steadily in a consistent direction, you change needles every 2 or 3 minutes. For TW, a large color block tends to be a dozen or so stitches and though her designs are pretty solidly stitched leaving little bare linen, that solid stitching is made up of multitudes of confetti stitches and quarter stitches. The end result is spectacular but the process is complicated.] So here is how things looked on Wednesday evening and the second shot shows how things looked Saturday evening. I even managed to complete one of the dreaded roses without too much trouble. I am trying to decide if I want to pause when I have completed the left side of page one and switch to doing all the back-stitching and the specialty stitching. It always give me a great deal of satisfaction to see the design come alive as I go. It keeps me motivated. And without the defining back stitches, a TW piece tends to look like an impressionist painting viewed out of focus.

Ushering in the Year of the Dragon

2012-01-26T10:30:00.002-05:00

I picked Tracery Dragons up again for the first time in approximately three months and have made some fairly good progress. At least, I am impressed with my progress. Back in October of 2011, I found this very slow going. But that has changed completely! I am moving through page 1 much more rapidly than I did through pages 2 or 3. Perhaps it is because I understand the flow of the design better, having stitched and backstitched more than half the piece. Or perhaps I just needed to take a break from it. Or perhaps it is because the only rose I have had to stitch so far is viewed in profile rather than full on. I hope I can maintain this pace and finish the dragons by the end of February. There was one small setback when I had to frog and restitch two of the leaves that were two threads further to the left than they should've have been ... the result of stitching in a poorly lit waiting room. But that was easily fixed. However, I have been working on the dragons for five days in a row. It is time for me to switch back to The Holly & Hearts Sampler, the other piece in my current rotation. I don't want to burn out on the TW piece again, like I did last Fall.

Weekend Progress Report: January 22, 2012

2012-01-22T07:45:00.000-05:00

As Hermit and Stitching Weekend continued, I worked diligently on my current monthly goals.

Crazy Class Project Challenge: The Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Hearts Sampler. Aside from finishing up the brick stitch row, I have stalled on this piece. I need to get the motivation to really examine that last row of tracery below the heart to see where I made my mistake and then frog and re-stitch. While my cold was at its worst, I didn't have the concentration to do so. And, now that I am back to stitching on Tracery Dragons after a three month hiatus, that's all I want to stitch. Maybe this week, after the novelty of the dragon wears off, I'll finish the sampler. I am so close to a finish and it would be fantastic to have two finishes this month!

2010-2011 WIPs List: Finished The Workbasket's Quaker Sampler on Saturday 1/21. I turned it into an anniversary sampler by putting Bill's and my initials in the medallions flanking the heart, in which I stitched the year of our marriage. No sooner did I put that down, then I promptly resumed work on Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons. I appear to have recovered my enthusiasm for the piece and have made a fair amount of progress. But then I have been working on areas that are comprised mostly of the trellis and the leaves, each of which only have 5-6 color changes and work up pretty quickly. Unlike the roses and the dragon, which have many more color changes, lots of confetti placement and a nightmare of fractional stitching. The stems and branches are also slow going because they are so irregular and require such careful counting even though most only have 3-4 color changes. When last seen, the dragon looked like this, with pages two and three of the chart stitched and backstitched. And now that I have gotten a fair start on the stitching of page one, it looks like this.

And, I'd also like to announce the winner of the two fried egg buttons: Mary Ann, #10 in the CAY SAL. Only 7 members of the SAL had signed on for the contest at the time I printed out the entries on Friday morning [one day later than planned]. And I chose the winner by writing the seven numbers on a sheet of paper, closing my eyes, and jabbing the paper with my finger. Not particularly scientific but I am sure Mary Ann doesn't mind.

Hermit Weekend > First Finish of 2012

2012-01-21T23:00:00.001-05:00

I have noted on a few other blogs that something called "Hermit Weekend" is going on. Well the timing is perfect for me: with 6" of snow on the ground and the stuff still falling, I am more than content to stay home and stitch. A pot of tea, season one of Bones on the DVD and my current stitching rotation - what could be better? Does it count that my husband is hermit-ing along with me. He doesn't stitch but he enjoys a good DVD marathon. The first piece in my rotation, Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, was started December 5, 2010 and finished today, January 21, 2012. It is stitched on Silkweaver's Shadowlands 36ct linen with one strand of GAST overdyed cotton floss in Forest Glade, Midnight, Cranberry and Gold Leaf. The linen and the Forest Glade are substitutions for the designer's recommendations. Even as far back as 2010, I was making a concerted effort to stitch from stash as much as possible. The next project I picked up is from my 2010-2011 WIPs List: Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons. I'll post photos tomorrow in my weekend progress report. And, of course, I will find time to work on The Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Hearts Sampler from my Crazy Class Project Challenge later this weekend. The sampler and the dragon should keep me busy for the remainder of the month. If I manage to earn a new start this month [by finishing one class project and one 2010-2011 WIP], I do believe it will be one of the Town Square SAL ornaments. I had wanted it to be one of the hearts I plan to excerpt from the Shepherd's Bush Winter Hearts Sampler to make an ornament but I don't think I shall have the time to complete it before the Valentine's Tree comes down. I was awarded the Shepherd's Bush piece, all kitted up, at a Stitcher's Hideaway several years ago. It's a pretty design, the sort of thing I would admire in someone else's home but probably not hang on my own walls. But broken up into four ornaments for my Valentine's Day tree ... now, that's another story.

In other news, somewhat stitch related, I have chosen the winner of the pair of Patti A's scrambled egg buttons that I offered to the Crabby All Year SAL group over at 123stitch. It's a piece that I stitched when it was first published and I wanted to share my pleasure in it with people currently working on it. I find it mildly annoying that, though I limited my giveaway to members of the SAL, since the buttons were made specifically for Crabby All Year, some non-SAL members have tried to sneak in. Why do some people have to be so aquisitive and greedy, insisting on trying for anything that is free whether they have a use for it or not? In any case, the winner will be announced on Sunday. And I am considering selling an OOP, exclusive to Silver Needle, limited edition kit from Just Nan. I have always given things away in the past, but if memory serves me correctly, I spent a hefty sum on this kit [Lindy from Silver Needle must be a hypnotist - she's way too good at marketing]. It would be nice to get some of that investment back since this piece is really not my style. It will be my first sale of stash and I'd never have thought to do such a thing if it hadn't been for an "In Search Of" post on a message board I frequent. I'll ask for my payment in the form of a gift certificate since the buyer is from Australia and I have never done Pay-Pal. Even so, it feels awkward breaking the pattern of giving away what I no longer want, as if I'm the one being greedy now!

Weekend Progress Report: January 15, 2012

2012-01-16T21:45:00.000-05:00

This has been a busy weekend professionally: Saturday morning and early afternoon were consumed by the Reconciliation mini-retreat for my second graders and Sunday was a Catechist's Spirituality Day [based on The Serenity Prayer]. I had 43 darling little second graders at the first and I took 4 of my 33 catechists to the second. So, not too much stitching this weekend nor during the preceding week. And all this while I have been continuing to deal with the Everready Bunny of colds, that has been going and going since New Year's Eve. For most of this week, in an effort to evade the frog, I switched from my rather complex WIPs to a virtually mindless project, BH&G Tooth Fairy Pillow [see photo on 12/14 post]. So, in addition to getting less stitching done, most of what was done, was off-goal. I did start feeling a bit better Friday night and, during the weekend, finished off the blue motif and the green motif in the smaller rectangle and started on the central row of medallions for personalization. Since we just celebrated our 41st anniversary on the 10th, I believe I will place a B in the first medallion, the date 1971 in the central heart and an R in the third medallion. And since this is a three day weekend in the USA, celebrating Matin Luther King Day, I was able to get in some more stitching today. So, I am closing in on my first finish of 2012. I'd be a lot prouder of that fact if it weren't a WIP dating from 2010. But I'll happily accept any finish at all since I usually already have one by mid-January.

I really don't want to jinx things but ...

2012-01-14T08:00:00.000-05:00

I am beginning to feel better. The cough lingers but I can breath again and my eyes pretty much feel like they are going to remain in their accustomed place on my face. So, better. Further proof that I am recovering: I picked up the Quaker Sampler last night and started stitching on goal again. Granted, the Quaker Sampler is the easiest piece in my current three project on-goal rotation but, easy or not, at least I am back on task. During the sad and sorry days when I wandered off-goal, hounded by fear of the frog, I did manage to complete the message portion of the Tooth Fairy Pillow and start on the border comprised of teeth and coins. The photo shows the message ... there's no point in trying to show the teeth since the white and ecru fade into the fabric. That'll change with the back-stitched outline. I'll get back to the piece sometime before Liam turns 6. That gives me two years. It's a "grandma" stitch, chosen solely for the pleasure it will give the grandchildren, and not for the pleasure of actually stitching it. I stopped stitching "cute" the moment my kids out grew it and plan to limit "cute" stitching during the early grandma years as well. I'll stitch simple, I'll stitch funky, I'll stitch whimsical for these little darlings ... Halloween Goody bags, Christmas gift bags, Christmas ornaments, bean bags ... all that and more. But this Tooth Fairy Pillow is decidedly "cute" ... indeed, the whole notion of a pillow for conveying baby teeth to the afore-mentioned fairy is just too "cute" for words. So, I'll will work on it at widely spaced intervals ... stitching on it when too sick to care about what I am stitching seems to be the perfect strategy.

Friday the 13th

2012-01-13T07:15:00.005-05:00

Apparently, there will be three Friday the 13ths this year: in January, April and July. And no, I am not so superstitious that I felt the need to look this up. It just happened to be mentioned by one of the deejays on the morning drive time radio show I listen to each morning. Since three Friday the 13ths in one year is an unusually high number, I just put it out there for what it is worth: an interesting bit of trivia with which to win a bet. I am sure some ambitious soul could search the internet for the year with the most Friday the 13ths, but I am not such a soul. At least, not today. I am currently winning the battle with my husband for bragging rights to the worst cold of the season and have a horrendous headache to boot. My research ambitions are at a very low ebb, for the moment. Maybe I'll be more in the mood to do a little arcane research in April or July, when the subject becomes current again. I do believe it is time to put an end to my delirious, cold medication induced ramblings ... maybe some kind soul will drop by, make me some tea and tuck me up on the couch with fleece throws and the remote at the ready to continue my Stargate Atlantis marathon. Who am I kidding? I'll make my own tea, get my own throw, find the remote myself and generally nurse myself. I hate being a grown-up sometimes! Having depressed myself with these thoughts, I figured I might as well take the time to google the topic before trudging downstairs to be both patient and nurse. As per Wikipedia: Between 2001-2028, there are four years with as many as three Friday the 13ths: 2009, 2012, 2015, 2026. But that's the top number: some twos and ones but no fours. For some reason that I did not have the energy to delve into, all calculations of what day a particular date falls upon are done in 28 year cycles. For those who are interested in pursuing this riveting topic, follow this link for further data. Now, really, I am going to bury myself under several layers of fleece blankets for the remainder of the day.

What to stitch when you really shouldn't stitch at all ...

2012-01-12T10:30:00.003-05:00

Since my sinus infection/head cold/croupy cough combo has reached the point where even my eyelids are in agony, I decided it would be the better part of valor NOT to stitch on The Holly & Hearts Sampler or the Quaker Sampler yesterday. Instead, I pulled out an old kit, BH&G Tooth Fairy Pillow, that I had salvaged from the huge clearing out of my mother's crafting stash [remember January 2010?]. I knew at the time that it would make a great "grandma" gift. Well, the grandchildren are only 4 and 2 but eventually they will be loosing baby teeth so I may as well be prepared. Even though I am not crazy about Aida cloth, generally avoiding it like a plague, this particular swatch is relatively soft and supple. It has just enough body to make stitching in hand practicable. A good thing, since digging this kit out of storage exhausted whatever energy I had, leaving me too weak to search for an appropriate hoop or set of scroll rods. Okay, I exaggerate, but only slightly! It's obvious that I didn't spend all that much time stitching yesterday. Even so, this little bit of embroidery distracted me from my head cold for a while, another good thing. Lord, I must be channelling Martha Stewart in my delirium! I am still trying to figure out how I was able to spring back from major surgery in 2010 and now let a mere cold lay me low! Sure, I am two years older but I am generally healthier, having lost weight and gotten into a proper medication regimen. I guess it all comes down to accepting the mysterious truth that minor ailments often feel worse than major ones. Probably because our bodies are not fooled into pumping out the adrenalin for anything short of serious.

Little Christmas Contest Winner, A Belated Announcement

2012-01-11T06:43:00.001-05:00

You must forgive me. My husband and I have been competing to see who can have the worst cold of the season for the past week. I believe I am winning though the contest has been fierce. It has kept me from attending to business, like my promise to choose a person for whom to stitch a small something featuring a favorite stitching theme. The person for whom I have chosen to stitch [yes, I know most people would say "the person I will be stitching for" but once an English teacher, always an English teacher] is Jo because she likes both cats and Halloween and I have the perfect chart combining the two themes and a delicious bit of fabric that will work for it. Now Jo, don't be expecting it immediately ... I will be kitting it up tonight ... but this year I am "earning" my new starts by completing 1 project from the Crazy Class Project Challenge and one piece from my 2010-11 WIP list. So it may be a while before I earn a start and there is one project ahead of you. Figure sometime in March for a mailing date.

The Entry Hall Tree Project

2012-01-10T09:08:00.000-05:00

I removed the Christmas ornaments from the entry hall tabletop tree on Jan. 7 and replaced them with hearts to celebrate my Jan. 10 anniversary. The hearts will remain up through the end of February. Then the tabletop tree comes down till Memorial Day when I put up all my patriotic ornaments. I still have to work on some Celtic ornaments for March and St. Patrick's Day and some Easter ornaments for April and some Spring ornaments for most of May and something suitable for September if I am to keep the tabletop tree decorated year round. But those will be projects for other years. For 2012, I am hoping to stitch one or two more heart ornaments before I take the tree down on Leap Day [aka Sadie Hawkins Day] ... what better day to take down all the heart ornaments than the day celebrating the old-fashioned notion that for a woman to propose marriage was quite the rarity, occurring but once every four years.

Weekend Progress Report: January 8, 2012

2012-01-09T06:15:00.001-05:00

I was quite happy with my progress on my Crazy Class Project Challenge, The Sweetheart Tree's Holly & Hearts Sampler ... until, that is, I realized I'd have to frog a healthy portion of two rows because of an error that throws off the symmetry by two lousy threads. I was congratulating myself for selecting the right piece to start my challenge because I had been zipping along quite nicely. In fact, I thought this was a much easier stitch than I had remembered it being. What can I say? Pride goeth before a fall. The first photo shows the progress unvisited by the frog. I decided to go with the alphabet after all, after looking at various alphabets for a monogram. Every style I liked, and thought suited the overall look of the sampler, couldn't be made to fit the space. Then came the lattice work row. I stitched it at least four times in the long stitch as directed but then when it came down to do the tacking stitches, the bottom row of tacks didn't line up properly. I finally gave up and cheated by doing a series of diamond pane stitches and tacking down the intersections. Same look, less aggravation. The next few rows of backstitching and herringbone stitches were easy enough. But then I made a rookie mistake in the next tracery row, missing one lousy little backstitch, throwing the symmetry off by two linen threads. The result: I'll have to frog nearly all the right side of the tracery, the right Rhodes heart and beading and the backstitching immediately below to line things up properly. Even so, I am expecting a finish before next Sunday. Since I am making equally gratifying progress on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler from my 2010-2011 WIP List, I may have two finishes within the week. And in my mad little two steps forward, one step backward world ... that will earn me one new start! I think it will have to be one of the heart ornaments I want to add to my January-February Tree, celebrating my wedding anniversary and Valentine's Day.

Challenge Progress: Holly & Hearts

2012-01-06T11:00:00.001-05:00

Now, clearly, I am violating all the rules of a true Crazy Challenge. I am not frantically changing projects daily for the first 10 or 15 or 30 days of the year. I am not posting progress photos on a daily basis. I have not joined WIPocalyspe or any other formal challenge group, nor am I posting photos on a group site. I am just doing my own thing. And there is a logic underlying my challenge madness. I had wanted to attend Sue Donnelly's Alumni Retreat in March or the Sturbridge Retreat in early summer but I decided I can't justify going on another Stitcher's Hideaway, much as I love them, till I have completed at least a few of the class projects I have been accumulating since I first discovered CATS in 2005. This is not to say I have never completed a class project. I have, truly, I have! All of the Stitching Banquet projects from CATS 2005 and 2006 are done. However, that being said: nothing else has been finished. A look at my Class Projects sidebar tells the whole sad story. But 2012 is the year all that is going to change. Currently, I have this image of myself as Marley's Ghost from A Christmas Carol, but instead of money boxes and deed cases shackled to my ankle, there are all these projects, dragging at me and causing me to stagger and stumble. Of course, being a neat and tidy stitcher, all the projects are safely sealed in Zip-Loc bags to keep them pristine as I drag them behind me in ever more tangled and twisted numbers. But, finally, the time has come to eschew denial and to start managing my Stitcher's ADD and develop some coping mechanisms that will allow me to re-enter the mainstream stitching community. I fully intend to finish enough of the old projects so that I can attend the October Stitcher's Hideaway with a clear conscience. Well, that's the plan anyway. So for some progress photos. When last seen, Row 13 of Holly and Hearts was stitched. Since then, I have added the Rhodes Hearts, Long Stitched Squares and Tacked Lattice Stitches to this area and I have been doing the beading as I go along, carefully rolling my linen with flannel as I work with my scroll bars. This is another form of self-gratification and self-motivation: it really pleases me to see the piece come alive and makes me wish to continue to the next row and the next and the next. I am wondering now how I ever put this piece down. [Of course, I put it down because, at the time, something even shinier caught my eye ... but that jackdaw mentality is something I am working on, thank you very much]. I have also reached that stage of the project where I start dreaming ahead, wondering how I am going to frame the piece. Should I go very Baroque with an elaborately carved frame in winter white touched with silver and a winter white matte? That would complement the piece quite nicely. Or should I keep the frame very simple, possibly green in color and select a matching green matte [both the color of DMC 500] and showcase the design with the contrast? That might work. Or should I go for something in between? I have a feeling I am going to really enjoy my next visit to the framer. Still, all that's several weeks in the future. For now, here is what Holly and Hearts looks like with several more rows completed. First, a photo of the tracery heart in all its beaded and bedazzled glory. And next, a photo of my progress on the alphabet rows. I am really not liking this alphabet. The instructions indicate it is to be stitched "over one" which is not entirely accurate, given the height and width of the letters. Furthermore, since this is a back-stitched alphabet, some of the stitches slip under the linen and have to be teased out and restitched. The only way I seem to be able to keep everything on the surface of the linen is to stitch every other stitch and then go back and fill in the blanks. Tedious and I am still not satisfied ... the letters just don't seem as well defined and crisp as they should be. And securing ends on the back of the linen is a nightmare. If I weren't so far along I might consider putting in a monogram in larger lettering ... heck, I still might do just that. A lower band in the sampler has space for the year in large numbers, so a monogram in letters sized comparable to the numbers shouldn't be at all out of place. The more I think of it the more I like this alternative. I guess I will be frogging this evening ... or maybe not. I'll have to think about this a bit more. Opinions from readers are welcome ... just leave a comment.

