The Queen's Stitch

I've Moved

2007-01-18T16:40:00.000-05:00

I've moved my blog over to wordpress - please visit me at http://www.queenstitch.wordpress.com

A Merry Christmas to All

2006-12-21T11:25:00.000-05:00

The last month has just flown by. It's hard to believe that Christmas will be here in DAYS. I had a weird and bad viral infection that started in my eyes, moved on to my ears and the rest of my body. This had me out of work and out of commission for a week. I was too sick to stitch or knit. Now you know how bad it was.

But until then it seemed that we were right on track with our holiday preparations. Of course, being ill from December 9 until December 17 meant that holiday shopping did not happen. I am so grateful to Al Gore for inventing the internet so I could do my holiday shopping online! Wint Country gift baskets for estranged Dad and wife, favorite Aunt No. 1, and favorite Aunt No. 2 and less favorite aunt and uncle, out the door! Cashmere bathrobe for Nana from Bloomies! Sweater and necklace from Coldwater Creek for MIL! More personal than gift cards, although less personal than drudging through the mall. But sooooo much better for my peace of mind. Tons of money spent on shipping charges to get them there before the Big Day, but worth every penny not to have to fight the crowds in the parking lots and at the mall.

Oh Christmas Tree
DH, Max and I made the trip to the cut-your-own Christmas Tree Farm down the road. We love this tradition. This year we wanted a big big big tree. Max is now 2 1/2 and he is digging the holiday. So we tramp around and DH finds a huge tree. Way too huge for our house. We do have a high sloped ceiling in the family room, but that was too big. So I pick out a more moderately sized tree. This, I declare, is perfect. Except, it's not. We would need to cut off several feet for it to fit in the corner where we wanted it. So we lop off the top and stick it more in the middle of the room. Now this is a well proportioned tree, meaning it is tall and W I D E. So then we end up lopping off a bunch of branches on the back. And now, now it is perfect! It was pretty overwhelming at first, but the more we look at it, the more we love it!

10/25/50 Challenge
It was a challenge all right. Over before it even began really. I went to visit Lisa in Connecticut a few weeks ago and we, of course, had to go to her LNS. I have been coveting the new Mirabilia South Seas Mermaid and gave in to the temptation. I've gotten the floss and some of the beads, the rest I'll have to mail order. But I have been finishing things. 1 BOAF ornament - finished! 2nd BOAF ornament - almost finished! My first knitted project - the basketweave scarf - finished! I've also accumulated some yarn and have started a new project - more on that later.

New Year's Goals:
Lose 10 pounds - ha!
Stitch more
Knit more
Stress less

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

WIP It, WIP It Good

2006-11-27T19:24:00.000-05:00

Couldn't help that title.

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving. We drove to Mass. Our usual 3-hour trip turned into 5 hours when we were stuck on the Mass Pike for over 2 1/2 hours. It was fine until we got to the Pike, then it was like hitting a brick wall. A Thanksgiving Blessing: Max fell asleep, so we thankfully did not have a cranky toddler to contend with. We had a lovely joint dinner with my Mom, her family and Sam's family and then dessert with my Dad's family. After this very exhausting day, we decided to go home a day early. I'm so glad that we did!

Here are a few of my WIPs. I intended to add more, but Blogger is not letting me add more photos. So more tomorrow.

First up: the knitting. It isn't first in my heart, of course, but it's what I'm doing right now.

Project: Basketweave scarf
Source: http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/
archives/2005/06/magic_scarf_a_b_1.php
Yarn: Ego Tweed Color No. 80
Source: www.purldiva.com
Needles: No. 11 Brittany birch wood - I love them
This is my first knitting project so don't look at it too closely, eh? I am still trying to figure out how to fix it when I drop stitches or knits accidentally morph into purls. The yarn is actually a deeper color than shown. It was really a very sunny day for once!

This is Heloise Williams from The Scarlet Letter. She is much prettier in person than she is on the SL website. I think I started stitching this in 1993. So this probably qualifies more as a UFO than a WIP. But I really do want to finish her!

Catherine's Sampler by Eileen Bennett. This was a class that I took at CATS in Houston. Could have been 2000 or 2001? Lisa took this class at Sampler Gathering and actually finished hers!

