Christmas in July Giveaway

In honor of Independence Day, I'll be doing a special giveaway this month. It's July and time to start stitching for Christmas soooooo... I'll be giving away the five gently used Homespun Elegance Christmas charts pictured below. Since I have stitched all of these myself, the giveaway is "chart only" and any charms called for in the designs will have to be purchased by the winner or left out of the design entirely [which would look just fine, in my opinion]. The two stocking charts were meant to be stitched on pre-finished stockings available from Homespun Elegance but I stitched my own version of the Christmas Night Stocking ... I have used the pre-finished stocking for Merry Olde Christmas and, as a semstress trained by a highly skilled amateur [my mother] and by a professional seamstress [my grand-mother], I was not impressed by the either the quality of the sewing or of the fabrics. In addition, I find stitching on pre-finished items a very awkward affair productive of badly cramped fingers.

From the Bits and Pieces series
Oh, Snowy Night and Christmas Night Stocking

From the Christmas Ornament series:
1999 Santa
2001 Santa
And this stocking chart, called Merry Olde Christmas

All five items will go to one lucky winner. The giveaway is open to stitchers from both the US and international communities. All that is required is that you post a comment saying why you'd like to stitch these small treasures. I would ask that the winner commit to PIF [passing them on, free of charge] to another stitcher rather than offer them for sale in an album ... though, of course, it'd be unenforceable and strictly on the honor system. I will choose a winner on July 10. Good luck to all who enter.

Finishing Frenzy: Day 2 & 3

Well, my finishing frenzy devolved into a mere finishing flutter ... the injury to my foot was aggravated by using the sewing machine pedal ... I had to start all over with elevating my foot and sitting still ... I would have been driven stir crazy if I hadn't been able to stitch and watch a few DVDs. I did finish one more Homespun Elegance Christmas Santa ornament, 2001 Noah Toy and am three quarters of the way through the 1999 Great Good Cheer ornament ... so the weekend wasn't a total loss. And I am keeping my "finishing center" set up in the dining room until such time as I do actually get caught up.

Finishing Frenzy: Day 1

I started with some easy pieces for a quick jump start and lots of immediate gratification:

Primitive Needle Salem Witch Halloween ornament

Bright Needle's Sauce for the Gander Needlebook

and the inside of the needlebook

Homespun Elegance's Christmas Night Stocking: since I didn't think snowmen would show to advantage on the country cream linen scrap I used, I stitched a whole bunch of trees and added a checkerboard toe to match the top since I didn't have the called for charm.

Imaginating Inc. Cardinal Ornament

The Shaker box has two coats of paint, inside and out. The cardboard circle for the Rabbit Rondel is covered in batting and ready to assemble tomorrow morning. I have the backs for Homespun Elegance's Oh Snowy Night and the Poisson du Avril Scissor Fob covered in batting and fabric, the fronts are covered in batting and ready for assembly tomorrow. I also started assembling the Rabbit Rondel pin cushion but had to put it down when my eyes started to cross. It'll be my first project tomorrow morning when I am fresh and well-rested. I am a little disappointed that I didn't get further today but my decision to bead the edge of the Cardinal ornament slowed things down a bit. Another disappointment came when I sent my husband to JoAnn's at the Palisades Center Mall for some mattress ticking I wanted for a tote finish ... only to have him call me from the mall to inform that the shop was no longer there. Now the nearest JoAnn's is either in Paramus NJ [40 miles south] or Middletown [40 miles north] ... curses.

The tally for today is four finishes and three more projects at the half-way point. Not too shabby for a lazy day of putterring about. I think I'll stitch on my Quaker Pig this evening and forget about finishes for a while.

Hobbling along

Both figuratively and literally.

I don't know what it is about a wonderful vacation that makes me more weary now that I have returned to work. I guess I haven't yet made the adjustment from leisure mode to work mode. I return from work too tired to stitch for more than an hour or so before vegging out in front of the TV ... Bill and I are re-visiting Quantum Leap from our own vast TV on DVD collection.