January Goals

2012-01-05T07:20:00.001-05:00

It just occurred to me that, while I placed my January Goals in the sidebar, I never did actually write a blog post about them.

Class Project Challenge: Resume work on The Sweetheart Tree's Holly & Hearts class pieces.
2010/11 WIPs: Continue to work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler and resume work on Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons

I have decided that the time has come to accept the fact that I am definitely slowing down [part of the aging process, no doubt] and adjust my goals/expectations accordingly. This has the side benefit that, if I manage to exceed my stated goals, my already ridiculously healthy self-esteem will get a nice boost.

Second Annual Stash Budget Accounting: 2011

2012-01-04T08:00:00.001-05:00

Last year, prompted by all the talk on message boards and in blogs about how the current economy changed, and continues to change, the stitching industry, I decided to track my own spending.

Grand Total Spent in 2010: $630.97
Grand Total Spent in 2011: $981.26

… and now for the 2011 breakdown:

On Charts: $ 46.49
On Fibers: $284.33
On Fabrics: $ 54.00
On Embellishments [Beads, buttons]: $ 6.20
On Tools and Accessories: $ 36.24
On Framing: ---------
On Books, Magazines and Subscriptions: ---------
On Classes and Retreats: $450.00
EGA Membership: $ 60.00

And on the ever present shipping/handling: $ 44.06

Since I have continued to stitch primarily from stash, it is not surprising that my biggest expenditure has been on classes with floss, fiber, fabric and tools combining at $427.26 to make the next largest expenditure. As for the shipping and handling, with the exception of a few runs to Michael's or A.C. Moore for DMC, all my ordering has been done with out-of-state shops in Virginia, Utah and California. I regret that there is no LNS in my area.

I will be working primarily on old class projects and WIPs and UFOs in 2012. As a result, I expect spending to shift from materials to finishing. Framing will be my big expense in 2012. And since framing is so very expensive, I may have to skip my usual Stitcher's Hideaway this year. I had hoped to do The Alumni Retreat this year but I think I may wait a bit and see how things go. I can always do the October Mystic Hideaway if the finances are all rosy. I am sure I have missed a few expenditures here and there but, for the most part, this is a pretty fair estimation of spending this year. Now, if the fates would just cooperate and send someone to open up a brick and mortar LNS within a reasonable distance, I could save $50 a year on shipping and handling charges ... or am I being too selfish ... I don't know, major small business investment vs my personal convenience ... Nah!!!!

Challenges, Challenges

2012-01-03T07:45:00.002-05:00

I worked on my first Class Challenge project on Sunday and Monday. If you want to see where I left off before this became a UFO, see this post for the last photo I could find. But I managed to complete the tracery heart that is Row 13 in the chart, with the exception of the specialty stitches and beading. Today, I will tackle the three Rhodes hearts and the specialty stitch in the center. There is a heart shaped Christmas ornament included in the class packet which I had begun on the first day of class but abandoned in favor of the sampler as the class proceeded. It is basically a slightly larger version of the tracery heart pictured above. I have to say I have certainly recovered my enthusiasm for this piece. It's been awhile since I have done a sampler that has involved so many specialty stitches and a limited but very elegant palette. I am having a lot of fun rediscovering this piece. Once I have finished the two pieces in this project, I shall move on to the next piece from the list that calls my name, probably the Japanese Kogin Tea Cosy. Each and every one of these class projects [see sidebar list] excited me enough at one time to lay down hard-earned cash to take the classes ... and with the exception of one or two, they still do. It will be interesting to see how many I will be able to complete this year. I also continued to work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, a WIP from 2010. I finished the yellow motif on the right side of the inner rectangle and got started on the blue motif in the top leg of that rectangle. Still another motif and three medallions to go, not to mention the personalization, so it will be a while before I have my first finish from the 2010 WIP list. As I stated in an earlier post, I intend to finish one piece from the Challenge List and one piece from the 2010/2011 WIP list to earn a new start. Depending on just when I manage to earn my start, I have plans. If I manage to finish the two samplers noted above by mid-January, I'll use my new start on a heart ornament I have wanted to stitch for my Anniversary and Valentine's Day Tree. If, on the other hand, I finish the samplers in late January or early February, I'll bow to the reality that adding a heart ornament to the tree is not going to happen. Instead, I'll start my 2012 BAP: Teresa Wentzler's Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking. If I start it early in the year, maybe, just maybe, it will be done for Liam's fifth Christmas in 2012!

I have been reading a number of other end of year/beginning of the new year posts on the many blogs that I follow. Oddly enough, many of us have had several things in common during 2011: we all seem to be reporting fewer finishes than normal, both stitching and finish-finishing; many of us had a tougher than usual personal year and many of us are hoping for a much better 2012, both as regards stitching and personal goals.

Class Project Challenge

2012-01-01T05:16:00.001-05:00

I have decided that my 2012 Challenge will be completing all the unfinished class projects I have been accumulating since 2005. Since some of the projects on the list involve multiple items, the total number of finished objects will be 24. That, of course, assumes that I will succeed. I have listed them here in the order in which I acquired them. However, I shall be stitching them in no particular order ... just as the mood takes me. I am determined to finish one piece from this list and one piece from either the 2010 or 2011 WIP Lists to "earn" the privilege of starting a new project ... a sort of two steps forward, one step back approach to the whole WIP/UFO issue. In keeping with my usual practice of stitching something Christmas-y in January, I'll be starting with the Holly and Hearts Sampler and ornament.

But here is the entire list:

Lori Birmingham's Pansy Garden Nantucket Style Basket (2005 CATS project),

Catherine Jordan's Pretty Picot Edges (2006 CATS project),

Karen Bovard's Filet Lace (2006 CATS project),

Phyllis Maurer's Japanese Kogin Tea Cosy (2006 CATS project),

Peyote stitch bracelet (The Willow Tree, Boothbay Harbor, Me),

2007 Stitcher's Hideaway projects: Victoria Sampler's Mystic: a stitchers pocket, biscornu, needlebook and fob,

2008 Stitcher's Hideaway projects: The Sweetheart Trees' Holly and Hearts Sampler and ornament,

2009 Stitcher's Hideaway project: Brightneedles' Ghosts and Ghoulies Etui,

2010 Stitcher's Hideaway project: Victoria Sampler's Sturbridge Box and needlework accessories.

Assessing 2011 Goals/Project Inventory

2011-12-31T07:26:00.000-05:00

So, let's see how I managed:
01. Stitch from stash, limiting purchase of new charts to five. Used up my five chart allowance by July 10 and only ended up purchasing one chart over my set limit during the remainder of the year.

02. Blog at least every other day: I have managed to keep this up, sometimes blogging daily.
03. Complete three BAPs: Stockings for Piper and Liam as well as TW's Autumn Faerie for Angela. Finished the Teresa Wentzler's Autumn Faerie in June. I was doing well on another Teresa Wentzler piece, Tracery Dragons, until I hit a stitcher's block in mid October. Piper's and Liam's stockings will have to be deferred to 2012.
04. Participate in the Crazy January 2011 Challenge. I have completed 12 of the 15 challenges. The factor that kept things from being a total sweep was that the remaining three are all BAPs: TW's Tracery Dragons, Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie, & Allesandre Adelaide's Zucca. Some of the earlier projects were near-BAPs as well; so I don't feel a complete failure. Just my usual overly-optimistic self!
05. Catch up and keep up with sewing finishes. Have made some progress but this is a bottomless well. As of 11/11, I had completed 29 sewing finishes equalling my cross-stitch finishes as of that date .
06. Complete one medium project a month, concentrating on Christmas, Halloween and Quaker charts. January [1] - Workbasket's Quaker Santa. February [1] - Sue Hillis Cookie Santa. March [0]. April [3] - Dragon Dream's The Ice Dragon's Kingdom, Homespun Elegance's The Stitcher and Witches Stitch, Too. May [1] - Barrick's Samplers' The Gilded Cage. June [0]. July [0]. August [2] - Sue Donelley's Hear the Sea Call and Heartstrings Earth Day 2011 Sampler. September [0]. October [1] - The Friendship Sampler. November: [0]. December/0. For a total of 9 so far.
07. Stitch a few more Valentine's Day and Wedding Anniversary ornaments. I deferred this goal till 2012 since I had so many other stitching challenges going this year.
08. Get to the bottom of the UFO basket. I have also deferred this to 2012 and have joined a UFO Challenge starting January 2012.
09. Paint the walls of the stitching-room-to be and refinish some of the furntiture that will occupy it. Deferred.
10. Learn to knit. I finally signed up to join the local Knitting Circle at the High School adult education center which started in October. It turns out I didn't "click" with the teacher ... I'll have to look for another class in 2012. I did learn a new and better method of casting on though, so all was not lost though it was a rather expensive lesson at $60.

Now for my 2011 Project Inventory:

32 Cross Stitch Finishes
1 BAP: Teresa Wentzler's Autumn Faerie.
2 Large (but not quite a BAP) Projects: Sue Hillis' Cookie Santa and Dragon Dream's The Ice Dragon's Kingdom.
6 Medium Projects: Barrick's Sampler's The Gilded Cage; Heartstrings Earth Day 2011 Sampler; Homespun Elegance's Witches Stitch, Too!; Homespun Elegance's The Stitcher; Sue Donnelly's Hear The Sea Call; Workbasket's Quaker Santa.
3 Small Projects: BBD's A Bird in Hand; Goode Huswife's Friendship Sampler; Martina's Easter Rabbit
20 Smalls: Ornaments and Floss Tags: Town Square SAL Theatre, CEC's Sophie's First Annual Christmas Ornament, Aury's 2011 Quaker Red, White & Blue Heart; Glory Bee's Flag and Liberty; PS Promo Card: Summer House/Rain; PS Free Chart: Pheasant Cock & Hen; PS Eagle & Shield ornament; Week's Dye Works Town Square Town Hall; Jane Greenoff's Blackwork Owl; La-D-Da's Town Square Schoolhouse; Lizzie Kate Cozy Christmas Wishes ornament for HOE; DeeBee Design's Town Square Church; The Knotted Tree Design's Town Square Post Office; Prairie Schooler Autumn exchange piece; PS Promotional Card Winter House; PS Promotional Card Autumn Barn; PS Promotional Card Spring House; Aury's 2010 Red, White & Blue Quaker Heart; Town Square SAL Fire Station; The Victoria Sampler Hearts of America: Connecticut.

29 Sewing and Assembly Finishes
7 Pin Pillows: Heart in Hand Wee Bee; Black Bird Designs Bird in Hand; "I love to shop at Silver Needle." ; Goode Huswife's Friendship Sampler; Glory Bee's Liberty; Martina's Easter Rabbit; Prairie Schooler Autumn Barn.
15 Ornaments: Town Square SAL Train Depot; Town Square SAL Town Hall; Town Square SAL Saloon; Town Square SAL Clock Tower; Town Square School; Town Square SAL Post Office; Town Square SAL Church; Town Square SAL Fire Station; Prairie Schooler's Eagle with Shield; Aury's 2011 Quaker Heart; Greenoff's Blackwork Owl; Victoria Sampler's Connecticut Heart; Workbasket's Quaker Santa; Time for Tea.
5 Needlework Accessories: Four Prairie Schooler Promo Cards as floss tags; Blackbird Designs Quaker Medallion Strawberry Emery.
2 Tote Bags: Erin's Garden; Leisure Arts Teddy Bear.

Ongoing WIPs/UFOs.

2010 projects: Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance motif afghan; Beach Find Pansies; Fertile Circles Needlebook.

2011 WIPs: the Crazy January Challenges T. W. Wentzler Tracery Dragons, Allesandre Adelaide's Zucca and Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie as well as a non-challenge start, Praire Grove Peddler's Lighthouse Candle Mat and a class project, The Sturbridge Box. Finishing these up will be a 2012 objective.

Monthly Giveaways in 2010: 19 gently used or new charts, 1 cross stitch kit, 1 quilt pattern, 2 gift certificates to 123stitch, 2 hand made items [a pin pillow and an Ort Jar] and 6 cards of linen floss.

Workbasket's Quaker Sampler Progress Report

2011-12-30T10:45:00.002-05:00

I am afraid all my ambitious plans for doing some sewing/finishing have gone by the wayside. I have spent this week reading, eating, relaxing, watching DVDs, cooking and puttering about the house [I hesitate to call the very minimal and laid back efforts I have made "housecleaning"]. I have stitched on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler while doing the DVD watching and have made some progress. But I doubt I'll have the hoped-for one last finish of 2011, as is evident from this photo. When last seen on December 19th's post, I had just started the smaller blue motif at the bottom left of the inner rectangle. Since that time I have completed the blue, green and red motifs that make up the bottom leg of the rectangle and have started the yellow motif that is the right side of the rectangle. That leaves two and half motifs left to stitch as well as three medallions, not to mention the personalization that will go into the medallions. And I still haven't decided whether I'll do my husband's and my initials with the year of our marriage OR the intitials of my children with their birth years as the personalization. So, clearly not likely to be finished in the remaining two days of 2011!

2012 Goals

2011-12-29T23:58:00.000-05:00

Some goals remain the same, some old goals are dropped and some new ones are added:

***A UFO Challenge: The Class Pieces: Gather all the class pieces from the UFO basket. Work on one at a time until all are completed. This may be a two year challenge, given the number of projects involved.

***Limit new starts to one medium piece a month until all current WIPs and 2012 Challenge pieces are stitched.

***Stitch some Heart Ornaments to display from Jan 10 [Wedding Anniv.] through Feb. 14 [Valentine's Day]

***Stitch one ornament a month from the 2006 Indy Town Square series.

***Limit stash purchases to fiber and fabric needed tp complete charts on hand.

***Continue to blog every other day.

***Choose and complete two BAPs. Finish TW's Tracery Dragons and then start Liam's Christmas stocking, TW Wentzler's Woodland Angel and then at least starting [but, one hopes, finishing] Piper's stocking, Dimensions' Woodland Maiden, as a companion piece. I may switch things up and start Piper's stocking first, too much TW can be ennervating. If I manage to finish these, I'd like to start on Scherzo.

***Catch up on sewing finishes.

***Finish setting up the sewing/craft/TV room.

***Inventory chart stash and set some priorities for completing what is on hand.

***Declutter stash. Ruthlessly eliminate charts that will never be stitched and UFOs that will never be completed from stash. Use the charts for giveaways. Consider setting up a UFO exchange for the fun of it.

***Attend an EGA chapter meeting as a member-at-large, or take an EGA on-line course. I also want to attend the Alumni Stitcher's Hideaway this year, instead of the one of the class type hideaways. The main reason is that it would fit in nicely with my Crazy January Challenges: Class Pieces goal. I'd have a whole hideaway to work on an older class piece and I wouldn't be adding any new ones to the mix.

Santas on Parade: Fini ... & A Contest

2011-12-27T01:10:00.006-05:00

Here is a banner stitched from an old Shepherd's Bush design, Christmas Kringle. I made it up years ago but am only putting it out for the first time this year because I had it packed away so carefully, I had forgotten about it. And here is a close-up shot of the stitched portion of the banner. Out of sight, out of mind! The same can be said for a beautiful framed piece from Heartstrings, The Sugarplum Season, which was stitched and framed back in 2007 and is currently so carefully sored as to be inaccessible. Oh, well, maybe next year! I also stitched a number of the Heartstrings Designer Series Santa for one of my sisters and a gorgeous Woodland Santa from Celebrations magazine which I framed and kept in my office till I gave it to one of the teachers who loved it when our parish school closed ... and a primitive Woodland Santa stocking for my eldest son ... and all the Dragon Dreams JCS Ornament issue Santa with dragon ornaments for my daughter ... but again, alas, before my blogging and photographing days ... so no photos. I have also stitched a number of gift totes featuring Santa, but those too were given away before I got into the habit of photographing my finished pieces. But here is one more Santa, actually one of Dragon Dreams' contributions to the annual JCS ornament issue some years back, except I chose to stitch it on a tea towel. Ornament designs tend to fit pretty nicely on this particular style of towel. It seems I have stitched dozens of Santas over my 40+ years of stitching. Certainly, it has been two or three Santas a year, until fairly recently. With the exception of a few ornament sized Santas annually [probably Homespun Elegance or Prairie Schooler], I think I am pretty much done with Santa ... unless, of course, something really irresistible comes along. I wonder how long it will take me to tire of dragons and faeries or of Quaker samplers or of angels or of witches ... the next most numerous subjects of my stitching. What subjects do you, my readers, find yourself stitching over and over? Leave a comment about your stitching passions and I will choose the one that interests me most and stitch the winner a small gift. I'll keep this contest open till Little Christmas, January 6.

2011-12-25T08:30:00.001-05:00

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND

A HAPPY AND HOLY NEW YEAR TO ALL MY READERS.

This is a piece I stitched quite some time ago from a magazine chart. It was before I got serious about noting designer and fabrics and fibers, so I am afraid I can't give you any data on the piece, except that it was stitched on black aida, probably 18 ct. Lord, I haven't stitched on aida in nearly two decades, so this piece is quite old.

More Santas on Parade: the Sue Hillis Collection

2011-12-24T09:04:00.005-05:00

Here are all the Sue Hillis Santas I have stitched. The Sue Hillis pirate Santa, which I think is uproariously funny, always has a place on my bookshelf at Christmas time. I hope to find the time this Christmas vacation to turn them all into flange pillows. I have the fabric and I should be able to carve out the time. Since my generous husband traded vacation times with his assistant allowing him to attend a family reunion in Puerto Rico, the good-hearted soul will not be home for Christmas week for the first time in a decade. This means that my days will be my own. Though I dearly love my husband of nearly 41 years [anniversary coming up in January], solitude is a luxury in my world. I grew up a would-be hermit in a large, boisterous and very social family. Christmas Eve with my extended four generation family will involve being with some 50 or 60 people ... and not everyone will be there! Christmas Day brunch at my home for my husband's extended family [one sister and one cousin] and my own youngest son [older son is in Seattle and the eldest, my daughter, will be working at the animal hospital] will be a much quieter affair. But Christmas week with my days all to myself ... well, solitude in moderation is a very good thing. I'll have a few more Santas to show on 12/26 and maybe even some finished pillows of these characters by the end of the Christmas vacation. Wish me luck with the finishing efforts.