More to come later!

It's All Lisa's Fault

2006-11-22T13:31:00.000-05:00

It's all Lisa's fault that I don't have any stitching to share. Really! You see, she talked me into learning how to knit. And now I'm obsessed. I started out at AC Moore with plastic needles and some cheapy yarn to practeese, practeese, practeese. Then I found a LYS in Brunswick, called Purl Diva. I spent the entire afternoon there on Monday while my car was conveniently being worked on across the street. It's a wonderful shop run by a terrific, hip chick named Ellen. She every kindly let me hang out for the afternoon and gave me some much needed assistance. I have found out that I love wooden needles. I have now started my first project, a scarf for myself - mostly a confidence booster before I start making gifts.

The only stitching I've done is on Lisa's Christmas gift, so I can't show you any pictures either. I'll have some knitting pictures soon though. I've also got a new photo project in the works -- a photo documentary of all of my WIPs. This should be fun. I'm still in the gathering stages. So far I've found projects that: (a) I don't remember starting, (b) forgot I had, (c) I don't recognize, and (d) love, love, and love and must stitch NOW (but of course I won't). So we have daylight today, but I'm at work, so hopefully sometime over this long holiday weekend I will find both time and daylight to cooperate with my picture taking project.

Some things I am grateful for: a loving family, my sweet son, awesome friends, being able to afford my passions and still put food on the table, having two hands to craft with, the internet for helping me meet new people and try new things.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

2006-11-14T12:00:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's been three weeks since I've posted. I've been doing some stitching (not enough, never enough), but it's been raining for days, which doesn't make for good picture taking. But here is what I have been working on:

1. Celtic Band Sampler. I have been wavering between editing this by deleting some bands to make it go by quicker so I can give it as a Christmas gift, but I just can't make myself do it. I even photocopied the picture, cut out each row and tried to edit it by deleting some. Just not working for me. So I'll keep stitching on it, but it most likely will not be done for Christmas. I have finished rows 1 and 2.

2. Cure Tree by M Designs. I am half done. I was also on the fence about this one. About whether to do it over 1 or over 2, which thread to use if I did it over 2, which fabric. I finally decided upon the original over 1 on the original fabric, but substituted Romance by Weeks Dye Works.

3. White Christmas ornament by Birds of a Feather. This chart has 4 designs and I have almost finished stitching one of them. I can't find the floss (Freedom by GAST) that I was using in the border. I know I found it on the floor one day and then put it somewhere safe. Need to find it because that's all I have left. So I would say I am 95 percent finished on this.

What's next: I am would like to finish Celtic Band by the end of the year. I also have another gift for Christmas, that I only have a few of the silks in my stash for, so I need to place an order ASAP. And that should wrap up the year!

Goals for next year: Lisa & I are going to do another SAL, as the one we did for Frances was such a huge success. We have chosen Bands of Many Colors by Eileen Bennett of The Sampler House (pictured at left). This has been in both of our stashes for a long time. We both love Eileen's samplers and have stitched a few and taken several classes with her. After that, we shall see what pokes its head out of the stash and asks to be stitched next. The chipmunks in BOAF's Welcome Home sampler keep popping up to the top of the pile ...

10/25/50 Projects Challenge

2006-10-26T14:24:00.000-05:00

After reviewing the out of control stash situation, it's time for me to join the 10/25/50 project stash challenge. I'm going whole hog and attempting 50! Above is my 1st (new) project, but which will count as the 2nd project finished (if and when I finish it!). I've decided not to "age" it the way it is shown, but will gently tea-dye it when finished to soften it. I'm stitching it on cream Edinborough and the colors look a bit bright to me. I will post my progress at the end of the week.