The result: I am moving a little more slowly than I had planned on my Homespun Elegance Christmas ornaments. I am nearly finished with the 2001 Santa ornament and have yet to stitch up the 1999 Santa ornament, but I am sure I'll have it done soon.

And, to complicate matters, I injured my foot last Sunday. While stepping out of the car at church, my sandal slipped off and my foot landed on said sandal crosswise. At first, I thought I had just pulled a muscle so I kept my foot up for the rest of the day and figured that would be that. Well, it is now swollen and painful. My primary care physician has diagnosed it as "severe trauma to the soft tissue" ... which I assume is medical jargon for "I'm not sure what you did so I am sending you to a podiatrist and I'll let him figure it out." In any case, walking on my injured foot untreated for four days was not one of my brighter ideas. But I have always been one to try and tough out an injury/illness rather than run to a doctor at the slightest discomfort. More fool I! Well, my injury has turned a three day weekend into a four day weekend so things are not really so terrible after all.

Sewing finishes

I really need to get working on these ... while gathering up all my Quaker pieces for a post last month, I found another 15 pieces awaiting sewing finishes in addition to the 7 pieces I listed in my "Breaking the barrier" post. If I am not careful, these pieces will start taking over the house. And while on vacation I have added another six projects to the sewing to-do pile. So, I have converted my dining room into a temporary finishing station: bringing the sewing machine, ironing board, iron, and fabric/cording/lace stash all downstairs. With any luck, I'll get a lot done during the summer months since I enjoy a normal 9-5 schedule during July and August as opposed to the wildly fluctuating school year schedule of 9am-9pm Mon & Tues, 9am-3pm Wed., 9am-7pm Thurs as well as 8am-Noon Saturday ... for a total of 42 hours /week on the normal weeks. I am not even going to contemplate the weeks with special events and meetings ... those run into 50-60 hours, at times.

Here is a photo of what I hope will be the site of much productive activity ... note the huge basket of 28 projects requiring some degree of sewing finishing.

Once I get caught up on sewing finishes, I think I will use the same strategy with UFOs ... gathering them all in one place so I can see what I am dealing with and plan accordingly. Of course, the truth is I will never really catch up on sewing finishes since I currently am working on the cross stitch elements for two quilts ... so those pieces will have to be stored and listed as "to sew someday when all the elements are completed". I don't think the UFO pile will be nearly as daunting ... but then who knows what lurks in all the baskets, bureaus and boxes scattered about the house? I expect I'll find things long since forgotten.

June Goals Assessment/Setting July Goals

JUNE GOALS:

• Finish Fertile Circles: Almost. Just a bit of the back cover to stitch before it is ready for assembly.
• Finish Workbasket's Rabbit Rondel: YES and I even stitched the accessories: pin cushion and scissor fob
• Kit up TW's Woodland Angel Stocking: When I realized how many DMC flosses I had to pull for the Autumn Faerie and how much cross-over there would be between the two designs, I decided to put this on hold till I had finished the faerie.
• Stitch 1 Christmas ornament: YES ... actually I stitched two, both from the Homespun Elegance's Bits and Pieces Series: Oh, Snowy Night and Christmas Night Stocking
• 10 hours on TST Holly and Hearts Sampler: I am consigning this to UFO status for the remainder of the summer. I seem to need more vibrancy and color and less delicacy and finesse at the moment.
• 10 hours on TW Autumn Faerie [my UFO-WIP for this month]: well, to be honest I only spent an hour on this project and that involved re-kitting it with all the floss needed.
• 5 hours on backlog of sewing finishes: All I did on this front was set up a finishing "center" in my dining room ... more on this in a future post.