Santas on Parade: the Ornaments

2011-12-21T06:20:00.000-05:00

I thought I would showcase all my Santa ornaments, now that I have shown you some of my framed Santas.

This Workbasket Quaker Santa, an excerpt from the whole chart, was stitched as the final ornament in my Bride's Tree SAL set. I have to confess that when I first saw this chart, which included a Quaker Snowman, I was not impressed. For one thing, snowmen don't appeal to me and this Santa was definitely of the jolly old elf persausion and I prrefer a somewhat more dignified Father Christmas persona.

I have given away most of these ornaments. Anything with a Noah's Ark theme has been given to my grandson whose middle name is Noah. The first two ornaments shown here are from Homespun Elegance. I really like the style

of their annual Santas and will be purchasing a
few more of these charts to stitch and enjoy.

The second one, the Crescent Santa, is one of the very few ornaments I have kept for myself. It is one of my personal favorites.

Next up is a Sue Hillis complimentary chart from her brief but very prolific flirtation with all things piratical. I had thought of entering it in her current contest but I procrastinated and procrastinated till the deadline had passed.

This is an early effort ... my finishing is much better now, thank you very much ... it's one of the Heartstrings Artist series Santas. I glitzed it up a bit with some beads.

This was a gift from a stitching exchange at The Stitcher's Hideaway. Now normally I keep anything made for me by another stitcher. But this piece had a music button inside that fascinated my granddaughter. If I recall, it played We Wish You a Merry Christmas. Who could say no to a 18 month old angel like Piper? So now this Santa resides in Seattle!

This is a Santa Factory Santa that I stitched simply because I liked the colorway. I can't remember who I gave him to but he no longer resides here either.

This is another Santa Factory ornament and since it has a Noah's Ark theme, it was used as package trim on one of my gradson's gifts last year.

This Prairie Schooler ornament went to my granddaughter who certainly falls into the nice classification in Santa's Naughty and Nice lists. At just under three years of age she is the sweetest of children, a born peacemaker and negotiator, a nurturer and a totally girly girl. My daughter-in-law admits that she must be a throwback to DIL's mother since DIL is definitely not the girly type. The fashionista tendencies certainly didn't come from my end of the gene pool, either.

Santa on Parade

2011-12-20T06:49:00.012-05:00

Here begins my parade of Santas.

First is the 2008 Prairie Schooler Limited Edition Santa. I stitched the 2003-2008 Santas for my baby sister but most of those were framed and gifted long before I started blogging and photographing my stitching. Hence, no photos, to my regret.

Prairie Schooler Santas are something of a favorite of mine. I enjoy stitching those of their annual Santas that represent a concept or craft that is imnportant to me. This Santa represents Peace on Earth to my way of thinking. There is also a nod to the whole concept of the Winter Solstice with the Sun, Moon and stars ... reminding us that early Christians had to embed their feast day within an existing celebration to avoid being noticed and persecuted.

Next come the crafting Santas:

A sewing Santa

A quilting Santa

A Santa who embroiders

And a knitting Santa

And the final entry for today, this Homespun Elegance Santa stocking that I made for my husband.

I'll be showing other Santa's throughout the week. Stay tuned!

Weekend Progress Report: Dec. 18, 2011

2011-12-19T10:46:00.000-05:00

Just as I decided to concentrate my efforts on completing the Quaker Sampler for one last big finish in 2011, I hit a stitching slump last week. This was no coincidence, I am sure. For a very long time, I have known myself to be afflicted with stitcher's ADD. I truly need the variety of many different projects in rotation. The varying styles, levels of complexity, size and materials keep me interested and motivated. Sticking to just one piece simply doesn't suit my nature. On Friday, I succumbed to a bout of startitis. I stitched up the latest CEC mitten ornament, Sophie's First Annual Christmas Mitten, a chart which I had happened across earlier this week. I don't normally do "cute" and I have never done a mitten ornament before but for some unknown reason this little bit of frivolity appealed to me. Next, I pulled out another Town Square SAL chart for my Small Town USA themed Christmas tree. Here is the Town Square Theatre. Finally, these diversions gave me the will to return to the Quaker Sampler and finish up the second smaller motif in the inner rectangle, the yellow one with the U, V and W, and to start the next motif in blue. In anticipation of continued need for small diversions as I tackle a series of old BAP/UFOs in the coming months, I pulled a few more Town Square SAL charts, made a list of fibers needed to complete them and prepared an order for 123stitch. I have kitted up the first one on my to-do list, The Bookstore, from stash I had on hand. But there are a few GAST, Crescent Colours and WDW overdyed cottons I am running low on and need to reorder if I am to complete the others. Now that I have these lovely little smalls as fallback projects, maybe I won't lose my enthusiasm for the bigger projects. Not a bad weekend's work, especially when one considers the very little stitching that went on in the previous 10 days.

A low key Christmas

2011-12-13T08:52:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, I mentioned how little decorating I had done to date and how little I planned to do as Christmas comes closer. So here are a few photos. First, the tabletop decor in the entry hall. I change out this area with each season. After Christmas, I'll put up all my heart ornaments in celebration of our January 10 wedding anniversary. The hearts will remain up till Valentine's Day. As will various different candle treatments: tapers in silver gift box shaped holders in January and votives or tea lights in heart shaped holders in February. Then some close-ups of the ornaments since not all have been shown before on this blog.

This is the Prairie Schooler Angel [one of their promo cards from a few years back.

The next is a 2005 JCS ornament, and if I remember correctly, also a Prairie Schooler.

And a Homespun Elegance Santa, from the early 2000 decade. This is a real favorite of mine.

And, a complimentary chart from Lizzie Kate, with a few modifications of my own to help the design stand out on the fabric scrap I used from my remnants stash. And, from last year's JCS Christmas preview issue, La-D-Da's Christmas Fleur de Lys. Just below it you can see a Caron Complimentary design stitched on needlepoint canvas.

And a very old Leisure Arts ornament from the 90's, the stitched date notwithstanding.And a Heartstrings Artist series Santa ornament, not my best finishing effort but I like it anyway.
And another Prairie Schooler Promo Card, this time of a Christmas Tree.

Next, weekend I'll put another table top tree up in the living room, this time a scrawny faux pine that I will use to display the Small Town USA ornaments I worked on this year ... the ones from the 2006 Indy Town Square CD-rom of complimentary charts. I hope to add to their number in 2012, by stitching one more of these little charmers each month.

Erratic Posting

2011-12-12T08:13:00.004-05:00

This makes twice in a row that I have failed to make a Weekend Progress Report, mainly because there is little or no progress to report. Sometimes life just gets in the way. It's not as if I have been particularly busy with Christmas preparations. Things will be very low key this year. My daughter will be covering the emergency clinic at the Animal Hospital, my oldest son will not be bringing in his family from the West Coast since they visited so recently in August.

My side of the family will celebrate Christmas Eve at my brother's house ...we all bring a covered dish. I'll either do a Christmas morning brunch for my husband's tiny family [a sister and a first cousin] or we will dine out at a restaurant. My husband and his sister are negotiating the arrangements. My youngest son will join us for both events. Since there won't be any children in the house for the holidays, I'll just put up two small tabletop trees: one in the entry hall and one in the living room. The entry hall tree is already in place. I'll use some of my Christmas candleholders about the place, put a wreath on the door, set up the creche set on Christmas eve. That'll be it: easily put up and easily taken down on January 6.

Since I tend to shop year round as I see things people will like, I am nearly done with my shopping ... just a few Christmas gift cards to buy and some practical clothes gifts for the grandchildren. I did all the fun shopping for them first: toys and books. My 2 year old granddaughter is quite the fashionista and has declared that she wants only "twirly" dresses, preferably pink. My four year old grandson is more like his parents and grandparents, preferring comfort, form and function to fashion. He has asked for "soft" pants [he hates jeans] and will get a couple of pairs of flannel coaches pants and some soft t-shirts.

So I can't explain the lack of progress by any other reason except this: I am, quite simply, slowing down. I have spent the last few weeks reading more and stitching less. For non-fiction, I have been reading The Pope's War by Matthew Fox. Strong supporters of Benedict might claim this book is fiction but it rings true to me once one discounts Fox's embittered excesses. For fiction, I am enjoying a re-reading of Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave ... a lovely novel about Merlin's role in the Arthurian legend. I have also started P.D. James' Death Comes to Pemberly ... which only confirms me in my opinion that no one ought to mess with the perfection that is Jane Austen. Even as skilled a writer as P.D. James falls so very far short ... let her stick to what she does well and give us another Adam Dalgleish novel. I have also been spending some of my leisure time watching the Babylon 5 collection and am up to Season 4. It seems I do my most active stitching in Spring and Autumn, garden and travel in Summer, read and hibernate in Winter. I am becoming quite the creature of habit.

Giveaway Winner

2011-12-10T23:51:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd break this giveaway into three parts since most of the responders asked for a specific piece rather than for the whole package ... that way more people can get a lift when next they check their mail. I decided to make it a first come first served kind of deal this time so:Jo gets the Call of the Sea, Rachel gets the Amish Doll kit, Kimberley gets the quilt pattern. I'll be e-mailing them on Sunday to get all the mailing addresses. Since I have to get to the post office this Thursday to mail my grand-children's Christmas gifts, that's when I shall get everything out at once.

Random Thoughts, Mostly Stitch Related

2011-12-07T10:25:00.001-05:00

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I have been concentrating on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler so that I might have at least one more finish by year's end. The problem is the smaller motifs aren't really that much smaller than the large ones. And the large ones typically took me a week to stitch. Plus, I am having a harder and harder time making time for stitching lately. I want to do it all: read several books, keep up my blogs, do some NY Times Sunday crossword puzzles [from the huge book I keep by my bed], clean for Christmas, keep up with the routine laundry/dishes/cooking/shopping, watch an episode or two of Babylon 5 [my latest sci-fi marathon], work, and stitch. In any case, I have been working on one of the smaller yellow motif since Sunday and am still not quite done. I'll post a photo when I am.

I have been following a thread on the 123stitch Message Board about people who haven't had a single finish this year. Most of them are, of course, BAP stitchers; some of them are multiple-BAP-in-rotation stitchers. But some seem to be your everyday stitchers who seem to have run out of stitching time or who have slowed to a barely discernible crawl when stitching. I have a feeling this may be my future in stitching. Five years ago I averaged about 60 finishes a year: quite a few smalls, to be sure, but a respectable number of medium and large projects as well as the occasional BAP. This year I'll have either 29 or 30 finishes depending on my progress on the above-mentioned Quaker Sampler. There are still a fair number of smalls and a goodly number of medium projects and even a few BAPs. But the total number has been decreasing steadily for the past few years. I am not conscious of stitching that much less so I must be stitching more slowly. I have been tackling more complex projects, so clearly that slows me down some. But I think it is age, cataracts and the occasional twinge of arthritis that really accounts for the ever decreasing productivity. It just takes me longer to accomplish any given task than it used to do! Aging just isn't as much fun as AARP would have you believe!

I mentioned that I considered the Quaker Sampler a BAP on a recent post and Nikki of Stitch Bitch commented that she had never heard a formal definition of a BAP. So I thought I would query my readers as to what they thought qualifies a piece for the BAP sobriquet. I have isolated a number of elements I think contribute to BAP-ness and I would like you to rate them in order of importance to your understanding of BAPs. I have noted them in my own order of descending importance.

---Sheer Size. What do you think are the lower limits to this element? 14" square, 16" square, 18" square, on up to 24" square and beyond or rectangles with legs that are 14", 16" or 24" or larger?

---Complexity of Design. For instance, a piece with a lot of symmetrical stitching that requires impeccable counting. Or maybe a piece with a fabulously elaborate border involving designs straight out of an illuminated manuscript [like Teresa Wentzler borders]. Areas that, though densely stitched, are really an amalgam of many, many, many confetti stitches [again a Teresa Wentzler trademark]. Or maybe a piece with complex repeats that occasionally switch to irregular repeats, in unpredictable fashion ... as happens in many primitive designs.

---Technical Difficulty. I am borrowing a phrase from Olympic figure skating here but I bet you know what I mean: Queen stitches, Rhodes stitches, Blackwork, Reversible Stitching, Elaborate Beadwork, etc. Also quarter and three quarter stitches, blended needles, endless back-stitching. Certainly Hardangar and Cutwork would qualify, as well.

---Stitching Density. Very little negative space, with stitching covering just about every thread of the linen.

---Challenging Materials. Extensive use of blending filament, delicate specialty fibers, faux furs and other frustratingly breakable flosses. Or rayon floss with its hideous slipperiness that resists proper laying.

Those are the elements I think make up a BAP ... and I think the size can decrease in direct proportion to increases in all the other elements ... and still qualify a piece as a BAP. Can you think of other elements that make a project worthy of the name BAP? How would you rate the importance of each element? Would your order be different from mine? I haven't included elaborate finishing techniques in my list because I think that is a whole other issue. But would you include finishing?

Monthly Giveaway

2011-12-04T06:29:00.000-05:00

This giveaway really snuck up on me. It seems that November slipped by before I even had a chance to notice it was here. Between illnesses, work pressures and the Thanksgiving holiday, November was here and gone in a flash. What little stitching going on was on a BAP, which makes it tough to build up a supply of gently used charts. Since my plans for 2012, stitching primarily class project UFOs, will continue this trend of stitching BAPs, I think I will have to suspend the practice of monthly giveaways in 2012. So this will be the last giveaway for a while. Depending on how many finished charts I manage to accumulate in 2012, I may resume the giveaways in 2013. Once upon a time, I used to complete nearly 60 projects a year, mostly smalls and medium/small pieces. That generated a lot of charts to give away. The past two years I have slowed to half that pace and have worked on a number of larger projects as well. And furthermore, my recent finishes have been of charts I wish to keep: Workbasket, Homespun Elegance, Prairie Schooler, Brightneedle, Blackbird Designs and Primitive Needle. I do consider some designers a little more collectible than others. Even the small pieces I have stitched this year aren't particularly giveaway friendly: most have been complimentary charts available to just about any stitcher through the internet or newsletters. Indeed, many of my smalls this year have been from the 2006 Indy Town Square CD-Rom and I still have quite a few of those pieces to stitch before I can offer the CD-Rom for a giveaway. Pesky little copyright details about not keeping paper copies when giving away the CD ... not to mention wiping the hard drive. And my recent habit of stitching primarily from stash means I have gotten down to my cache of favorite designers. It will be interesting to see what effect the absence of giveaways will have on my various stats. Well enough rambling! This month's giveaway will be a rather mixed bag: one opened but otherwise untouched kit from my mother's stash, one unopened quilting chart and one gently used chart from the recent Sturbridge Stitcher's Hideaway run by Sue Donnelly.

This first piece is an opened but not stitched kit from Jan-Lynn from my mother's craft stash. It features an Amish doll very much like the ones my mother used to make ... which I guess is why she thought she might be interested in it. I suspect she balked at sorting the floss included. In any case, a piece of white Aida [I am guessing 14 ct] is included. The interesting thing is that the Aida has a painted grey-blue shadow in the area where the doll is sitting. You can see this painted shadow on the kit photo. There is a rust stain in the very far corner of the Aida where the needle is inserted but it is so far from the design area that it can easily be trimmed away before framing or before a stitching finish. I don't stitch on Aida. I find it to harsh and coarse in my hand. It actually raises blisters on my fingers. Hence the giveaway.

Next up is an un-opened quilting pattern from my mother's craft stash. The motifs are all in the folk art style and are simple geometric shapes ... perfect for a person who wants to give quilting a try but clever enough and interesting enough to appeal to a more experienced quilter. Called Home Sweet Home, it can be the jumping off point for any number of projects, based on various combinations of the motifs included: pillows, banners, pin cushions, even a lap quilt. I am hoping it will find a good home since I do not do much quilting.

This chart, The Call of The Sea, is a really fun stitch, a giveaway from a recent Sue Donnelly Stitcher's Hideaway. One of Sue's own designs it came with some mother-of-pearl and faux sea glass pieces reclaimed from a summer necklace. Since I have already stitched the piece and used the shells and beads, the winner will have to provide their own shells and glass, but it shouldn't be too hard to find a similar source. Check the internet for relatively inexpensive beach-y necklaces. It was stitched on a very loosely woven turquoise linen but I suspect that any turquoise or sea blue fabric will do nicely.

Well, I hope you all consider these items a fitting finale to my giveaways, at least for the time being. Anyone interested in receiving them should leave a comment below explaining why they appeal to you. I will announce a winner on 12/10.

The Quaker Sampler

2011-12-03T07:03:00.003-05:00

Since I'd like to finish at least one more cross stitch project this year, I am stitching single-mindedly on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler. The size of the piece and the intricacy of the symmetrical stitching qualifies it as a BAP, to my way of thinking, though some may call it merely a large piece but not quite a BAP. For those of you who are curious about the actual size: though I haven't measured it, the piece does completely cover one of those folding wooden snack tables with a tiny bit of drape. Started in early December of 2010 and ignored for most of 2011, it's about time to complete this piece. The outer rectangle of large motifs and letters is complete. Now that I have begun it, I expect the inner rectangle of smaller motifs and letters to move more quickly. Each subset of a small motif paired with three letters in the same color is a little over one half the size of the larger motif/letter pairings. I am hoping to complete one a day. It would be nice to have the entire piece complete by mid-month. I still haven't decided whether I shall put my three children's birth years and initials in the central motifs or use this piece as an anniversary sampler to replace the one lost several years ago by the framer. I could put our wedding year in the center heart and our initials in the flanking motifs. I still have time to decide ... either option would have deep significance for me.

December Goals

2011-12-01T06:39:00.002-05:00

I am going to keep it very simple this month:
Work on Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons.
Work on Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie.
Work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler.
During the Christmas vacation, work on the sewing finish of a bunch of decorative pillows.

My real goal is to have another cross stitch finish or two before years end and a few sewing finishes as well.

Assessing November Goals

2011-11-30T04:34:00.000-05:00

BAP: Maybe, by the end of the month, I'll be ready to pick up TW's Tracery Dragons again. I really do need a break from this rather complex piece. I may need another month before I can tackle this one again.
Crazy January Challenge: Continue Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie. Some work was done on this in the earlier part of the month ... enough to get a good start on the second box.

Needlepoint Project: Owl Sampler. Finish this piece and make into a pillow. No.
Sewing & Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions. This month, I have finished 4 floss tags, 3 pin pillows, 1 strawberry emery and 1 padded flat ornament. I started work on a pieced Owl ornament [the first of four] and resumed work on a knitting bag I hope to use as part of a Christmas gift. These last two projects used upholstery fabric and even though I used a denim needle, the sturdiest I had on hand, there were problems. Such problems that my sewing machine simply quit in protest.

Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook. No.

WIPS & UFOS from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel. I decided that what little stitching I have been able to do this month would be focused on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler. I have managed to complete the outer rectangle of the larger motifs motifs and letters. And I got a start on the inner rectangle of smaller motifs and letters. I may actually finish this before 2011 comes to a close.
WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box and Prairie Grove Peddler Lighthouse Candle Mat.
Just a note: The need to de-clutter and to organize has me really concentrating on finishing pieces. I have a number of sewing finishes I'd like to get to this month, mostly seasonal pillows. And, this month I want to work on learning to frame pieces myself ... I just can't tolerate laundry baskets filled with stitched pieces carefully rolled in tubes awaiting framing. Oh, a few pieces that are clearly worthy of the investment will still go to a professional framer once I can find one I can trust not to glue and staple my precious stitched objets d'art! But I want to try my hand at framing the more whimsical seasonal decor pieces. This will mean a trip to Michael's for archival board, mattes and frames. I'll have to spend a bit of time working ona list of measurements. That will leave only the pieces I am accumulateing for quilts and wall hangings ... which I will then store flat in archival bozes in a drawer in my craft center. I need to reorganize the craft center [aka, the boys old dresser and secretary topper] as part of the overall make-over of the boys old room into my craft room. I am trying to give equal attention to my daughter's old room's conversion to my husband's den. It keeps me busy.

Weekend Progress Report: November 27, 2011

2011-11-27T08:28:00.005-05:00

It's been all about Workbasket's Quaker Sampler this past week. I have managed to finish the large red letters on the lower right side and all the yellow and blue large motifs and letters across the bottom of the piece. And I even got a bit of a start on the green motif in the lower left corner. It is my hope to have the entire outer rectangle completed by Wednesday [the end of the month] leaving only the inner rectangle and the center motifs for the month of December. This is a late 2010 WIP and I would really like to have it completed by the end of 2011. One less WIP to carry forward into yet another year.

Black Friday

2011-11-25T07:50:00.004-05:00

Never was a name more apt. What is it with this American obsession with shopping? Consumerism has been raised to the status of a religion! And the Friday after Thanksgiving has become its high holy day. We even observe a vigil: Thanksgiving itself has become Black Friday Eve, what with stores opening before the turkey has cooled on our plates.

We all make jokes about doing our bit for the "stimulus" or for the "recovery"! Well, this aging ex-hippie is quite content to make do, use it up or do without. While I do tend to take the chic out of shabby chic, I have absolutely no problem with a bit of wear and tear on my denim jumpers and jeans or some fraying on the strap of a cloth handbag. I have clothing, a coat, shoes, handbags, etc. that are older than my adult children ... and still perfectly usable/wearable in spite of a certain sister's opinion, thank you very much. While most millenials would think my PC hopelessly outdated - it's six years old - my computer does everything I need it to do. I actively resist upgrades to my cell phone - hell, I only know how to use its most basic functions, anyway. Why would I want more bells and whistles to ignore? I am not a total fanatic: when I need an item, I buy the best quality I can afford and then wear it or use it until it is no longer functional ... usually a decade or two or three later. I believe in proper maintenance, within reason, of cars and appliances. I mend my clothing, replace buttons, polish my shoes. What's wrong with making things last?

So, while many Americans are clogging the thruways and mobbing the malls, I may do a little stitching. If I shop at all, it will be at the local grocery store, which is usually nearly empty on Black Friday. Go figure: the one thing that is essential to our continued existence, i.e: FOOD ... is the one thing we don't shop for on the day devoted to shopping.

AHS

2011-11-22T07:53:00.005-05:00

It must be the holiday season starting up, but lately I have the uncharacteristic urge to tackle serious cleaning projects. Rather early in my marriage, my husband diagnosed me with AHS. He claims it is a disease shared by my mother and my sisters. Accardi Holiday Syndrome presents the following symptoms:
---the need to have an immaculately clean home, one that will pass the dreaded MOM inspection
---the need to decorate every room in the house, tastefully
---the need to produce a bakery shop full of pastries, Italian cookies, pies
---the need to cook all the traditional dishes of our childhood, including the marshmallow and sweet potato casserole, stuffing with Italian sausage & pignoli nuts, and broccoli with roasted garlic
---the tendency to walk around with a pocketed apron filled with tools, rags and cleansers and smelling of Murphy's Oil Soap
---the tendency to walk around muttering things like "If I paint the spare room tonight, will the paint dry by morning?" or worse, from a husband's point of view, " if I get Bill to paint the spare room..."
---the tendency to shop for the most unusual and most tailored-to-the-person gifts possible
---the need to wrap all gifts so that the seams match, rather like perfectly installed wallpaper
---and, finally, the need to fill the house with people who mess everything up and start the cycle all over again.

So ... if I don't post as often as usual between now and the New Year, know that I will return to my regular pace when the holidays end with our Jan 10 wedding anniversary and I have resumed my normal life, preferring some quiet stitching to obsessive compulsive channeling of Martha Stewart. By the way, please note, AHS predates Martha Stewart by a decade or two! Martha is really channeling my mother!

Weekend Progress Report: Nov. 20, 2011

2011-11-20T15:29:00.005-05:00

I have done hardly any stitching at all this week or even this weekend for that matter. After a horrendous work week of 65 hours, I spent most of my weekend catching up on laundry and finally cooking an evening meal instead of relying on take-out. I am getting too old to be working four more hours than I have spent years on the planet. The ratio should be inverse instead of converse. Next up, will be vacuuming and dusting, some serious bathroon scrubbing and finally, my share of the holiday cooking for the big multi-generational [four] bash at my brother's house. I'll get to see my brand new three week old great-nephew, Dominic, at Thanksgiving. It's odd but I am feeling both exhausted and energized all at the same time. It must be the holiday aura.

Well, back to stitching: I have been working on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler in a very desultory fashion all this week. I've stitched a bit of a motif, put it down, a bit more, put it down, made a mistake, frogged, re-stitched ... well, you get the idea. A motif that ordinarily would have been the work of one evening has stretched out into a week-long exercise. I was planning on putting up a photo of my progress such as it was but my camera battery is in need of recharging. I'll add the photo to this post after work tonight.

Thanksgiving Ornament Tree

2011-11-18T07:52:00.004-05:00

I had plans to post this much earlier in the month when I was still trying to post daily. But work has been crazy the past week and a half and I have consistently come home too tired to do anything but read light-hearted Nora Roberts romances. This puts me out of the running for NaBloPoMo.

I switched out the ornaments on my entryway tree from Halloween to Thanksgiving earlier this month and am enjoying this cheerful little greeting every day when I return from work. I did have to move the Pilgrim Woman with her pies to a less noticeable spot, though. Last year, my husband, in a thoroughly bemused tone, asked me why I had put a Groucho Marx ornament on the Thanksgiving tree. Apparently, as he was coming down the steps, a quick glance had him mistaking the lady's apron for a large nose, her outstretched arms with pies in hand for eyes and eyelashes, and the bottom of her skirt and her boots for a mustache. His question has forever changed the way I look at her ... all I see now is Groucho. And I was so pleased with the pretty little ornament before his comment. Here's one more view of the tree, showing some of the other ornaments.

Before you know it, it will be time to switch again, this time to Christmas ornaments. This year is going by way too quickly. It seems like the school year just started and I am already grading first quarter exams and preparing Progress Reports. We've already staged one of the two annual Whole Community Catechesis Events, one of the two annual Communion Breakfasts for the Confirmation candidates and most of the Safe Environment Programs for the children. I still have to squeeze in a fire drill or two before the snows start. It seems like the Fall months have just whizzed past. Coming up soon are the Catechist Christmas Party and Advent confessions for Grades 3-8 and the Reconciliation Mini-Retreat for Grade 2. I haven't even settled on the music for the Reconciliation service since our music minister has been out for nearly six weeks. Her doctors belatedly diagnosed her as having Lyme's disease, but only after it had done some damage to her heart ... hence the lengthy sick leave. On top of everything, her immune system was compromised and she ended up with coxsackie, further damaging her heart and lungs.

Weekend Progress Report: Nov. 13, 2011

2011-11-14T10:08:00.001-05:00

Between the diabetic episode in the early part of the week and the tight professional schedule in the later, not much was accomplished this week. Just a bit more work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler. However, there simply wasn't enough work done to warrant a photograph ... just the border of the next red motif.

Clearly, I have fallen down on the NaBloPoMo deal, having missed two posts but pressure of work does take precedence ovber blogging.

Back to Friday Finishing

2011-11-11T03:34:00.000-05:00

These are the last two machine sewing finishes I managed before my sewing machine decided it simply wasn't going to function any longer ... there's a problem with the tension that is causing the needle thread to break constantly. A separate and unidentified issue is causing needles to break every so often as well. I have replaced needles three times in as many weeks. The first is HiH's Wee Bee made up into another pin pillow filled with ground walnut shells and trimmed with chenille. The second is a BBD design, Bird in Hand, finished in the same manner except that I don't have any chenille in an appropriate color. I'll have to do a little internet shopping to see what's available. A number of vendors are expanding their chenille lines so I am hopeful that I'll find a rose color or, at the very least, an ivory/eggshell color.

For the rest of the weekend, all finishes will have to involve hand-sewing ... unless, of course, my back-up machine is functional. But I seem to recall that it needs a trip to the repair shop as well. I may just break down and buy a new machine though I heartily dislike the thought of learning a new machine. These others have been old friends for 25 and 41 years respectively.

Monthly Giveaway Winner

2011-11-10T03:00:00.005-05:00

I had a very good response to this particular giveaway, it appears my taste in fiber is far more popular than my taste in charts. My giveaways of gently used charts never seem to garner this much attention: 18 entries within two days of putting the giveaway up is something of a record for me. I used an online randomizer to choose # 14, Joanne . I'll be sending her an e-mail sometime today to get a mailing address. My thanks to all who participated.

Mid-Week Musings

2011-11-09T03:47:00.007-05:00

It's time to start planning the weekend finishing. I never did get to the Homespun Elegance pin cushions last weekend and I have been avoiding the four Prairie Schooler Seasons of ... pillows for a very long time though they have been on the goals list each month for the better part of this year. None of these finishes appears to be particularly difficult, just fiddly and time-consuming. So I believe the time has come to get to it. I have gathered the materials and tools necessary for these projects and laid them out on the dining room table. Finally, with them staring me in the face like this, perhaps, I may be guilted into finishing them this weekend. One other project I have laid out for the weekend is a series of owl finishes that I first saw on Erynne's blog. She is no longer blogging actively, at least, not under the same blog name. I miss her voice ... the voice of a very gifted young designer of cross-stitch and an able writer.

The Current Project in the Rotation ...

2011-11-08T03:24:00.006-05:00

... is the Workbasket Quaker Sampler. I seem to be alternating between the Black'd Skie and the Quaker Sampler, lately ... probably, the result of my determination to finish at least one more WIP left from 2010 and one more of the three remaining 2011 CJC projects, unlikely though that may be. I know I will be carrying at least two of the 2010 WIPs into 2012: the Jacobean Elegance Afghan and a Brightneedle class project. And two of the 2011 CJC projects as well: Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons and Allessandre Adelaide's Zucca. Then, of course, I do have two new starts in 2012 above and beyond the CJC that are unlikely to be finished by December's end: The Sturbridge Box class project and the Prairie Grove Peddler Lighthouse Candle Mat. I think I shall have to discipline myself in 2012, no new starts till I finish three WIPs or UFOs. This is why I have joined a UFO Challenge Group for 2012: I have so many class pieces from 2005 and up that I could spend the whole year just finishing up what I have already started.

Some Finishing, Some Stitching

2011-11-07T15:09:00.008-05:00

9:30 am: I rather like this notion of devoting my three day weekends primarily to finishing. Today, I am seven projects closer to the bottom of the finishing basket than I was on Friday. And some of those pieces have been in the "finishing" basket for years. The Strawberry Emery dates from 2006, the Silver Needle piece from 2008 and the Time for Tea from Lord Knows When [I can't seem to find the blog entry for TfT's cross stitch finish]. Of course, the finishing basket still appears very full but once I start working on the Christmas pillows that will change. Four nine inch pillow forms take up an awful lot of space. My sewing/assembly finishes are rapidly overtaking my cross-stitch finishes. Currently, I have completed 29 cross-stitch projects and 27 sewing/assembly projects this year. But since it is back to stitching today, I thought I'd get a bit more work done on Quaker Sampler. More stitching, mind you, than on an ordinary Monday since I am having trouble with my sugar numbers this morning. The glucometer has not been my friend these past few days ... far too honest about Halloween indulgences and a Dunkin' Donuts breakfast on Saturday. In any case, at 516, I need to run my exercise tape, take a slightly increased dosage [as per the doctor's instructions] of my main medication, drink a lot of water and eat protein only today. It is not recommended that I drive till I get the numbers down to 250 or below and then continue the regimen until I am back in my usual 120 range. But I can sew and stitch. So maybe I will get a bit more finishing in today after all. And a motif done on the Quaker Sampler as well!

Weekend Progress Report: November 6, 2012

2011-11-06T07:31:00.015-05:00

Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie: I have been progressing nicely on block 2 of this piece.

Sewing and Assembly Finishes: I devoted this weekend to finishing up four floss tags [see yesterday's post for photo], a Blackbird Designs Quaker Medallion strawberry emery from the JCS 2006 Christmas Ornament issueusing some recently acquired upholstery fabric samples for the leaves, a small padded wall hanging entitled Time for Tea [a free chart that I stitched so long ago that the designer's name does not immediately spring to mind] using some of that lovely hand-dyed chenille from R & R Reproductions in the color Smoke and a pin pillowmade from a Silver Needle free chart proclaiming that "I love to shop at The Silver Neede" trimmed in more of the chenille, this time in the color Cinnamon. I have one more piece prepped for a pin pillow finish but I am rather tired of sewing so I may be putting that off till next Friday. It is very pleasant indeed to see cross-stitched pieces finally transformed into usable stitching accessories or decorative items for the home. And, who knows, I someday may be able to reclaim the laundry basket that contains all my "to-be-finished" projects for its original purpose: carrying laundry up and down the stairs of my two story townhouse! I plan on working on my Workbasket Quaker Sampler for the remainder of the day. Perhaps I'll make enough progress to make a photo worthwhile tomorrow.

NaBloPoMo

2011-11-05T10:07:00.014-04:00

November is National Blog Posting Month. Can I manage to post one blog entry every day for a month? I am certainly verbose enough. The question is whether I am disciplined enough to post daily. I know that the posts at the beginning of the month were wildly off-topic for this stitching blog. Though I sometimes post about my professional life [especially as it impacts stitching time], I rarely post about my personal feelings. For those who were thrown off stride by the atypical posts, I can only say that though I am very good at compartmentalizing my life ... and I don't know whether that is a good or a bad thing ... sometimes even I can't keep everything in tidy little boxes tied up in pretty color-coded ribbons. But for now at least, it is back to stitching and stitching related topics. I spent a good part of Thursday morning prepping some of my floss tags for assembly. I prepped the remaining two Friday morning at the beginning of my three day weekend. And I tackled the actual assembly today. Or more specifically, I tackled trying to decipher the directions on my new toy, a Crop-a-Dile, so that I could pre-punch the holes for the grommets. I don't know what it is with me and directions for crafting accessories. My mind just doesn't work in the same fashion as the authors of those ever so clear, ever so detailed instructional leaflets. I took me ages to figure out how to use of my cording drill properly. I simply don't understand even the simplest machines/mechanical theories. This is where I really need my engineer son ... how dare he move to the West Coast just because the Navy told him to? Oddly enough, the Crop-a Dile was a cinch to use. It'll take a bit more practice to get the knack of lining things up precisely. But my first four attempts at Floss tags didn't turn out too badly. They are all Prairie Schooler promo cards: a house on a soft spring day, another house in a summer thunderstorm, a barn on a crisp autumn day and a cabin in a winter snowfall. Next, I'll be working on an emery strawberry, the two Homespun Elegance pedestal pin cushions I'd like to finish up and two more small pin pillow finishes. Maybe I'll have some more finish photos to show tomorrow. Now that I have three day weekends when I can really spread out my crafting stuff on the dining room table and just leave it there for the duration, I am determined to work on finishing as many of the small stitching accessories and/or the seasonal decor pieces I have on hand. The possibilities are pretty broad: ornaments, pillows, stand-ups, cubes or self-framed. I do have several heirloom quality pieces that I will need to send to a professional framer and soon, if I am to have them back in time for Christmas giving. All I want to have left in the "finishing" basket for 2012 are pieces I am accumulating for quilts or wall hangings.

The Monthly Giveaway

2011-11-04T06:40:00.005-04:00

It seems like I just mailed out the last giveaway. October simply zipped by me. Let's hope my time sense returns to normal this month. I'd like to savor the days rather than wonder where they went. This giveaway will be a touch different. No gently used charts are on offer this month. Instead, I will be offerring some full skeins/cards of Olde Willow linen floss. The colorway is what I tend to think of as a traditional sampler colorway. The photo is pretty accurate as to the color values ... at least it is on my computer monitor. Obviously there will be no PIF aspect to this particular giveaway, so the rules will be somewhat abridged:

1. leave a comment as to why you would enjoy receiving this giveaway.

2. if clicking on your name does not lead me to an e-mail address, include one in your message.

Good luck to all who enter.

Aftermath

2011-11-03T10:01:00.000-04:00

It's odd and even frightening how quickly the daily routine swallows a tragedy. Yesterday, I attended the funeral of a 16 year old boy. Today, I am immersed in setting up an e-mail distribution list for all current students and their families, finishing up some Safer Spaces reports, preparing the next fundraiser and beginning the writing of a classroom event for parents and children in two weeks time. The memory of Jose's face will fade only to be revived occasionally when I happen to see his memorial card in my Book of Christian Prayer or when I see his mother and sister at Sunday Mass. I feel that I should stand with fist in the air, shouting his name so that it will not be forgotten that Jose walked these halls, sat in these classrooms ... and that we adults, who should have protected him, did not recognize his pain or heal his wounds and don't deserve to sink back into complacency and routine so very quickly and easily. The sharp sting of "what if..." should linger longer. What a weakling I am, unable to hold a focus long enough to learn a lesson.