The rules (as posted at www.hasturtorres.blogspot.com) are:
1. Have fun reducing your stash.
2. There is no time limit- people have different size projects they would like to work on.
3. Thou shall not purchase any new patterns until 10, 25, or 50 projects have been stitched. Pattern size does not matter.
4. This challenge can also apply to knitting, beading, sewing and crocheting patterns.
5. You can make some exemptions - I am not placing limitations on this due to commitments that people might already have. Remember, though, the goal of this challenge is to reduce stash so too many exemptions will sabotage these efforts.
6. Gifts, gift cards, trades, RAKs and patterns bought with gift money are not a violation of this challenge. This also applies to purchasing patterns for gifts that give other people. Woohoo!
7. Freebies count as part of your total and you can aquire them at any point.
8. The offical start date of this challenge was Sept 1, 2006 since I have been posting about it for awhile and want to make sure the everyone's projects have been included.
My own modification will be that if, after completing the stitching on a piece, I actually "finish" it into something, either an object or a framed picture, it will count as 2 finishes.

My 50 projects, subject to deletions or additions from my current stash, are:
1. Frances Burwell – The Examplarery (FINISHED! - yea 1 down, 49 to go!)
2. Cure Tree – M Designs (WIP)
3. Celtic Sampler – Homespun Samplar (WIP)
4. Sailing Home – Blackbird Designs (WIP)
5. My Betrothed Sampler – Birds of a Feather (WIP)
6. White Christmas Ornament 1 (WIP)
7. White Christmas Ornament 2
8. White Christmas Ornament 3
9. White Christmas Ornament 4
10. Bands of Many Colors – The Sampler House
11. Take a Lovely Sampler – Lauren Sauer (WIP)
12. Stitching Chair Necessaire – Hillside Samplings (WIP)
13. Sampler Pinkeep – The Heart’s Content (WIP)
14. Noah’s Needle – Just Nan
15. Baby Garden – Just Nan
16. Assissi Band Sampler – Samplar Workes
17. Spanish Sampler – Samplar Workes
18. Nonesuch Band Sampler – Samplar Workes
19. Happy Hearts Sampler – Birds of a Feather
20. Sally Spencer Sampler – Birds of a Feather
21. Welcome Home – Birds of a Feather
22. Bitter Flower Sampler – Birds of a Feather (WIP)
23. Peace – Birds of a Feather
24. Be Kind and True – Blackbird Designs
25. Strawberry Garden – Blackbird Designs
26. Anonymous Sampler – Chartmakers (WIP)
27. Scottish Sampler – The Essamplaire (WIP)
28. The Good Neighbor – The Drawn Thread
29. Flower Scissors Companion – Ewe & Eye & Friends
30. Friends Are Angels on Earth – The Heart’s Content
31. Ann Smith – The Scarlet Letter (WIP)
32. Emmanuel’s Song – Shepherd’s Bush
33. The Toy Gatherer – Shepherd’s Bush
34. Seaology – The Trilogy
35. Time for Tea – Barbara Jackson (WIP)
36. Sampler Slide Purse – CA Wells (WIP)
37. Friendship – Brightneedle
38. Evensong – Brightneedle
39. Hearts & Flowers – Carriage House Samplings
40. Houses of Hawk Run Hollow – Carriage House Samplings
41. Village of Hawk Run Hollow – Carriage House Samplings
42. Stitcher’s Prayer – Carriage House Samplings
43. Bookcover – The Essamplaire (WIP)
44. Abigail Brown – The Examplarery
45. Ann Bowers – The Examplarery
46. Loara Standish – The Examplarery
47. Ann Holewll – The Examplarery
48. Bird in Bough – The Scarlet Letter (WIP)
49. With My Needle – The Goode Huswife (WIP)
50. Heart in Hand – Little Angel in the Clouds

Gratuitious Cute Kid Picture

2006-10-26T14:11:00.000-05:00

Here is Max and his Nana in the hotel pool 2 weekends ago. Aren't they cute? Like two peas in a pod, I tell you. I say he is just like her, but she says he is her grandmother reincarnated. Great.

Doesn't my Mom look awesome for 68 years old? Must be the asian genes.

No stitching to show you today. Not that I haven't been trying! I got about 10 stitches in last night before Max's bedtime (and mine).

Has anyone ever been to Edenton, North Carolina? A friend of mine is interviewing in Norfolk, Virginia and she of course, would like to us to move closer to her if she gets the job. Which is sounding good with a Maine winter looming ahead. Of course, we won't move, but it's nice to fantasize. And when I have time on my hands at work, I like to surf the web because people can't tell if you're really working or not. So this week, I've built up a little fantasy about moving South to Edenton, NC. This is a very picturesque, tiny town on the coast. Looks ideal. Now all I need to do is win the lottery so I can afford the $845,000 house I've set my heart on. When I daydream, I go whole hog!