And, in addition, I stitched the following

• Primitive Needle's Salem Witch and 1692
• Workbasket's Quaker Turtle and Quaker Rooster
• Keep Watching [... Maybe I'll do a trick] from Baby Bibs with Attitude
• and began another design of my own: Beach Find Pansies
• as well as starting the Homespun Elegance 2001 Santa Ornament

JULY GOALS

• 10 hours on TW's Autumn Faerie
• Stitch two more Workbasket Quaker Animals: Pig and Cow
• Stitch a Christmas ornament
• Stitch Glory Bee's Which Witch
  
• Start Workbasket's Quaker Sampler
• 5 hours on backlog of sewing finishes
• UFO>WIP: The Peacock biscornu
• Finish the Fertile Circles Needlebook
• Finish the Beach Find Pansies panel

Sunday Stitching

Just some photos of the past few days' stitching progress:

Some WIPs
Homespun Elegance's 2001 Santa ornament

Workbasket's Quaker Pig



And some finishes:
2005 JCS Christmas Ornament issue's Guardian Chessie


From Baby Bibs with attitude: Keep Watching, Maybe I'll Do A Trick

I have a few other baby bibs on hand and plan to stitch at least two more. A third, and of course, my favorite bib seems to have picked up a stain while in storage. Since it was stored in a perfectly clean cloth bag with other unaffected fabrics, I can only conclude the chemicals used to treat it by the manufacturer [sizing, mordants, etc.] are responsible for the discoloration. The stains lightened with one washing but were not completely eliminated. I'll try again using bleach applied with an artist's brush since the affected areas are all white. I figure that at this point, I have nothing to lose and may manage to salvage the bib for stitching.

A new grand-daughter

Liam welcomes his baby sister, our latest addition who was born on 6/19/09, checking in at 7lbs.11oz. and 19 1/2" long. She is beautiful, strong and healthy but has been saddled with the unfortunate name of Piper Ann. God knows, as a good ex-hippie, I raised my boy to avoid all manner of yuppie-isms but, clearly, I have failed. I fear that with a name like that, my poor benighted little grand-daughter will be condemned to a life of twin sets, pearls, birkenstocks and Beemers ... God save her, she might even marry someone named Chas [pronounced in the snootiest of "old money" accents]. I have been practicing saying her name over and over again so that when I finally meet her I'll be able to say it without wincing. My only hope is that Liam will give her a good solid nickname that the rest of the family can adopt without aggravating my daughter-in-law unduly. I know, I know ... I am a terribly unnatural grandmother ... but I have always considered names important.

Sleep well, little one, and enjoy only the sweetest of dreams.

A Miscellany

First, yesterday's weigh-in was not really a surprise: a gain of 1.5lbs, the natural consequence of eating in restaurants while on a ten day vacation. But I am back on track now that I am at home and expect next week's weigh-in to be a loss.

Second, I spent a few hours this morning sorting stash, putting away recent purchases and re-kitting the flosses for TW's Autumn Faerie so I can finally turn that UFO into a WIP and accomplish one of my remaining June goals [to stitch on the Autumn Faerie for 10 hours] while there is still some time to do so. I had planned to kit up TW's Woodland Angel Stocking at the same time but I had to pull so many DMC flosses for the Autumn Faerie that I suspect there would be too much cross-over if I tried to kit up the Woodland Angel at the same time. So Liam's stocking will have to wait a month or two.

Third, I finished Workbasket's Quaker Rooster on Wednesday night but only got around to photographing it this morning. I began work on the Quaker Pig immediately, using the usual 28ct Country Cream linen and for the floss, Caron Wildflower's Camouflage ... a fiber that is mostly a fairly saturated beige rose with some olive green. Pink or even a black/white combo might have been more realistic but it won't fit in with the color way I will be using for the fabrics in my quilt. In any case, the way I have moved from the Quaker Rabbit > Quaker Turtle > Quaker Rooster > Quaker Pig in the past 2 weeks seems to be the stitching equivalent of chain-smoking. No sooner do I finish one but I pick up another. They are just that addictive. And I still have the Cow and Sheep waiting in the wings. I also have the Peacock chart but I am not entirely certain I'll want that in the quilt. It'll probably end up as a pajama bag or throw pillow. I am hoping that the folks at Workbasket have a few more animals on the drawing boards. I just noticed that they have Halloween Quakers: An Owl and a Bat ... however did I miss that when it came out? Owls are one of my favorite motifs. I can see I will be ordering that along with the Polar Quakers within the week and that will bring me to my self-imposed limit of five chart purchases for 2009. I'd love to do a fox, a coyote, a squirrel or chipmunk and a deer for my woodland band and I'd like a chicken, a horse and a dog for my domestic band. I am thinking of writing the folks at Workbasket and suggesting these animals for their consideration. I'll put up a photo of the pig when I've done a bit more stitching on it - so far all I have done is the six point star at the very center.