Sadly Appropriate

2011-11-02T05:05:00.000-04:00

I know it's just a bizarre coincidence but this is the right piece to be working on today. Last night I went to the wake service and then,this morning at 11am, I will be attending the funeral Mass of one of my former Confirmation students. A gentle giant, an honor student, a quiet and somewhat introspective 16 year old boy who committed suicide last week. For a while, we were all hoping he had simply run away. He hadn't left a note and had taken a taxi down to NYC. But his destination, 178th Street was problematic since it is within walking distance of the George Washington Bridge. He was found in the Hudson River but it took two days to identify him. The young have so little perspective: one has to wonder what heart ache was so very great that he preferred death to life. I haven't talked to him in over two years but I have seen him at Mass occasionally with his mother and his sister. I remember him as a michievious little boy, a fifth grader who snagged a sandwich for himself and one for his kid sister from a platter that wasn't actually "unwrapped" yet. But he became very serious as a teenager. I remember his slow smile, all the more precious for being so rare. I remember him as a 9th grader, one year older than all the others in his Confirmation class, a bit sheepish about being bigger than all the other kids, especially his diminutive younger sister who was in the same class. I recall seeing him bussing tables at a local restaurant owned by his older brother, giving my husband and I a shy nod of recognition. I remember his mother proudly telling me about how he encouraged and inspired her to go back to school for her R.N. certification. The wake was difficult, as is any wake for a young person. I think I have mentioned every so often that I am the sort of person who operates more from the head than the heart. So to be embraced by the grieving mother who then burst into tears was a shock. All I could do was stroke her back and murmur that I was so sorry for her loss, and listen to her broken sentences about her baby boy who had promised to be with her forever. I knelt before the closed coffin to say the Lord's Prayer and when finished, found myself murmuring the Guardian Angel's Prayer, a favorite childhood prayer of mine, for a boy who was no doubt being guided even now to peace and serenity before the Throne. May God grant him eternal peace, the peace he clearly did not have here. And may God grant those of us left behind the wisdom to recognize and help others like him. And, still, I wonder what drove him to the G. Washington Bridge and the cold Hudson River below.

Blogaversary Giveaway

2011-11-01T05:12:00.000-04:00

Barbara, who writes a lovely blog called mainely stitching , won my blogaversary giveaway back in September and requested a patriotic piece. It took me a while, but this is what I came up with using Glory Bee's complimentary chart, Liberty, which I converted to Belle Soie silks. I kept to the same muted palette as in the charted GAST overdyes for two reasons. First, that palette worked so well with my chosen backing fabric and chenille trim. [I have photographed the pillow against the backing fabric, one of three coordinated fabrics of which I bought 1/2 yard each some time ago. There is a print and a larger plaid in the same colorway. Wonderful stuff.] Second, I remember one of Barbara's posts in which she stated that she thought Buckeye Scarlet was one of the ugliest reds imaginable ... so I figured I'd better steer away from the traditional bright red-white-blue. I chose the finish of a small pillow lined with muslin and filled with ground walnut shells so that it could be used either as a pin pillow in her craft room or a bean bag toy for her children's indoor winter amusement ... it can get pretty cold on the Maine coast during the long winters and a variety of indoor games are a maternal survival technique! I added a little brass charm of the Liberty Bell that has been kicking around in my stash for nearly a decade. Until this piece, I had never found just the right project for it ... but it works perfectly here. I am pleased with the result and hope Barbara enjoys the piece as much as I enjoyed making it.

Assessing October Goals, Setting November Goals

2011-10-31T16:38:00.000-04:00

OCTOBER GOALS

BAP: Continue to work on TW's Tracery Dragons on the designated Wentzler Wednesdays. I am taking a vacation from this piece. When I started to work on page 1, I found myself miscounting, frogging, miscounting, frogging, over and over. I need a break from this one.

Crazy January Challenge: Continue working on Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie. Now, this piece has been more of a success. I have finished the first block and am working on the second block. It's an interesting design, a touch morbid, which works for the Halloween season. But the actual stitching is blessedly straight-forward: not a fractional stitch or blended needle to be found.

Ornament: Finish Aury's 2o11 Quaker Heart. DONE.

Sewing & Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions and finish the mini-pillow for Sept. giveaway. Well, I finished two pin pillows, four Town Square SAL ornaments and a patriotic ornament, as well as prepping the padded boards for four floss tags. That's a goodly amount of finishing even if the only on-goal finish was the September giveaway pin pillow.

Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook. I haven't gotten to this yet again this month.

WIPS & UFOS from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel. Completed three motifs and six more letters on the Quaker Sampler.
WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box. Nothing doing this month.

Off-goal Stitching: Started Prairie Grove Peddler Lighthouse Candle Mat as well as continued work on my needlepoint Owl sampler and started and finished Goode Huswife's complimentary chart Friendship Sampler.

NOVEMBER GOALS: This month I am going to try to resist the temptation of off-goal starts and simply concentrate on what I have in progress at this time. I need to really concentrate on what I have in hand if I am going to have a chance in hell to finish up my Crazy January projects.

BAP: Maybe, by the end of the month, I'll be ready to pick up TW's Tracery Dragons again. I really do need a break from this rather complex piece.

Crazy January Challenge: Continue Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie.
Needlepoint Project: Owl Sampler. Finish this piece and make into a pillow.

Sewing & Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions.
Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook
WIPS & UFOS from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel.

WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box and Prairie Grove Peddler Lighthouse Candle Mat.

Just a note: The need to de-clutter and to organize has me really concentrating on finishing pieces. I have a number of sewing finishes I'd like to get to this month, mostly seasonal pillows. And, this month I want to work on learning to frame pieces myself ... I just can't tolerate laundry baskets filled with stitched pieces carefully rolled in tubes awaiting framing. Oh, a few pieces that are clearly worthy of the investment will still go to a professional framer once I can find one I can trust not to glue and staple my precious stitched objets d'art! But I want to try my hand at framing the more whimsical seasonal decor pieces. This will mean a trip to Michael's for archival board, mattes and frames. I'll have to spend a bit of time working ona list of measurements. That will leave only the pieces I am accumulateing for quilts and wall hangings ... which I will then store flat in archival bozes in a drawer in my craft center. I need to reorganize the craft center [aka, the boys old dresser and secretary topper] as part of the overall make-over of the boys old room into my craft room. I am trying to give equal attention to my daughter's old room's conversion to my husband's den. It keeps me busy.

Weekend Progress Report: October 30, 2011

2011-10-30T09:55:00.002-04:00

Monday I used a good part of my lunch hour to measure and cut the boards for four floss tags and for four of the Town Square ornaments. And Tuesday morning, before heading into work, I cut and glued the padding on to all the boards. As Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday rolled on by, I worked on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, completing the motif and two letters for the week. Pictured are the three motifs I have stitched this month along with the letters E through J. I also attended my first knitting circle at the local high school on Wednesday evening. It was a humbling experience. It's been years since I attempted to learn to knit and came up with a fairly respectable garter knit stitch scarf which my youngest son used for nearly a decade. Wednesday night, my tension was too tight, my stitching totally inconsistent and I kept splitting the yarn ... and to add insult to injury, my body betrayed me. too: my fingers kept cramping! At least, I learned a new casting on technique which the instructor called the slingshot method. It's an easy and tidy cast on. I'll have to practice quite a bit over the next two weeks [there's no session next week] so that I can have a neat, even five to ten rows of knit stitch on my "blob". The instructor, Colleen, calls the 24 stitch wide band of practice stitches a "blob" rather than the more exalted "primer sampler" term used by other knitting instructors. This seems much more honest, especially where my blob is concerned. And Colleen is definitely NOT a wool purist, talking easily about acrylic blends that contain as little as 10% wool and yarns from AC Moore and Michael's. I am not certain I am okay with this casual attitude towards materials. I have always believed that the end product is only as good as the materials used in its manufacture. But judging by the sample projects Colleen uses to illustrate her lessons, the lady knows her stuff when it comes to technique. Friday, I switched back to The Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie and completed the outline of the second block and finished the tree trunk that dominates the left side of the block. Finally, I did the assembly and trimming of four more of my Town Square SAL ornaments: The Train Depot, The Saloon, The Clock Tower and The Town Hall. I haven't gotten to the floss tags as yet, perhaps later on in the coming week I'll manage to finish them as well. I am a bit concerned about some Priority Mail packages I dropped in the mail last Wednesday to my September and October giveaway winners. The packages should have arrived on Saturday but I haven't heard from the recipients yet ... the one time I didn't spring for delivery confirmation, wouldn't you know?!?

Weekend Progress Report: October 23, 2011

2011-10-23T09:35:00.005-04:00

In opposition to the habits of most other stitchers, as the weather cools I seem to be stitching less. That has more to do with the academic and liturgical calendars than with the seasonal calendar. This is a busy time of year, with parent and candidate meetings for sacraments, gearing up for Advent this year with the dreadful changes in the language of the litorgy, making sure all the Safe Environment paperwork on all adults is submitted in a timely fashion, starting up the Safe Environment sessions for the children, and still managing to squeeze in 5 fire drills [one for each session] before the weather makes that too problematic. And still doing all the routine daily tasks that go along with running a parish religious education program for 400 children. I am spending more time at the parish and come home less inclined to stitch. Oddly, I find myself anticipating "snow days". Now, normally, I'd prefer a snowless year ... I have always disliked snow, even as a child. But I could use a cozy, snowed-in, unscheduled day off ... sipping tea, stitching, perhaps baking a batch of scones or tea buns. It's way too early in the year to be feeling this malaise. It could be I am just slow to recover from last weekend's bout of the flu and am feeling a bit wrung out for the time being. I am just grateful this is not one of the two seasons of the year when all I seem to do is run from one archdiocesan or regional meeting or special event to another. Now, that's a really wearying time ... I am not a natural commuter!

In any case, this is what I have accomplished this week: The Black'd Skie: I picked up Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie again this week and tackled some of the frogging required as a result of my misreading of the chart's top band ... I didn't notice that in three places, the diamonds were three crosses apart rather than two ... which means my total width is three cross stitchs short. Irritating, to be sure, but I am not such a purist that I will be ripping out all that work. Instead, I will adjust to the shorter width. The first step was to frog out the flower motif on the right side of the first block below the top band and re-stitch it one stitch to the right for a more balanced look. I will make other adjustments as I go along since all the blocks on the left will be one stitch less wide than charted and all the blocks on the right will be two stitches short of the charted design. I will be much more observant of my next Primitive Needle project ... after all, the primitive irregularities add to the charm. Query: Don't you just hate it when you misread a chart? Sure, it's generally fixable but ... ! I have concluded that I misread charts because I have been stitching for over 30 years and tend to see what I expect to see when I do that first whole project at a glance scan. I need to be more alert and awake and aware. Well, after frogging, I continued stitching the first block, completing it before picking up ...

Workbasket's Quaker Sampler. Here, I just managed to stick with my plan to stitch one of the larger motifs and and two of the larger letters by my self-imposed weekly deadline. When I first saw GAST's Forest Glen, I thought it an ugly, muddy green ... in spite of the fact that I have always believed that there is no such thing as an ugly color in all of creation ... just poor light and bad settings. Well, I find I am justified in that belief since Forest Glen looks fine, thank you very much, against this fabric. I started this motif and hope to have it finished by Monday evening or Tuesday morning. Next, I made...

Some Small Progress on Ornament Finishing by gathering up all the various bits of needed cardboard and the stitched pieces. Today at work I will steal a bit of time from my lunch hour to use the copier and the paper slice to shape and cut my boards for five ornaments and four floss tags. I should be able to get the padding taken care of tonight and then finish the pieces throughout the week.

Giveaway Winner

2011-10-22T06:20:00.001-04:00

Linda, aka bengalcatlover, is the winner and I have e-mailed her asking for a snail mail address. I hope to drop her charts in the mail in a day or two.

Received my Pyn Keepe Exchange

2011-10-19T09:17:00.004-04:00

I went to the post office to pick up an "undeliverable" package yesterday morning on the way into work and this is what I found: a wonderfully executed and exquisitely finished Quaker Acorn pyn keepe. I already have it on display as part of my Fall decor which just happens to involve quite a few other acorn pieces. My heartfelt thanks go to Bernadette Huysing, who is clearly a very skilled stitcher. I was lucky to draw her as my exchange partner.

Weekend Progress Report: Octber 16, 2011

2011-10-16T11:37:00.004-04:00

Another busy work week made for very little stitching. I have picked up one of my 2010 WIPs, Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, and worked two more motifs and four more of the larger letters. It's very satisfying to work on a piece that has discrete parts that feel like individual finishes. I am going to try to do a motif and two letters a week on this piece for the rest of the year. It would be nice to have it done before 2012 turns it from WIP to UFO. On Saturday, I did get some finishing done ... see yesterday's post. And I frogged out the beak on my needlepoint owl sampler since I felt the Caron Watercolours was too thick and messy looking. And then, in very sudden fashion, I was hit with chills and fevers at midday. I spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday running from bed to bathroom. Not much stitching possible under those circumstances. I think it will take nearly a week to rehydrate my weary body.

In a finishing sort of mood

2011-10-15T13:53:00.008-04:00

Last night I finished stitching my adaptation of the Friendship Sampler [designer unknown, due to my sloppy downloading and printing]. Since I had Barbara's blogaversary gift awaiting a finish [photos to be shown once the piece is in its new home] and I wanted to finish the Sampler in the same way, I spent this morning assembling and trimming two pin pillows filled with ground walnut shells and lined with muslin. The pin pillow is pictured above a swatch of the backing fabric. Clicking on the photo will enlarge it enough so that you can see all the specialty stitches I used to make this a real sampler: the border is made up of brick stitches, tent stitches and a square Rhodes stitch and I incorporated lazy daisy, long stitches, Queen stitches and eyelet stitches into the body of the piece. I had a grand time making the piece my own. And while in a finishing mood, I went on to finish this little patriotic ornament from Prairie Schooler. I used some hand-dyed chenille from RR Reproductions as trim for both pin pillows and some hand-twisted white cord for the ornament. For the ornament, I used some beads leftover from a Kreinik kit to make the hanger and added this cute little silver USA charm that has been kicking around in my bead box for years. Once I have posted this entry, I'll return to measuring, cutting and padding the boards for five Town Square ornaments that have been languishing in the finishing basket.

A Belated Monthly Giveaway

2011-10-13T08:24:00.002-04:00

The early part of the month simply took on a hectic life of its own ... nine days without a blog entry, a weekend progress report and a Wentzler Wednesday report skipped over entirely, and worst of all, no monthly giveaway on the fourth. Life just happens sometimes, and you either keep pace or get barrelled over. Keeping pace, for me, meant letting go of a few leisure time activities. But I appear to be as caught up as I am likely to get, so I am picking up the various dropped threads and weaving them back into my routines. First back was the blogging over the past two days. Now I am ready to attend to the missed giveaway.

My apologies to any international stitchers who may follow this blog ... but with Election Day looming on our horizon here in the USA, I thought a giveaway of frankly patriotic charts would be appropriate. The charts are Calico Crossroads Star Spangled Scissor Finder and Trail Creek Farms House of Hallelujah. I may be in the minority but I rather like the so called off-year elections because I believe my vote in local and state elections not only has a greater impact on the outcome but that local and state election results have a greater impact on my day-to-day life. So, the question for this giveaway is a simple one: Which is more important to you: Presidential elections or state and local elections [i.e.: Congressional, Gubernatorial, State legislature and town & county races]? Why? The usual conditions will apply: leave an e-mail address in your comment if I won't be led to one by clicking on your user name; please commit to PIF any charts you might win, I'll do the drawing in the usual 10 days [10/23] and e-mail the winner.

Catching Up

2011-10-11T22:51:00.002-04:00

Last week was a busy one: three 12 hour workdays, Mon-Wed and a half-day on Thurs followed by a 4 and 1/2 day mini-vacation in the Catskills. While I was away, this lovely package arrived from 123stitch. Two Prairie Schooler charts: Primitive Year-Go-Rounds and a chart that has all sorts of patriotic and election day type charts. And loads and loads of Caron Waterlilies and Watercolours skeins just right for Fall and Christmas stitching.

One would think I'd have gotten a lot of stitching done on the vacation but that was not the case. I did a considerable amount of wandering about Greene County visiting as many flea-market-y, low-end antique shops as I could find, enjoying the grand weather and the little bit of leaf color in the mountains, checking out some of the restaurants in the area and vegetating on the porch of the Bavarian Manor Inn. I found some great tea cups & saucers, a nice piece of green Depression glass and a bit of Staffordshire ware [tomorrow, I'll place photos on my other blog] as well as a darning egg and a very old pin cushion shaped like a miniature ottoman in the shops. I have been trying to remember the word that describes the wear specific to silk when the woof threads remain and the warp threads tear away. It's not shredding, or running or fraying. There is a very specific technical term, just out of reach of my aging memory ... how frustrating!

While vegging out on the porch of the Inn, I managed to read the better part of Jason Berry's new book, Render to Rome, about the financial scandals in the Catholic Church. The book confirms all my instincts about mistrusting any church official above the parish level. Having worked in Catholic schools and in parish ministry for over 20 years, I have seen too much and been disappointed too often to place much hope in the hierarchy. When my reading got to be a bit much to absorb with equanimity, I reverted to the more soothing activity of stitching. So much better for the blood pressure! Pictured here is the very little bit of stitching I managed. The lighthouse piece represents my start on a candle mat chart from Prairie Grove Peddler and the latest bit of Midnight Belle Soie stitching was done on the next Quaker motif on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, a WIP from 2010.

Weekend Progress Report: October 2, 2011

2011-10-02T19:40:00.006-04:00

The second three day weekend went as well as the first. It started on Friday with the discovery that the very noticeable and hard lump in my abdomen was merely a post-operative hernia and not a possibly cancerous tumor as I feared. A hernia may not be the best health issue to deal with but it is a lot less frightening than cancer. Since I will be working three 12 hour days in a row Monday through Wednesday, I did a lot more cooking and baking than stitching this weekend. I need to have plenty of leftovers for reheating throughout the early part of the week and I had some very ripe bananas that needed to be made up into a banana/walnut/chocolate chip cake. In baking the cake, I used a product called Stevia [a natural zero calorie sweetener made from a leafy green plant native to S. America] for the first time and I must say it performed well. A pot of red sauce using Italian sausages made with ground chicken was another experiment that turned out satisfactorily ... a healthier alternative to pork sausage and very nearly as tasty. And finally, a pot roast with a rich gravy made from low sodium beef stock, a white bordeaux and just barely carmelized onions.

And, since I am looking forward to a 4 day hiatus over the Columbus Day weekend, I expect I will catch up on all my stitching next weekend. Things do tend to even out. And, as to the stitching, I did manage to finish Aury's 2011 Quaker Heart and got a bit more done on the first block of Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie. I was a bit annoyed to note that I had failed to notice some irregularities in the chart for the top band: at three points the space between the diamond pattern was three stitches rather than two. I really do think designers should post a warning to unwary stitchers when they throw in the odd irregular repeat into a seemingly regular pattern. I am three stitches short on the width of the piece as a result but am not about to pull out all that stitching. I have carefully examined the rest of the chart and see no difficulty in carrying the shorter width down through the rest of the design. The blocks on the left will be one stitch less wide than charted and the blocks on the right will be two stitches less wide. It will not make an appreciable difference in the over-all mood or look of the piece. It just irks me that I didn't notice the irregular repeat in the first place. I will have to frog a bit of the stitching, the flower on the right of the first block, and move it one space to the right but that's better than frogging nearly the entire top band, the flower AND the right border of the first block.