Random Stuff

2006-10-24T15:45:00.000-05:00

Thank you everyone so much for your wonderful comments about Frances! I hope to have new photos soon. It's disgustingly dark now when I get home from work and mornings have been hectic. Max had a stomach bug that started on Friday night and is still lingering.

We had a very nice stitch-in at Patti's house on Saturday. Lisa came up from Connecticut and Nancy up from Massachusetts. Patti made an awesome beef stew and we had a nice time stitching and chatting. I made remarkably small progress on a sampler that I'm stitching as a gift - pictures to come when Blogger is more cooperative.

I've also been busy creating on a website for my EGA chapter, which will probably take until the end of the year to get up and running because of all of the people that need to approve the content, etc. But it's fun work. I don't mind "fun work." I do mind grunge work, like cleaning the bathroom. But I love to work on things that mean something to me, not that clean bathrooms don't mean anything.

Here are links to some good things:

UNIFEM - United Nations Development Fund for Women
UNIFEM in the United States

Give Life - what a great title, that is what you do when you donate blood - you give life. I'm scheduled to donate on Monday. Do you know that the State of Maine only gets about 200 pints of blood a day and it gets donated to 39 hospitals and clinics? That's not much. In fact, not enough. It's not only accident victims who need the blood, but also people going through cancer treatments, etc. People need it every day. I used to be afraid that I would pass out, or it would hurt, but when my neighbor was diagnosed with cancer, he needed constant transfusions. We were the same blood type, so for him I donated every 6 weeks. It was a good feeling. You really do leave smiling, feeling that you've helped someone and possibly saved a life. PLEASE DONATE BLOOD.

You can open these sites and click on the buttons to help fund free mammograms, health care for kids, animal rescue, etc. It costs nothing to click! I've been doing this for years and they are trusted sites. I will be adding buttons for these to my sidebar when I get around to reorganizing my page. I'm getting sick of the green, so look for a new template here soon!

The Breast Cancer Site
The Child Health Site
The Animal Rescue Site
The Hunger Site
The Literacy Site
The Rainforest Site

Frances Finally Finished

2006-10-19T11:17:00.000-05:00

Here she is! I promise to take better pictures soon. It was raining when I took these. I finished her on Tuesday night. I am so happy! I will bring her to the frame shop next week.

This is the bottom.

Here is the top third.

She is so pretty. These pictures do not do her justice. I will try for better ones tomorrow morning. Lisa and I decided to do this as a SAL, starting in January. Lisa finished before me even though I had a 15 row head start, as she is fond of pointing out! Although some of those rows are only 1 stitch high. It was really a lovely sampler to stitch - the colors are much more beautiful than in these pictures and the stitches were a lot of fun. I stitched mine reversible, I'll try to remember to take a picture of the back as well.

So -- what to start next? I've got a few plans for Christmas gifts, but both of those women read my blog, so you can't see those pictures. Bummer. Yesterday I started a Birds of a Feather Christmas ornament. I think this pattern may be OOP as I can't find a picture of it online. I stitched one of the ornaments a few years ago as the front of a mail art exchange and I loved it. Has anyone else stitched any of these? There are four in the chart. Is anyone else stitching for Christmas? I always procrastinate and start my holiday stitching really late. Maybe I'll keep stitching for Christmas after Christmas and then I'll be ready for next year!

Essy's Friends

2006-10-10T14:24:00.000-05:00

Very short post today. I'm hoping to have Frances finished this week so I can show her to you in her complete glory.

Does anyone have this kit that would like to sell it? It is called Cure Tree by M Designs and is part of an automatic from Elegant Stitch.

My cousin is going through treatment for breast cancer and I would like to make this for her for Christmas, but it is all sold out. If anyone has one to sell, please let me know.

Thank you all!