Fourth, I placed an order with Elegant Stitch for the remaining flosses I need for the Quaker Animals I have on hand as well as for two more Workbasket charts I am anxious to get started on: The Quaker Sampler and Mermaids Singing. And, I have reorganized my binder of charts-to-be-done in current and near future rotations to reflect my summer moods. I believe The Sweetheart Tree's Holly and Hearts Sampler is going to be demoted to a UFO for awhile. I find myself craving more variety and more vibrant colors. I'll do a little gift stitching but most of my summer time stitching will be for me, me, me! And I plan to indulge myself with lots and lots of color.

Fifth, I kitted up and started two smalls that will add some variety to my stitching. The Guardian Chessie Christmas ornament from the 2005 JCS ornament issue which I will use as the "good" side of a door knob hanger I am making for my daughter. She is the proud caretaker of 6 cats of varying tempers and energy levels. So her doorknob hanger will have an angelic cat on one side and a cat skull and crossbones [already stitched on black linen] on the other. She'll be able to flip it to display the dominant feline mood of the day as a warning to all and sundry. Next, The Homespun Elegance 2001 ornament: A Santa with a Noah's Ark ... the perfect ornament to identify a package meant for my grandson, Liam Noah. I am using more of the Starquest overdyed linen from Silkweaver for these two pieces and I'll still have plenty left for a large project. This is the same linen on which I stitched my Rabbit Rondel ... and like the energizer bunny, this fabric just seems to keep going and going.

More about beach finds

I am an inveterate collector of shells, beach glass, beach stones and driftwood. I love to find ways to incorporate my finds into my stitchery, my sculpture, my sewing, and my jewelry making. My recent vacation to Maryland's Western Shore was very productive, at least so far as shell collecting was involved. To be more precise, I collected shell fragments that had been broken, polished and perforated by the action of the waves. Since most of the shells were oyster shells, the irridescent quality of the fragments was phenomenal. When wet, the shells seemed to be deep orange or rust shading down to pale peach and sand colors. When dry, most pieces faded down to rosy beige and sand colors though a few kept the stronger, more saturated colors.

All of the pieces above have one or more small holes drilled right through the shell by the bay water's action ... with my somewhat over-active imagination, I can't help seeing recognizable shapes in these pieces. For instance, the dark piece on the lower left makes me think of a carnival half mask or an other-worldly face in profile. The pale piece in the upper right reminds me of the head and shoulders of a walrus. The rosy beige piece in the center of the bottom row resembles an angel fish and other pieces look like bird heads with exaggerated beaks [rather like totem pole birds]. And some are just abstract shapes that will make interesting buttons on biscornus or embellished crazy quilt blocks. In any case, I forsee having fun deciding how to use these bits and pieces over the next couple of months or so.

These shell fragments do not have any convenient little holes, but I was attracted by the colors and shapes. If used in needlework, they will have to be "webbed" onto the fabric. If used in jewelry or as charms for embroidery pieces, they will have to be fitted with findings. If used in sculpture, they would have to be embedded in the clay of pieces I will only air-dry or affixed to pieces after firing.

I am always on the look out for pieces of beach glass as well ... but these are much harder to find and my collection grows ever so slowly. These were the only two pieces I found in ten days of beach walking. I have no clue what I will do with my beach glass, other then display the pieces in a small bowl on the coffee table. But I love the muted, misty colors and opaque quality of beach glass. Maybe someday I'll combine all my beach glass into one fabulous necklace ...