Assessing September Goals, Setting October Goals

2011-09-30T06:23:00.014-04:00

SEPTEMBER GOALS
BAP: Continue to work on TW's Tracery Dragons on the designated Wentzler Wednesdays. Did this, and have progressed to cross-stitching page 1 after completing all the cross-stitching, back-stitching and specialty stitching of pages 2 and 3.
Crazy January Challenge: Start Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie. Well, it's started with one section outlined but not yet completely filled in.
HOE: Assemble and mail the Autumn Pyn Keepe. DONE.
Ornament: Aury's 2011 Quaker Red White and Blue Heart. Half-finished.
Sewing & Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions. No.
Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook No.
WIPS & UFOS from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel. No.
WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box. No.
And one off-goal project was finished: the piece I will be sending out as my blogaversary giveaway ... and two off-goal projects were started: needlepoint Owl Sampler and the Friendship Sampler.

OCTOBER GOALS
BAP: Continue to work on TW's Tracery Dragons on the designated Wentzler Wednesdays. Crazy January Challenge: Continue Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie.
Ornament: Finish Aury's qo11 Quaker Heart.
Sewing & Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions.
Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook
WIPS & UFOS from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel.
WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box.

Woebegone Wentzler Wednesday

2011-09-28T10:04:00.005-04:00

No stitching on the dragon today ... a lengthy regional meeting followed by leaving work later than usual [trying to make up for a whole morning lost to the meeting] ... left me a little too tired to risk Wentzler style stitching. Instead, I did a bit more work on the first block of Black'd Skie. After all, I couldn't go a whole day without any stitching whatsoever!

Weekend Progress Report: Sept. 25, 2011: My First Three Day Weekend

2011-09-26T06:15:00.002-04:00

I have been doing a bit of crowing lately about my new work schedule that allows for a three day weekend every week ... of course, I pay for it with two beastly 12 hour days Monday and Tuesday ... but I expect it will be well worth the sacrifice. So here is how the first one went.

Friday morning: I have only two "engagements" this weekend: a baby shower for my goddaughter and the farewell Mass and reception for Fr. Bill who has been transferred to a new parish after just 10 months with us. So it should be a good stitching and gardening weekend, always assuming the rain stops. Lots of time to enjoy my passion for my backyard and for the textile arts. I am hoping to get the yard cleaned up completely so that I can start on a "landscaping" project. Who knows, I may even get some finishing done! The current favorite in my stitching rotation is Black'd Skie. The Needlepoint Inc Silks are a joy: so smooth, such luscious colors, such amusing names for the fibers. And I always enjoy working on 40 count linen. It may be my imagination, but I do believe the details are more defined and sharper on the higher count linens. And, of course, I love all The Primitive Needle designs I own. The pre-mature death of the designer in a tragic flooding accident was a great loss to the stitching community. But I am also enjoying a nostalgic return to needlepoint with my Owl sampler and a lovely little patriotic piece that I am stitching for Barbara who won my blogaversary drawing. So there will be lots of options to choose from this weekend and plenty of quality stitching time.

Friday afternoon: Well, the rains came in spite of my hopes, so after a bit of grocery shopping and housework, I settled down to some stitching. I finished the cross-stitching of the patriotic piece for the blogaversary prize and dug out the perfect fabric for finishing it. I had hoped to have it ready to mail Monday but that didn't quite happen. Maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. Photos will be forthcoming when I hear that Barbara has received it.

Saturday: One of the problems with a rotation that is currently four BAPs and no smalls whatsoever is that I need the occasional little project to keep my stitching energy going. So this morning, I put together a little something from odds and ends found in my stitching stash. The chart was A Friendship Sampler, a complimentary chart by a designer unknown to me. When I downloaded the chart, I failed to notice that my printer scanned only 5/6ths of the page. The missing portion had the designer's name and all the DMC #s. I don't mind missing the #'s since I never really play by the rules anyway but I am annoyed that I didn't catch the designer's name and can't give the proper credit. I have changed everything about this sampler except the positioning and shape of the houses, so it is nearly as much my own creation as the original designer's but still I would like to give credit where credit is due. Keeping to the recent stitch from stash theme, I pulled out a scrap of fabric that I had cut and zigzagged around the edges before deciding it wouldn't do for a project way back in April. And since I was planning on stitching my Friendship Sampler as an Autumn piece, I pulled out the same Catherine Jordan overdyed cottons I had used for my Earth Day Make Do Sampler and supplemented those fibers with a bit of Caron Wildflowers Marigold left over from my Autumn Spots of Fun Sampler from 2009. Just to be on the safe side, I also pulled some WDW Chrysanthemum from stash and some odds and ends of green floss from other long since finished projects that I have stored on a darling little wooden hornbook shaped floss holder. Okay, the houses remained the same shape and in the same relative position to one another but I changed the tree to a deciduous one so that I can stitch some lovely orange-y gold leaves, I will replace the tulip like flowers of the original with my own interpretation of spider mums and will add some greenery and a few pumpkins, and I have changed the border to a brick stitch checkerboard with corner squares in tent and Rhodes stitch using the Caron Wildflowers Marigold floss. I'll probably go back and frog out the border on the upper right corner and re-stitch it to create a smoother color flow. I still have some spaces to fill and haven't quite decided how I will fill in the blanks but I am happy with this start.

Sunday: It was back to Black'd Skie for the remainder of my stitching time. I have to apologize for the failure to iron the linen before photographing it but I didn't really have the time before work to do so. I am still working on the boring border and have yet to decide whether I will do all the borders at once and be done with them or stitch each block as I come to it.

All in all, a fairly productive weekend and not a bad precedent for all the three day weekends yet to come!

A Meme of Sorts

2011-09-22T08:25:00.003-04:00

One of the ladies on the 123 stitch board came up with a "meme" of sorts. I have edited it somewhat and repeated it here, thinking it might be fun.

Regional Phrases Quiz
1. What term do you use to describe a sale of unwanted items on your own property? Yard sale.
2. What do you call the area of grass between the sidewalk and the road? The verge.
3. W hat do you call the area of grass that occurs in the middle of some streets? A median.
4. What do you call the long narrow place in the middle of a divided highway? A median.
5. What do you call the drink made with milk and ice cream? A malted.
6. What do you call the long sandwich that contains cold cuts, lettuce, and so on? A hero.
7. What do you call the insect that flies around in the summer and has a rear section that glows in the dark? A Lightning bug.
8. What do you call the miniature lobster that one finds in lakes and streams for example (a crustacean of the family Astacidae)? Crayfish.
9. What do you call the kind of spider (or spider-like creature) that has an oval-shaped body and extremely long legs? Daddy-long-legs.
10. Are there very specific names used for paternal vs maternal grandparents in your area? No.
11. What do you call the big clumps of dust that gather under furniture and in corners? Normal.
12. What is your *general* term for the rubber-soled shoes worn in gym class, for athletic activities, etc.? Sneakers.
13. What do you call the wheeled contraption in which you carry groceries at the supermarket? Grocery cart.
14. What term do you use to refer to something that is across both streets from you at an intersection (or diagonally across from you in general)? Catty-corner.
15. What do you call the activity of driving around in circles in a car? Stupid.
16. What do you call paper that has already been used for something or is otherwise imperfect? Scrap paper.
17. What is your *general* term for a big road that you drive relatively fast on? Highway.
18. What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining? Sunshower.
19. When you are cold, and little points of skin begin to come on your arms and legs, you have- goose pimples.
20. What do you call the gooey or dry matter that collects in the corners of your eyes, especially while you are sleeping? Sand.
21. What do you call an easy course? Basket-weaving class.
22. What do you call a traffic situation in which several roads meet in a circle and you have to get off at a certain point? Annoying … oh, all right, a traffic circle.
23. Do you use the word cruller? Yes, doesn’t everyone?
24. Do you use the term "bear claw" for a kind of pastry? See above.
25. What do you call someone who is the opposite of pigeon-toed (i.e. when they walk their feet point outwards)? A ballerina?
26. Can you call coleslaw "slaw"? No.
27. What do you call the box you bury a dead person in? A coffin.
28. Do you say "vinegar and oil" or "oil and vinegar" for the type of salad dressing? Oil and vinegar, because if made properly, there is more oil than vinegar.
29. What do you call it when a driver changes over one or more lanes way too quickly? We are supposed to avoid that sort of language on the Internet.
30. When you stand outside with a long line of people waiting to get in somewhere, are you standing "in line" or "on line" (as in, "I stood ___ in the cold for two hours before they opened the doors")? In or on, I use them interchangeably.
31. Do you say "frosting" or "icing" for the sweet spread one puts on a cake? Icing.
32. What is "the City"? Well, New York, of course!

Well, Wentzler Wednesday Was A Wee Bit Weak.

2011-09-21T18:25:00.001-04:00

Finally, I started on page 1 of the cross-stitching. Here it is late September and I foolishly thought I'd have this piece done by the end of July back when I started serious work on it early June. Talk about foolish optimism! I'll be happy to finish it by year's end, at this rate. Nothing much to show yet since I only managed an hour's worth of stitching today. I'll wait till next week to stun and amaze you with a progress photo ... at least, I hope there will be stunning and amazing progress.

First Days

2011-09-19T20:23:00.000-04:00

Well, I survived my first day of the program year ... all 12 hours of it. And I have to admit I didn't have it nearly as badly as my husband did. Today was the first day of the Fall session of the UN and my husband manages realty space for UBS, right across the street from the Waldorf where the POTUS and many other dignitaries stay. His building's street access is closed off by the Secret Service agents; NYPD and Homeland Security people are all over the place. Sharpshooters are positioned on rooftops all over the place and mid-town becomes an armed camp. In short, conducting normal business is a logistical nightmare. Not to mention that my husband's usual 2 hr one way commute nearly doubles in time because of all the checkpoints and closures. It seems to me in this day and age of tele-conferencing, it would be ever so much more sensible and far less expensive to hold these events in virtual time/space. After all, it's not like anything really gets done during these first day sessions except a lot of political posturing and place marking. The sensitive security issues are dealt with by the workaday professional UN staffers in normal sessions. It'd just be easier on NY taxpayers if the UN would adopt a lower profile. The cost of added police security and loss of business because of all the above mentioned checkpoints and closures could be eliminated and life could proceed with just the everyday level of chaos that characterizes NYC.

I did manage to get a bit more stitching done on my lunch hour and I relaxed with a wee bit more after work while waiting for my poor spouse to get home ... but I can't show photos as my project was the patriotic piece requested by Barbara as her prize in my blogaversary giveaway.

Weekend Progress Report: Sept. 18, 2011

2011-09-18T22:24:00.003-04:00

My religious education program starts tomorrow as does my new schedule of 12 hour days Monday and Tuesday and 8 hour days Wednesday and Thursday with three day weekends. I am a little concerned about the Monday-Tuesday stint but am absolutely thrilled to have a three day weekend. For the past 17 years I have always had a split in my days off: Wednesday & Sunday or Thursday & Sunday. I never felt really rested because I never had two days in a row to recoup my energies. I tended to use the weekday off to schedule appointments and run errands that couldn't be done on weekends. And, at least once a month or so, my weekday off would be eaten up by professional meetings or workshops. And Sundays, well when you work for the Church, even as a layperson, every so often Sunday becomes a work day as well. So the new three day weekend has enormous appeal: not two, but three days off in a row. Meetings are rarely scheduled for a Friday, so I won't be losing many of them and even if I have to work on a Sunday, I'll still have two days in a row off that week. My husband and I can enjoy a weekend getaway to the Catskills or Amish country or some other nearby spot every so often. What could be better? But what about stitching this past week? Well, since work really heated up this past week, not much stitching time but what I did have was spent on Tracery Dragons and the Black'd Skie Sampler from Primitive Needle. So far as Tracery Dragons was concerned, I finished up the #4 Kreinik braid for the dragon's mane and the wrapped backstitch that makes up the thinner branches of the rose bush. The top row of Black'd Skie is done as well. My apologies for the poor photo - I didn't have time to iron it before taking a snapshot. And, I must confess, my stitching time was further eaten away by the arrival of the latest Nora Roberts "In Death" series novel. I devour this series and tend to drop all other leisure activities when a new installment arrives, reading late into the night till I am done, usually a day or two after I remove the book from my mailbox.

My Need for Needlepoint

2011-09-16T16:00:00.000-04:00

I started embroidering some forty years ago with needlepoint ... it was my first love. Though I do far more cross-stitch and surface embroidery nowadays, every now and then I simply have to go back to my roots. What inspired me this time was the grab bag sale of Thread Gatherer's Shepherd's Silk and Sheep's Silk at Needle in the Haystack. Perfect for needlepoint! I ordered a bag of each fiber and a length of eggshell 18ct mono canvas. Once the grab bags arrived, I started casting about for a project. Most of the time, I can be satisfied with one of the lovely Christmas ornaments on the Caron website. But this time, I just had to go for something a bit more ambitious. So take a look at the beginnings of my owl sampler. I love the way the rice stitch in the eye circle worked both in texture and in the variation of color in the overdyed silk! I will finish it as a shaped pillow and hope to have it done for Halloween, 2011, but 2012 would be good, too ... it'd make a great addition to my Professor McGonegal costume. This sampler is being stitched on 18ct eggshell monocanvas with a variety of Threadgather Silk'n'Colors, Sheep's Silk and Shepherd's Silk yarns as well as some Caron Waterlilies. Basically, I am going through all my silk and wool fiber stash and choosing things that fit my colorway. I may even use a wee bit of RG Petite Velvet for the feet. Each section of the design is done in a different stitch and with a different fiber. The chart is from an ancient hardcover book called The Creative Art of Needlepoint Tapestry by Joan Fisher which was copyrighted in 1972. I have kept this book more for the wonderful history of the needle arts and the dictionary of stitches with which it begins rather than the designs which tend to be a bit dated. But I always liked the owl and always intended to stitch it one day. Here is a photo of the design from the book. As I said, somewhat dated. All that striping to give the interest and texture that modern overdyed threads achieve so much more elegantly. In accord with my usual habit, I am playing with the chart and changing things here and there. I'll be eliminating all the stripes within a section, e.g.: the Hungarian stitch at the crown of the head is being done entirely in Thread Gatherer's Silk'n'Colors Chestnut and the large eye rings in rice stitch are being done in Caron Waterlilies Burnt Toast. Those dreadful eyebrows are being banished entirely. I've pulled another of my Waterlilies skeins from stash, Tobacco, that I'll probably use for the breast of my owl. Some of my new Thread Gatherer's Sheep's Silk will be used for the upper and lower portions of the wings. I haven't figured out all the variations just yet. I have been toying with the idea of doing the beak in a Queen stitch which will change the shape just a wee bit and move the right eye ring over a thread or two which in turn will have an effect on the width of the crown of the head. I tried it first with a WDW perle cotton ... as seen in the photo. This will be frogged shortly. Instead of a smooth elegant finish it is lumpy and grotesque. I am going to go stash diving again and see if I can come up with a silkor wool. Four strands of silk or a low ply wool ought to produce the effect I am craving. I love Queen stitches and they are so much easier to do on canvas than on linen so how can I possibly resist including some? This is why I could never be a model stitcher. I view charts as suggestions, gentle hints, jumping off points ... It is true that sometimes, barring the ever so rare mistake, I stitch a chart faithfully - Teresa Wentzler's charts spring to mind here. Even I wouldn't dare mess with a TW chart. But more often than not, I make changes, most commonly with colorways and/or fiber and fabric selections but frequently even with the actual design elements. I think it is the aging hippie mindset: I rarely do exactly as I am told.

"Woe is Me" Wentzler Wednesday

2011-09-14T06:37:00.010-04:00

Dated for Wednesday but actually posted on Thursday because the camera battery needed recharging. My religious education program starts next Monday, the Annual Parish Picnic is Saturday and I am meeting with new catechists this week as well as with the perennial crew of last minute parents registering their children. Registration opened May 15 and the "deadline" was June 30. But in ministry, "deadline" translates as "please, for pity's sake, register on time so I don't have to update class lists and parent hall duty lists 90 times in the last two days before classes start". And that is just the tip of the iceberg: textbooks, workbooks, parent orientation packets, fundraising packets, program handbooks have to be re-counted/adjusted. Catechist binders and Attendance Rosters have to be updated. Name tags, Permanent Record Cards and student folders have to be added. Late registrants are a logistical nightmare of clerical mistakes just waiting to happen! But I stick to my philosophy that no child shall be denied religious formation or sacramental preparation because of an arbitrary deadline or parental inconsideration, idiocy, irresponsibility or discourtesy ... even though I send reminder postcards in July and August and do a follow-up phone call the Tuesday after Labor Day. This year seems to be a little harder on my nerves and demanding of my patience ... I guess I am getting too old for this. Most late registrants try to turn things around so this is all my fault, as in one woman's protest that "When I got the registration packet in May and saw the exorbitant fees, I just threw it to the side and said I'd deal with it later! Then, we were travelling all summer and I didn't get around to it." This same woman cheerfully pays three times the amount of my fees to place her children in Little League and has one child in travel hockey which ends up costing thousands of dollars a year when you consider ice time, hotels and meals for the family when competing out of state and still has sufficient funds to "travel all summer"... but she questions my fees of $270 a year for two children. Still, I manage to remain polite and welcoming even as I seethe inwardly ... and I did wait till she left the building before banging my head on my desk. To make matters worse, yesterday was primary day and my auditorium is a polling station. And the dear elderly folk who volunteer to staff the polls had me lowering, raising, lowering, raising the air conditioning temps at least a dozen times during the day ... the pastor insists that the controls remain under lock and key to prevent waste and to encourage accountability of the staff. The old darlings were very sweet and apologetic in the extreme, and I know and like most of them but still... So that set me a bit behind in my routines preparing for the first week of classes. Needless to say, I didn't get much stitching done today ... which is probably a good thing. My frazzled nerves would probably have resulted in loads of frogging. In any case, here is my progress photo. Only the most observant eye for detail will detect any progress since the last photo!!! Okay, I'll tell you. The trellis outlining/backstitching was finished Wednesday 9/7 and Wednesday 9/14 I started on the gold tourmaline metallic mane on the dragons.