10/16 Thank you everyone - Patti has one for me. I appreciate your good wishes! - Sandy

Public Service Announcement

2006-10-06T13:20:00.000-05:00

Ok people, driving is a privilege, not a right. So you should try to do it to the best of your ability, right? After all, your life (or someone else's) may depend on it. Now, I'm originally from Massachusetts, where drivers are so bad, they're called Massholes. I'm not kidding. But this week in Maine I've seen some pretty crappy driving. For example:

To the chick in the Green Jeep Cherokee with Maine license plate JAA - driving while talking on the phone with one hand and brushing your hair with the other IS NOT A GOOD IDEA. Stop it now. It's dangerous for one, and you look like an idiot, for another. Keep at a MINIMUM one hand on the wheel. What were you driving with -- your boobs?

To the idiot driving North on 295 in Portland and exiting at the Falmouth exit at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, DO NOT READ THE SPORTS PAGE WHILE DRIVING. KEEP YOUR EYES ON THE ROAD, not at the paper in your lap. Got it?

To the crazy lady in the white Ford something - what the hell were you doing yesterday morning on I90 going into Portland? Why were you swerving all over the road? It must have made your dog nauseous. I thought you might have been impaired, but after 10 minutes you got your crap together and started driving straight, but I was THIS CLOSE to pulling into the state trooper barracks and getting one of them to follow you. You nearly sideswiped FIVE cars and some type of chemical tanker.

You people are so damn distracting, you're going to make ME have an accident. Come on, let's drive!

Get a Piece of the Rock!

2006-10-01T16:52:00.000-05:00

Our trip to Plymouth is over. Did you know you can touch a piece of Plymouth Rock in the Pilgrim Hall Museum? Yep, you can, and yep, I did. The rest of the actual rock is outside in mausoleum which you can't reach, but you can see it. It's quite small compared to what most people are expecting, so it's a little of a disappointment. The EGA program, however was not a disappointment on any level!

Initially, we broke into two groups. My group first were treated to a talk by the very knowledgeable Peg Baker. She showed us 6 gorgeous unframed antique samplers, front and back. The good news is that Joanne Harvey is recreating two of them. They will be gorgeous! We didn't touch the samplers ourselves, but we were within inches and could soak up every stitch. It was truly wonderful. We then traded places with the other group and had a highlight tour of the remainder of the museum, paying special attention to the fabulous Loara Standish Sampler and the Mercy Otis Warren cardtable. I have to stay that these photographs are terrible and do not do these lovely pieces justice. I was just drooling over the card table. The colors are not black and red at all. The background is a soft teal and the flowers are fantastically shaded in greens, pinks, blues and yellows. It is very lovely.
After the luncheon break, we were in for a real treat. An interview with Elizabeth Creeden. I'm sure I can't describe this afternoon adequately. But I'll give it a try. Elizabeth is a needle artist. She designs crewel work and used to the own the Sampler. You can order her kits from The Twining Thread. I highly recommend the Pastoral Fan. I was able to see the original and it is gorgeous. On to more gorgeousness. A number of years ago, the Plymouth Library had built a new children's wing and asked for submissions of art for the wing. Elizabeth proposed a design based on Alice in Wonderland in the May Morris style. Sadly, the Library choose something else. They really missed the boat. But serendipitously, someone saw a drawing of Elizabeth's work for this project and commissioned her to create it for his home. The hanging piece is done on a wool teal damask and measures 7 FEET by 7 FEET. Yep, feet. We were able to see the top part of the tree finished. It is beyond description. I will have a photo printed and scanned and put in here within a day or two.

Our trip to the Sampler was a big disappointment. It has changed since Elizabeth has left. I had called a few weeks in advance to let the owner know that a few dozen stitching people (we actually had 40 in our group) would be in town and would she stay open a little later to accommodate such a large group? I never heard back. When I went to the shop, the shelves were bare. I didn't see any new models from when I had last been in there 3 years ago. In all my years of going to the Sampler while attending Sampler Gathering, I had a usual habit of spending a few hundred dollars at a time in there, as did my traveling companion (BFF Lisa) . It was an effort to spend $40.

To make up for the lack of stash enhancement, I stopped at Yankee Cross Stitch , which has also recently been under new ownership. I have to say that this was a much better experience. The new owner here, Erica, has been doing a fantastic job. She made some changes and they're terrific. There is even a shop cat - Fletcher.

I know you're all dying for a stash report, right? You can click on each for a link to a picture.
An Ideal Landscape - The Scarlet Letter
Dainty Housewren - Carriage House Samplings (with ink spot black fabric)
Sampler & Antique Needlework Quarterly magazine (I have to renew my subscription)
My Friend - A Stitcher's Hands (this will hopefully be a Christmas present)
John Foster - Historic Stitches
The first 3 installments of Summer Snapperland (I think I'll stitch these without the snaps)
Pink Carnation by The Sweetheart Tree (this came kitted in a plastic box) I think I will do this as a needlebook and then take the center motif and make a fob out of it - too cute!

All in all, it was a great weekend. Good foods, great friends, and stitching! I got exactly as much done on my Frances sampler as I had hoped and am looking forward to finishing it before the stitch-in at Patti's house at the end of the month.

Things I Love

2006-09-26T10:26:00.000-05:00

I love Quaker Samplers. Go to The Twining Thread to get information on a new contest based on these quaker postage stamps. The stamps are available in chart form. For the contest, you will stitch an envelope utilizing the stamps, along with a stitched "essay" on a theme of peace, stillness or simplicity. Then you will mail it to Ackworth School in England and in September, 2007 all of the entries will be judged. There are cash prizes.

Photos hosting by Photobucket (Blogger isn't cooperating today!)

I love Autumn! Especially in New England. The leaves here are starting to turn color and fall. I can't wait to get pictures of Max playing in leaf piles in the yard. He has a little rake too so he can help Dad with the leaves - too cuteThe air is so clear and crisp. A big sign of fall here in Maine are the country fairs everywhere. Last weekend was the start of the Cumberland County Fair. I took Max to that and he had a great time, in spite of the intermittent rain. His favorite (and mine) was the bunny barn. I was thissssss close to bringing one home. The different breeds are amazing. My favorite was one that looked just like velveteen. But the thought of what my four cats would think of this stopped me in my tracks.

One fair that I didn't know about until it had gone by was the Common Ground Fair. Downeast Magazine calls Common Ground "Maine's most authentic country fair, uniting, as it does, old-time folkways with progressive ideas about living the good life on a fragile planet." Next year!

I love stitching weekends. This weekend I am going to Plymouth with my BFF Lisa. On the agenda is dining at the East Bay Grille (highly recommended if you're in the area). Saturday is the EGA Region Day at Pilgrim Hall. Way cool. Also on the agenda is a visit to The Sampler. This shop is under new ownership so we will have to see if it lives up to the stellar reputation the previous owner had. I hope it does - we always spent quite a bit of time there during our Sampler Gathering excursions, and I am feeling the urge for some stash enhancement. And hopefully LOTS of stitching! I am hoping to make a lot of progress on Frances. I would really like to get her finished and hanging on my wall. The weekend will be over way too quickly, I'm sure, but I'll post next week with pictures and a report on the Region program.

We'll Miss You Alice

2006-09-18T19:12:00.000-05:00

Sam's great-aunt Alice passed away last Friday and we'll miss her very much. She was 96. She always had great stories and tell and she and Max enjoyed each other's company from the time he was born.

I had a great time at Patti's house on Sunday. We sat outside on the porch and stitched while chowing down on brownies and mimosas - It was heaven! We got to talking about scrapbooking and decided to make a run to the Patti's local scrapbook store, where I got some inspiration to make this for Sam to take to the service tomorrow. So not much stitching done this weekend, but a good one all the same.

She Beat Me!

2006-09-16T12:49:00.000-05:00

My friend Lisa finished her Frances Burwell sampler, but she isn't online, so I can't even show you a picture! So you get to see my progress instead. There are a few rows to go after I finish the house row.

I have also been working on a UFO here and there, it's called Old Glory and is a small Shepherd's Bush kit that I've started maybe 4 years ago. I've been dragging it around in my bag and pull it out when I'm waiting around doctor's offices, in the park watching Max play, while watching a movie with DH. My Frances is on my scroll rods and floor stand, which I keep in my craft room.