Another September Goal

2011-09-13T05:51:00.006-04:00

... was to start Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie. Oh, my, what a BAP! The piece is huge ... far larger than I remember: 197w x 247h. It is stitched in panels or boxes a la the HRH series. I think this officially kills any chance I might have had of completing the Crazy January Challenge of 2011 successfully. After all, there is still Allesandre Adelaide's Zucca on the list after this. Even if I decided to limit all my stitching to Tracery Dragons and Black'd Skie for the remainder of the year [a most unlikely choice, at best], I doubt I'd finish up both by year's end. And that still leaves Zucca out of the mix: another BAP, if not in size, then in complexity. But I am not nearly single-minded enough to focus solely on BAPs. I have two 2010 WIPs still in the stitching bag that I would like to have done before the close of 2011. And there's a 2011 goal to have stitched one Town Square ornament a month this year: I have five ornaments to go. I have yet to receive the JCS Halloween book for 2011 and I just know there'll be a must stitch ornament or two or three in that issue. Then, of course, there is my committment to stitch a blogaversary ornament. What was I thinking? Well, back to the details. I am stitching this on a piece of 40ct raw linen with one strand of the recommended Baroque Silks from The Pure Palette. The ridiculously tiny bit of progress you see in the photo is the product of four hours stitching! Gotta love 40ct projects!!!

Weekend Progress Report September 11, 2011

2011-09-12T04:35:00.000-04:00

This being posted a day late because it just didn't seem right to post something so mundane, even self-indulgent, on the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks on NYC, DC and Flight 93.

The only other thing I did this weekend was finish the assembly of my HOE Pyn Keepe and get it out in the mail nine days late ... mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I was so close to finishing this last weekend that I even wrote my scheduled post to reflect a finish and mailing. But alas, I let some medical issues distract me. I hate waiting for the results of tests and I am afraid I just sunk into a malaise instead of doing the sensible thing: keeping busy. Anyway, all has been resolved happily. It took just an hour to assemble and then put the Pyn Keepe in the mailer. So it went off Saturday morning by priority mail to make up for my delinquency. Since I was assured it would arrive on Monday [today], I feel safe in posting a photo of the finish. I backed it with an upholstery fabric that picks up the green in the design and has rows of dots in some of the other colors.

Blogaversary Giveaway Winner

2011-09-10T05:48:00.002-04:00

I will be working a Patriotic ornament into my rotation this month for the 15th entry, Barbara, of mainely stitching. I am thrilled the randomizer came up with her number since I have been enjoying her blog for nearly as many years as I have been blogging myself. Hers was one of the first stitching blog that I added to my must read list. I have been following her doings from her time as an Maine-lander living in Holland to her return to the States and her laudable efforts to set up a self-sustaining homestead in her beloved Maine. I want to be her when I retire from teaching!

Stitching a Series

2011-09-08T07:44:00.000-04:00

I may be one of the very few stitchers who hasn't gotten caught up in the Hawk Run Hollow series. This is not because I dislike them. Actually, I think they are quite lovely and I enjoy looking at other folks HRH WIPs. And, it is not that I am such an independent thinker that I resist trends easily. I have been caught up in many a fashion fad ... both stitching related and not. I think the only reason I haven't bought them is because I already have a number of stitching series in my stash that will take me forever to finish. To prove my point, I thought I'd catalog my series here.

Teresa Wentzler's Faeries: I have stitched the Spring and Autumn Faeries from her Seasonal Faeries booklet and have also stitched a Liliy of the Valley Faerie very similar to the others [a magazine chart, though I can't remember at this late date what magazine]Summer and Winter Faeries remain to be stitched.

Dragon Dreams Dragons: I have already stitched The Stormbringer and The Ice Dragon's Kingdom but have yet to stitch Dragon of the Summer Sky and Dragon of the Winter Moon. I also have two of her more whimsical dragon charts in my stash, one featuring a dragon tea party and another with dragons representing the four points of the compass.

Stitching Parlour's Jane Austen Pride & Prejudice series which has all the houses/estates mentioned in Pride and Prejudice: Longbourn, Netherfield, the Collins' parsonage, Rosings, Pemberley. I plan to stitch it up as a neighborhood, all on one piece of linen, in order of appearance in the novel.

Cluny Tapestry Five Senses. I have already stitched Taste and Hearing and have the charts for Sight, Smell and Touch.

Then there's the Nashville Market 2005 Town Square series of 42 buildings. I have already stitched a dozen of them and plan to do most of them before I through. They'll be ornaments on a Small Town USA themed Christmas Tree.

Then there are my Workbasket Quaker Animals that will eventually be assembled as a quilt. I have already stitched 8 of the animals and the house and 4 trees I intend to use as the center of that quilt. But I have five more animals in my stash and haven't checked the Workbasket site in many months to see if they have added more animals.

Then there are the three Liz Turner Diehl Gardens that are in my stash: a German Garden, the English Tudor Garden and the Summer Garden that reminds me of the Maine seacoast. The only one I have started, and that was as part of a class at CATS 2005, is the Summer Garden.

A Celtic Tarot Card Deck that I started years ago for my daughter using pierced paper. I've stitched three of the cards, front and back.

Finally, there's Bent Tree's first Branch series. I have all the charts but have yet to start the piece.

That should keep me busy enough for the time being. I truly don't need HRH on my conscience as well.

Whiling Away A Wentzler Wednesday

2011-09-07T20:39:00.003-04:00

There's no point in showing another photo. All I did this Wednesday was finish up backstitching on the trellis. Before I can start on page 1, I still have the long stitched dragon's mane and the wrapped backstitch connecting the leaves to the rose canes to stitch. If past experience is any indication, Tracery Dragons is at least two months from completion. It has been my most time consuming Crazy January Challenge piece yet. I picked it up in June and have been working on it all summer long. I don't know what I was thinking when I included a Teresa Wentzler chart in a stitching challenge rotation. Talk about sabotaging myself! Even though I balanced this BAP with six ornament sized pieces on the challenge list, I am beginning to have doubts that I'll finish all 15 projects before year's end. The two remaining pieces after this are Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie and Allesandre Adelaide's Zucca. Both, in my opinion, qualify as BAPs. The first because of sheer size and the second because of the complexity of all the tracery. There's that dreaded word again, tracery! You'd think I'd take it as a clue, wouldn't you? But I love the delicacy that the word almost always implies. I am hoping page 1 will go more quickly and more smoothly than pages 2 and 3, if only because I am more accustomed to the challenges of this design. I would love to have a finish by the end of this month but, realistically speaking, a late October or early November finish is far more likely.

Weekend Progress Report: September 4, 2011

2011-09-05T23:47:00.005-04:00

Posting a day late, since the 4th is my monthly giveaway day.

BAP: Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons. Wentzler Wednesday morphed into the Wentzler Weekend because backstitching can become addictive. Especially in a Teresa Wentzler design where backstitching pulls the whole piece together. I am falling in love with this project all over again as it comes to life beneath my hands. I wonder how many other needleworkers have such an on again/off again relationship with the more complex pieces they stitch. It is almost marital: good days, bad days, with an underlying committment and love. I am including a few detail shots as well as the usual full piece photo. Just wanted to share with you all just how many quarter stitches and back-stitches go into a TW rose. Is it any wonder that I find these roses the most difficult motifs to stitch in this entire piece? I haven't dared to look at page 1 of the chart to see how many roses are left. I'd rather not know till it's time to tackle them. And then there is the border filled with a tacked herringbone stitch. It was time consuming but the final effect is pretty spectacular. I am a little more than halfway through with this project, having completed pages 2 and 3 of the cross-stitch and very nearly done with pages 2 & 3 of the back-stitch charts. It has taken me much longer to get this far than I thought it would. This was my Day 10 project in the Crazy January Challenge and after the initial one day in January, I put this in my stitching rotation on June 2nd. I foolishly thought I'd have it ready for the framer by the end of July. Realistically, I'll be thrilled to manage a mid-October finish but would not be surprised by a mid November finish either. The complexity of this design makes it necessary to switch off every so often with much more straightforward projects. My stitching sanity pretty much hangs in the balance. And to further cut into my stitching time, this is a pretty busy season professionally: the start up of the school year with all the meetings, trainings, classes and paperwork. Things smooth out briefly just before Christmas and then heat up again in January.

HOE: I have it all assembled and in its handy dandy mailer. I'll take it to the Post Office on Tuesday. Three days late to be sure but sometimes life gets in the way. Will post a photo when I have word that it was received.

Ornament: Got a start a nice start on Aury's 2011 Quaker Heart on Thursday while in a doctor's waiting area. The idea was to have it done by September 11 rhough I am not sure I will manage that.

All in all, not a bad start for the month.

September Giveaway - Fourth Blogaversary

2011-09-04T11:13:00.006-04:00

To celebrate my fourth blogaversary, which actually occurred on August 24, I want to do something a little different than my normal giveaway of gently used charts. Instead, I will make an ornament [either Halloween, Christmas or USA Patriotic] for the winner of this drawing. The winner chooses the holiday theme and I will choose an appropriate chart from among my favorite designers. As readers of this blog know, that would include Homespun Elegance, Blackbird Designs, Prairie Schooler and Workbasket.

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

-- open to all stitchers

-- leave a comment below as to why you are interested in the giveaway: only this time add a note as to whether you prefer a Halloween, a Christmas or a USA patriotic piece.

-- 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

--the winner will need to wait a while for the prize, since I will only be starting on the project once the winner is selected

Good luck to all who enter.

Heartstrings Earth Day Make Do Sampler Finish

2011-08-31T05:17:00.001-04:00

I am someone for whom spatial intelligence is not a strength. So, flipping a design is always a time consuming and carefully counted chore, especially since I can't be bothered to chart it on paper but work directly on the linen. It took nearly twice as long to stitch the second squirrel as it did the first. Mainly because I made a mistake in the second row which I did not discover till I started back-stitching. Naturally, I had to frog and re-stitch the whole thing. After that, it was simply a matter of charting my initials and the year, centering each beneath a squirrel, and voila, a finish! I am including photos of the whole piece and then some detail shots. I have a few choices when it comes to what I'll pick up tomorrow. I could take up Tracery Dragons or The Sturbridge Box again, or I could finally pull Workbasket's Quaker Sampler out and work another motif, or I could start one of my September goal projects, Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie or Aury's 2011 Quaker Heart ornament. An embarrassment of riches! Whatever my mood, there'll be something to suit. And it doesn't hurt that I have had more stitching time than planned lately. I went into the office Monday to discover that I had no power. I stayed till noon doing the very few things I could without a computer, a phone, a shredder, a TV, lights, etc. Then I gave up and went home. Orange & Rockland Power was predicting 10 - 14 days before power was restored. However, power was restored in just a day and a half. So, it seems that O&R's predictions are like Scotty's on the original Star Trek: "I canna do it, Captain" and then, of course, miracle worker that he is, he does.

I know it is Wentzler Wednesday but I was so excited about finishing this up early this morning that I had to post. I will stitch faithfully on Tracery Dragons for the rest of the day and post progress photos tomorrow morning.

Assessing August Goals and Setting September Goals

2011-08-30T05:47:00.001-04:00

AUGUST GOALS
BAP: Finish Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons. Clearly, this did not happen. But I did finish the crossstitching of page 2 and got started on the backstitching of both Page 2 & 3.
Crazy January Challenge: see above, Tracery Dragons is doing double duty as my BAP and my current CJC. See above.
HOE: Autumn Pin Keep: finished the cross-stitching.
Sewing and Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions. NO.
Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook NO.
WIPS & UFOs from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel. NO.
WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box. YES.
On the other hand, I did manage to start [and finish] a few unscheduled pieces: Sue Donnelly's Hear the Sea Call Sampler, Earth Day Make Do Sampler and PS Promo Card Summer House.

SEPTEMBER GOALS
BAP: Continue to work on TW's Tracery Dragons on the designated Wentzler Wednesdays.
Crazy January Challenge: Start Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie.
HOE: Assemble and mail Autumn Pyn Keepe.
Ornament: Aury's 2011 Quaker Heart.
Sewing & Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions.
Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook
WIPS & UFOS from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel.
WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box.

Weekend Progress Report: August 28, 2011

2011-08-28T05:42:00.015-04:00

It seems entirely appropriate to have as my stitching picture on this post Prairie Schooler's Summer House/Rain ... we are just getting over the after effects of Hurricane Irene. My son is napping downstairs on the sofa, his neighborhood having been evacuated due to an high surge expected for the stream and lake that are literally at his doorstep. The local fire department doesn't expect the damn to hold. I can't reach my daughter who lives on an inlet in the Delaware Water Gap area but my son who recently helped her move in assures me that she lives high on a hill above the shore line. He also mentioned that she doesn't get great cell reception in her area so I should not assume the worst when she doesn't answer my calls. I am trying hard to be sensible and put my anxiety on hold.

Hard to believe, but here in NY, the official end of summer is just a week away with upcoming Last Hurrah of the Labor Day Weekend and, incidentally, my birthday. As always, it sped away all too quickly and the start up of my religious education program looms on the horizon. The start date for classes is Sept. 19 but there are all sorts of preparations to attend to before then, not to mention the recruitment of three more volunteer catechists. Why do people wait to step forward till the very last moment, hoping that someone, anyone, will do so first ... have they no consideration for my sky-rocketing blood pressure readings? Have the parishioners considered just how much worse it might be if suddenly they had to recruit and hire a new Coordinator of Religious Education [the former one being mercifully confined to a padded cell, babbling incoherently about schedules, catechist shortages, hand-outs, background-checks, late registrations, orientation meetings, name tags, fundraisers, pastors, parents, printers and zero point budgets] ... and just a few weeks before the program is due to start? That'd teach 'em! Or perhaps not ... my delusions of indispensability notwithstanding! At least I can always retreat and regroup in the serenity of my stitching corner. At this point the lyric "In my own little corner, in my own little chair" from the Rodgers and Hammerstein Cinderella has started to run through my head ... perhaps I am not all that far removed from that padded cell, after all! Now enough of this blather and on to stitching progress for the week. First up, the PS Promo card Summer House/Rain is finished. The Heartstrings Make Do Earth Day Sampler is moving along nicely with the addition of squirrels and acorns. I have even done a bit more work on TW's Tracery Dragons. I'll show another picture of the dragons on Wednesday, when, one hopes, there'll be considerably more and noticeable progress. So, apparently, the stitching corner has been a pretty busy place this week.

Earth Day Sampler

2011-08-26T11:13:00.006-04:00

I am aware that Earth Day is generally celebrated on April 26th but I have always felt it to be more of a September sort of deal: September being the month of a ripe and bountiful harvest, loads of fresh fruits and vegetables, harvest festivals, my birthday, cooler weather, a lovely autumnal tang in the air, my birthday, fall foliage, fresh pressed apple cider, apple picking, farmers' markets, oh, and did I mention my birthday? If I had set the date, it would have been in September. But, of course, no one asked for me. I, however, am not to be deterred by mere words on a calendar. I plan to have my earth day sampler done in time for September's opening days. I have stitched it in rich autumnal colors and will be including a squirrel motif to represent both the virtue of frugality [as per my dictionary of sampler symbolism] and that last frantic Fall rush to store the goodness of Summer to be enjoyed throughout the Winter. Once I have stitched the second squirrel, I'll add my initials below the one on the left and the year on the one on the right. Anyone wishing to refer back to the original Heartstrings chart to compare and contrast the versions, should click on this link.

And the sampler isn't the only evidence of this EarthDay/Earth Mother mentality. I am in the mood to make apple butter again, for the first time in years. And maybe some applesauce as well. I want to fill my larder and freezer. I am thinking of buying a food dehydrator and one of those vacuum sealing gizmos for freezing foods. Think of it: dried peaches and apples to use in pies and cakes all winter long. Dried cherries and blueberries to slip into oatmeal as it cooks. Bags and bags of frozen applesauce and cherries and blueberries and raspberries and blackberries ready to be turned into applesauce spice cakes and fruit crumbles during the dark and dreary winter months. If we have snow as often this winter as last, I know I'll become a baking fool. In any case, once the weather cools down enough for serious baking, I'll be starting my quest for the perfect recipes for scones and tea biscuits/buns. Heck, I may even return to the practice of baking my own bread and making my own yogurt.

A Weak Wentzler Wednesday

2011-08-25T05:41:00.001-04:00

I didn't get much done yesterday, just filled in the odds and ends on the right side of the circle and have begun to fill in the upper right corner of page 2 of the cross-stitching chart. One reason progress is so slow is that there are so many color changes. Typically, I take one blended needle, stitch three or four whole crosses and half a dozen quarter crosses and then it's on to the next color change. Right now I have about a dozen needles threaded with all different combinations of thread, stuck in labelled sheets of memo paper. It saves a little time, having the needles ready to go, but not a heck of a lot.

I Wonder As I Wander

2011-08-23T11:14:00.002-04:00

In checking my blog Stats recently, I discovered that www.gothise.com was a referring site, with 23 hits. Gothise is a self-described Twitter site for alternative people. Okay, I am an aging ex-hippie so maybe that makes sense. But I do not twitter or tweet or whatever it's called. And I am at a loss to see just how my rather staid stitching blog came to the attention of the goth community. I haven't even waxed philosophical in any recent posts. I rather expect my 23 visitors from that site are as confused as I am. About the only thing we might have in common is a "what were they thinking?" shared head-shaking moment! Such are the arcane mysteries of blogging.

Weekend Progress Report: August 21, 2011

2011-08-21T07:47:00.013-04:00

I went back to work on the 16th. I always find it so hard to get back into the swing of things after two weeks off. It makes me long for retirement but that is at least five years in the future ... longer if the Social Security Administration keeps moving the eligibility dates for benefits. To make matters even more interesting, I have kicked off the annual Fall procession of doctors' visits a bit early this year. First up, this month, the cardiologist and gynecologist. Next month, the internist, endocrinologist and opthamologist. In October the gastroenteriologist and any other specialists the darlings decide I need to see. I suppose it could be worse, last year there was a surgeon in the mix as well! Usually, this annual ritual begins in September and takes me through December ... it is such fun being a 60-something. I was joking with my boss, whose birthday is two days before mine, that I need a separate address book just for my doctors. His 70-something response: "tell me about it!"

On the stitching front, I have finished Sue Donnelly's Hear The Sea Call Sampler, worked a bit more on Tracery Dragons on Wednesday, stitched most of the motto on the Earth Day Make Do Sampler over one, started the PS Summer House/Rain Promo card as my purse project [for doctors' waiting rooms]. All in all, a rather eclectic week of stitching. This is so much more my typical pattern: a rotation of four or five pieces of varying size and complexity. The past month or so's intense focus on Tracery Dragons, almost to the exclusion of all else was quite the exception to the rule.

When It's Wentzler Wednesday

2011-08-18T19:53:00.002-04:00

Although yesterday was another Wentzler Wednesday, I got very little accomplished. It'd take an eagle eye to spot the progress made since the last photo: just the skinny branches of the rose bush. That's lots and lots of 1/4 stitches and three color changes for such a very little bit of stitching. Even though I am talking about two full hours of stitching, hard as that may be to believe. So there's no point in showing another photo at this time!

Though I am determined to finish this piece, it is beginning to wear me down. It is very complex and takes a great deal of care and concentration. Talk about a high maintenance project! I find the longer I work at it the more easily I am distracted by the siren call of other less complicated charts. This, of course, sets a vicious cycle in motion, delaying the finish and opening up the possibility of more distractions along the way, further delaying the finish, and so on and so on and so on. But I do not wish to put it aside "for a while", fearing the "while" would become an eternity. So for the time being, I will work on it only on the designated Wentzler Wednesdays until such time as I recover my enthusiasm for it. Perhaps I will be able to amuse myself with a wide variety of easier projects throughout the week, storing up reserves of concentration for my Wednesday encounters with the dragons.

Finally, A Finish I Can Show

2011-08-16T17:00:00.000-04:00

Last week, I did finish the cross-stitching on my Pyn Keepe for Edgar's round on HOE but can't show it till assembled, sent and received. But today I finished Sue Donnelly's sampler, Hear the Sea Call. This was a very quick stitch, but packed with all sorts of fun little surprises. The embellishments worked so nicely, bringing the sampler to life. The satin stitches and shell eyelets seemed to fly from the needle [a welcome change from the painstakingly slow 1/4 stitches and counting/recounting on Tracery Dragons]. The lettering was quick and easy, comprised as it was of long stitches and backstitches. I might almost have been writing with pen and ink: that's how quickly the words flowed onto linen. While I didn't really time this project, I think it took no more than five or six hours of stitching since Sunday evening when I first picked it up. I'll have to e-mail Sue and tell her that her souvenir sampler from The Stitcher's Hideway [Sturbridge 2011] pretty much saved my stitching sanity. And, I received a lovely gift from in the mail yesterday from Barb H from Illinois: this Homespun Elegance chart and a veritable treasure trove of Old Brasse buttons. That's the second giveaway I've been lucky enough to win in the past month. Especially when you consider I have gone several years without entering my name in a giveaway and then come up the winner in the first two I enter. Could things be any better? I am going to enjoy all this good karma for as long as it lasts. Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket!

L*K Ornament Exchange Received

2011-08-15T20:36:00.000-04:00

I received this exquisitely finished little lovely from Cindy in NY as part of the Christmas ornament exchange from the Hooked on Exchanging group. I wish you could see the very dainty trim she used, my photo does not do it justice. She also sent along with a pretty little chart from Country Cottage Needleworks, a mini-sampler called Sunflower.

The ironic thing is that I used the very same Peace-Joy-Love chart for my own entry in this exchange, only I stitched my version in beads. Two takes on the same chart couldn't be more different. I have already carefully stored Cindy's version away with my other cross-stitched Christmas ornaments ... the ones I use to decorate my table top wrought iron tree that decorates my entryway during the Christmas season.

Weekend Progress Report: August 14, 2011

2011-08-14T07:02:00.015-04:00

I have been enjoying a visit from my son and his young family this past week and have been doing a bit of de-clutterring work on the someday craft room space as well. Eight of those very large black trash bags, filled mostly with VHS and audiocassette tapes, are out front awaiting curbside pick-up. So there hasn't been all that much stitching going on. Just completing the floral border on the Heartstrings Earth Day Make Do Sampler. In addition, I finished the stitching on my Pyn Keepe for the September HOE and just need to assemble it. I do have some plans to make some marbelized pearl headed pins with which to decorate it. I'll wait to show the piece once it has been fully assembled, sent and received.

And then startitis struck again. I have been carrying Sue Donnelly's Hear The Sea Call sampler around in my stitching bag since the recent Stitcher's Hideaway I attended [Sturbridge, July 2011]. Sue always includes a design of her own in the swag bags of her retreats, usually a small ornament or pin keep. But this time she really outdid herself. This original Donnelly piece is a lovely little sampler kit, complete with embellishments of small mother of pearl fish and tiny shells and bits of faux sea glass. She included a square of Babbling Brook Linen, a luscious Threadworx floss called Dreamscape [gotta buy a full skein of that little lovely!] and a sweet little nautical floss ring. The sampler is stitched primarily in satin stitch and shell eyelets with the poem stitched in longstitch and backstitch. So it is working up very quickly. I guess all these weeks of painstakingly slow work on Tracery Dragons is taking its toll. Hear The Sea Call is the second unplanned and undisciplined start in just a few days. I'll never make a one-project-at-a-time sort of stitcher: it seems I crave variety. And I'll never be a just-BAPs stitcher, either since I am addicted to the heady gratification of freqent finishes. So expect to see a few more small starts sneaking into the rotation over the next few weeks. I do have Aury's Quaker Heart 2011 and a PS promo card Summer House in reserve for when I need a bit more novelty again, no doubt sooner than later .

Another Blog

2011-08-13T11:38:00.005-04:00

Some long-time readers may have noticed that I am a tea lover. I have been following a number of tea-related blogs for a while now and have finally decided to start my own. I am calling it Tea-Reg, a silly riff on T-Rex and on my family nickname. My first post is about a recipe I developed this morning while my husband slept in. We both love high teas, tea lunches, tea for two type meals and frequent tea shops whenever we can. So while the dear boy slept, I played in the kitchen with what I had conveniently to hand and came up with an elegant little salad I am calling Apricot Glazed Chicken Salad. I'll be serving it today as part of a high tea, presenting it as the filling of mini-croissants. Feel free to drop by if you have any interest in tea or in recipes in general.

Confessions of a Chronic Starter: Evolution of a Sampler

2011-08-12T12:02:00.014-04:00

I have been carrying this Earth Day chart around in my stitching bag for a couple of months now ... since April to be exact. I kept promising myself that when all the Crazy January Challenge stuff was done, I would reward my diligence and self-discipline by kitting it up and stitching it. Surprise, surprise, I just couldn't quite wait! The fabric is a 32ct Zweigart linen in the color Flax and the floss I am using is leftover from one of Catherine Jordan's classes on the use of color in embroidery design. And, typically, I have re-charted the piece. As you can see [by clicking on the link above: the words Earth Day chart], in the original chart the bottom border is very assymetrical. Sometimes that works quite well. But not this time, at least, not for me. I guess I am just too much the stick-in-the-mud traditionalist when it comes to samplers! So I have stitched the border quite symmetrically even though it will mean condensing the spaces between the lines of the motto somewhat. Or I may stitch the motto over one in the very center. And I will be replacing the bird with the odd ball-like flower or very large berry in its beak from the original chart with a small squirrel with an acorn. Or perhaps a squirrel on either side of the motto, if I stitch said motto over one, both beasts facing center. After all, in the symbology of samplers, a squirrel is the symbol for frugality. Since the motto is "Use it up, wear it out, make do or do without", a squirrel seems far more appropriate than a bird. And I am dithering a bit about the flowers. In keeping with the "use it up" philosophy, I limited myself to the floss leftover from a class. I had two full skeins of the dark, rich, deep russets: one skein just a touch darker than the other. And I had two partial skeins of a middling pumpkin tone and just a few lengths of a pale peach shade. I would have loved to alternate the russet and the pumpkin as I stitched the flowers. But I reluctantly came to the conclusion that there just wasn't enough of the pumpkin, even if I extended it by blending the peach with some of the pumpkin floss ... which could have been an interesting effect since all the floss in question is overdyed. First, I stitched every other flower in the slightly lighter skein of the deep russet color. Then, I went back and filled in the flowers in the opposing corners with the same dark floss. This leaves me with 9 of the 14 flowers stitched. Each flower requires 34 inches of floss. Having reduced the number of remaining flowers to five, I now have enough pumpkin floss to stitch them all. That would introduce some color variation as well as emphasize the "make do" part of the saying. I'll be alternating the darker green in the border and the lighter green of the flower centers for the rows of lettering. I'll use the lighter green for the acorn caps and the dark russet for the acorn kernel. And from that same class, my last skein is a lovely grey overdye with just the barest hint of of silvery sage green that will work for the squirrels. Who knew, back in 2005, when I chose this palette that I'd wait till 2011 to find the perfect project for it? My original thought back then, some vague notion involving pumpkins or autumn leaves, dictated my choices. But I think this use of the palette is ever so much better.

A Wasted Wentzler Wednesday & a Winner

2011-08-10T19:07:00.001-04:00

I am afraid this was a totally wasted day so far as stitching goes. Not a stitch taken all day.

The winner of the monthly giveaway is ABSGRAMS. I will be e-mailing her to get a mailing address later.

Weekend Progress Report: August 7, 2011

2011-08-09T08:51:00.004-04:00

Posting this two days late:

Visiting grandchildren [and their parents, too, but let's be clear about priorities ... it's the grandchildren that are receiving most of my attention!] from the West Coast have consumed most of my weekend. Since, they are only four and two years of age, baby-proofing has meant keeping my stitching stuff safely put away. So there is a little less to report than usual. The Tracery Dragons: I picked up this CJC [Day 10] piece back on June 8 and have been stitching on it fairly steadily for two months. I am nearly finished page 2 of the cross-stitching. The most tedious part was stitching the two roses on this page. So very many quarter stitches and 8 different blended needles used to stitch each one! How can such a small area of chart be so complex? If I didn't have my magnet board and straight edged magnet to keep my place, it would have been a nightmare. Even so, it took painstaking patience and lots of counting and re-counting to get it right.

And, I cut the fabric for several smalls to use as purse projects: Aury's 2011 Quaker Heart, PS Summer House promo card [for my set of floss tags] and a PS Eagle & Shield patriotic ornament. I kitted the Quaker heart in Belle Soie silks just like I did the 2009 and 2010 hearts and the PS House in DMC and the PS Eagle in either Belle Soie silks. I couldn't resist starting one, the PS Eagle & Shield, on Friday night and finished it in one sitting ... sans border since I am going to finish-finish it as a round ornament.

And for my Photohunt shot: this week's theme is painted and here is a small painted bowl that I purchased in an art gallery in the Boothbay area of Maine. I fell in love with it even though it is totally impractical. It can't be washed without risking destroying the art work. And I won't keep any hard or edged objects in it like coins, keys or earrings for fear of scratching the finish. Impractical it may be but it spoke to me on a purely aesthetic level. And I wanted to bring such beauty home.

WIPs and UFOs - A General Accounting

2011-08-06T06:02:00.004-04:00

One of the commenters on the It's a Matter of Perspective post mentioned the large number of WIPs and UFOs I seem to have. You have only to look at the Goals, Crazy January Challenge and the UFOs sidebars to get an idea of the number. I never really thought of it that way, though, until I took on the Crazy January Challenge this year, starting 15 projects in January. The idea was that all would be completed in the course of 2011. There was the risk, of course, that I'd just end up with a much longer list of UFOs and WIPs.

But that fate seems to have been averted. Here it is August and there are only three pieces left on the list. Admittedly, all of them are fairly large projects but one of the three is already more than half completed. Once I have completed Tracery Dragons, I will start on Primitive Needle's Black'd Skie. I have it all kitted up and the called for floss is a fiber new to me. That adds interest and loads of incentive since I am a veritable fiber junkie. I am hoping to start on that sometime in September. For all its size, it should be a breeze after Tracery Dragons. That would leave the last CJC piece on target for mid-October stitching, appropriately enough, since that last piece is Adelaide Allesandre's Zucca: a lovely tracery sort of pumpkin. That last will be a re-start rather than a continuation of January's work since I really don't like the way the original choices of fiber and fabric are working.

And there is only one 2010 WIP left on my monthly goals list, Workbasket's Quaker Sampler. The other two pieces on the monthly goals list are actually UFOs from even earlier that I am determined to finish this year: The Jacobean Elegance afghan as a Christmas gift for my mother, the Fertile Circles Needlebook and Beach Find Pansies panels for my own amusement since they are in fact my own designs. And, with the exception of three Hooked on Exchanging pieces, the only non CJC 2011 start has been the class piece from the Stitcher's Hideaway, The Sturbridge Box. And, I am making steady progress on that piece.

I plan to work only one more major new start into my stitching program for 2011, above and beyond what I have already mentioned. And that will be Teresa Wentzler's Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking which should carry me right into 2012. There will, of course, be a few more smalls along the way. I need those just for the variety and for a change of pace from all the BAPs.

I plan to devise my own 2012 Crazy January Challenge, using the class pieces from CATS and from the various Stitcher's Hideaways I have attended, resuming the stitching on each project in turn for the first ten days in January 2012. Then, I'll work them into my stitching rotation the same way I did with this year's CJC. The idea will be that I won't start a truly new project from my chart stash of small and medium pieces until I complete something from my UFO list. That way, I should end 2012 with 10 fewer UFOs and only one or two WIPs carrying over into 2013.

A New Start - in spite of all the WIPs & UFOs

2011-08-05T03:57:00.000-04:00

Okay, I finally had to do something, anything different. My stitcher's ADD reasserted itself. I needed the novelty. Happily, the piece I chose is not too large and will not interfere unduly with progress on my WIPs ... and as to the UFOs, well they are nearly beyond hope anyway! I am stitching a lovely old PS complimentary chart for the Autumn Pyn Keepe Exchange on HOE. I am using a 36ct Silkweaver linen called Shadowbrook which makes me think of a mossy forest floor, all soft and shadowy greens over a barely discernible base of subtle tans. I did my own conversion from DMC to Belle Soie silks. The silks and the linen are perfect together. The only problem I foresee is parting with the finished piece. Oh, well, a promise is a promise. I'll have to stitch this design again for myself eventually. Happily, I still have enough Shadowbrook linen to do so. I am stealing a technique from the Homespun Elegance blog and photographing a tiny section as a sneak peek to give you an idea of how well the linen and silk are working together without giving away the whole design.

August Giveaway

2011-08-04T04:17:00.001-04:00

Two charts: one never used and one gently used. Lavendar Wings' A Friendship Sampler and Jane Greenoff's Blackwork Owl. The gently used chart is Greenoff's Blackwork Owl, as evidenced by this little Halloween ornament finish I made of it.

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

-- and, while I know this condition is entirely unenforceable, I would ask that the recipient agree to pay this chart forward by sharing it with another stitcher or donating it to a woman's shelter or prison.

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

Good luck to all who enter.

Wentzler Wednesday War Whoop

2011-08-03T08:52:00.000-04:00

Okay, my goal this month is the well nigh impossible one of finishing this piece by the end of the month but I am going to give it my best shot. Don't ask me why I set myself up like this - it's an A-type personality thing and I have gotten used to it! I did spend Monday's and Tuesday's stitching time as well as Wednesday morning's stitching time on TD, so I am happy to announce that I am very nearly done with page two of the cross stitching chart. Once that is done, I think I will go back and do pages 2 and 3 of the backstitching chart. I really want to get a look at those dragons, if I can. As in most TW pieces, the back-stitching really pulls things together. It remains to be seen if I can finish up page 1 in both cross and backstitching charts by the end of the month. But for now, in the very early days of the month, I will maintain my optimism. It can be done! So say I! At this point, imagine you are hearing a very loud rebel yell or Celtic berserker's war cry!

It's a matter of perspective, I guess ...

2011-08-02T08:39:00.000-04:00

... but I was just reading in Barbara's Mainely Stitching blog that she was beginning to hear echoes on her blog. She was referring to the scarcity of comments. So, just for kicks, I went back through the most recent four or five posts to see how many comments she had received: 28, 11, 9, 12 ... the lowest number was, I believe, 7. I would love to be able to say I got that many comments. I often have no comments. Sometimes, one or two or three, tops. The only time I reach a stratospheric 15 or so is when I am doing a giveaway. I have resigned myself to the fact that my personality and/or writing style makes for a blog that is more monologue than conversation. Sure, I wish I had plenty of feedback but it appears it is not to be. But, Barbara, what is echoing emptiness to some would be a great and joyful noise to others.

Weekend Progress Report: July 31, 2011

2011-08-01T11:52:00.000-04:00

I delayed this post till Monday morning since I wanted my photo to include every bit of stitching done on Sunday, such as it was. I wasn't feeling all that well and spent most of the day in cat naps, waking for brief periods to fix a meal, stitch a bit, check the computer, start to watch a DVD ... which last always put me right back to sleep again.

Every now and then I go on what can only be called a stitching jag: I stitch on just one project. This past week was one of those times. Tracery Dragons was very nearly my total focus. Somehow, I got in my head that I ought to finish page 2 of the Tracery Dragons before the end of the month. I guess I wanted to make up for all the frogging I have been doing. Well, it was an unreasonable goal and I have about 1/3 of page 2 of the chart left to stitch. Nevertheless, I'll set myself another unreasonable goal for August and see how close I get to achieving it: finish page 1 and 2 of the cross-stitching charts and pages 1-3 of the backstitching charts. If I manage that, I'll have several pieces to take to the framers in early September: Teresa Wentzler's Autumn Faerie [a Christmas gift for my daughter] and Tracery Dragons, Dragon Dreams' The Ice Dragon's Kingdom and Blackbird Design's A Bird in Hand. Though I may make the last up as a small pillow instead.

Assessing July's Goals & Setting August's Goals

2011-07-31T07:02:00.000-04:00

As this snap of my ORT Jar indicates there has been a lot of stitching going on this month. Mostly the greens/blues/roses/greys of Tracery Dragons with a sizable amount of pale gold perle cotton from The Sturbridge Box. Since a great many of the threads in the ort jar are the result of frogging, I have included the culprit in the photo as well

First the assessment of JULY GOALS:

BAP: Continue work on TW's Tracery Dragons [aka CJC Day 10 project] YES, substantial progress.
Crazy January Challenge: Finish the Day 14 project: Town Square Town Hall YES.
HOE: "finish" finish two L*K ornaments and decide which to send for Aug. 15 deadline. YES.
Sewing/Finishing: Two LK ornaments, four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions. Partially, the two LK ornaments and the Town Square SAL ornament.
Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook NOT A STITCH.
WIPs & UFOs from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel AGAIN, NO

But I did get quite a bit done on my Sturbridge Stitcher's Hideaway project.

Now for the AUGUST GOALS:
BAP: Finish Teresa Wentzler's Tracery Dragons

Crazy January Challenge: see above, Tracery Dragons is doing double duty as my BAP and my current CJC

HOE: Autumn Pin Keep:

Sewing and Finishing: the four LHN pillows & two HE pin cushions.

Surface Embroidery: finish The Fertile Circles Needlebook

WIPS & UFOs from 2010: Continue work on Workbasket's Quaker Sampler, the Jacobean Elegance afghan, and the Beach Find Pansies panel

WIP 2011: Continue work on The Sturbridge Box