Last weekend I took Max to the beach on Saturday and the Maine Wildlife Park, both of which were a huge success as you can see. The Wildlife Park was much better than the zoo we had gone to before and is only about 5 miles from our house - so we will definitely be going back. See happy kid pictures:

DH has been sick with a persistent, awful cold for about 10 days now. Which means he has been a persistent, awful pain in the butt. So between taking care of him and Max, I've been too busy to stitch or blog, which has been making me very cranky! But tomorrow I am going to Patti's house to stitch, so hopefully I will come home rejuvenated and happy and ready to take care of the boys.

Hey - Remember Me?

2006-09-06T19:18:00.000-05:00

Well, I had vacation time last week and used it to nurse a cold (thanks Max) and to stitch! But before I show photos of my progress on Frances Burwell, I was thinking that I would show pictures of an upper portion of the sampler, because I think that it is just gorgeous! I'm fairly close to finishing the entire sampler, so probably won't post a picture until it's done.

I've been catching up on reading everyone's blogs, but haven't commented yet. I will soon! In our small office at work, there isn't enough staff to help out when someone is absent, so I came back to 15 dictaphone tapes, 2 new files with initial documents to draft and a huge file to be copied. Of course, my boss has also been busy since I've been back, so it doesn't seem like I've made a dent. I hope to catch up by Friday when he is out of the office. I was getting used to having time to read everyone's entries from work!

And some rock-my-world news, Max said I love you for the first time on Saturday. My boy!

Celebrity Sighting!

2006-08-28T18:32:00.000-05:00

I took this adorable picture of Max this weekend and as I have no stitching to share, he will have to do for your viewing pleasure.

No stitching this weekend, as the best man from our wedding finally got married himself. The wedding was held at the Delaney House in Holyoke, Mass.-- it was so beautiful. I had to go back to the hotel (right next door) after dinner to straighten out a room snafu as our heater was stuck on and our room was stifling, but they very kindly moved us. But as I was standing at the desk returning the key card, I heard an oh-so-familiar voice next to me - none other than Joanne Harvey of The Examplarery, the recreator of the beautiful Frances Burwell sampler that Lisa and I have been so diligently stitching upon. We hadn't seen each other since that class in Plymouth in 2003, so it was nice to be able to chat. She and her husband were on their way to see the samplers at Historic Deerfield. I was very jealous. I am hoping to be able to get her up to Maine to teach for our EGA guild. Then the following morning as I was taking Max to breakfast, who happens to walk into our elevator, but Joanne! And with pen and paper in hand, hoping to see me to get my contact information so we could discuss classes! My stitching angel is watching over me. I am such a Joanne groupie!

And I am now officially on vacation until SEPTEMBER 5! Woohoo! So I am definitely going to make some serious headway on Frances. And in keeping with our SAL, Lisa has also almost completed her sampler, so we will finish neck-and-neck, and that is a good feeling.

Sunflower House Framed!

2006-08-24T18:21:00.000-05:00

Sunflower House is back from the framer and I love it! It came out even better than I thought it would. I think my Aunt is really going to like this gift.

Thank you for all of the lovely comments about my basket/bowl. The beading is coming along nicely and I will post a picture as soon as it is done.

Now I need to get back to stitching on Frances Burwell before Lisa beats me to the finish line!

I have added three new features to my blog:
(1) a photographic wish list (see link in sidebar);
(2) a stash list (see link in my sidebar); and
(3) a filmloop with pictures of my finished pieces (see bottom of blog).
The stash list is a WIP - it will take me a while to figure out what is in my stash! I think this will be really helpful for me to figure out what I have and what I want when I am ready to go shopping.

Weekend of Stitching

2006-08-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

It was a weekend of stitching, or so it seemed! My best friend Lisa from Connecticut came to visit and we had a very nice visit with stitching, and wine, and cooking a la Rachael Ray, and Max-Therapy (love from my 2-year old). We did get to stitch and Lisa made a lot of progress on her Frances Burwell sampler. I made some progress on Frances. It seems that I get more done when I visit Lisa, and she gets more done when she visits me. Some kind of stitching karma.

Sunday was a dreary, rainy day, so Lisa decided to get an jump start on the returning tourist traffic, and it appears that the tourists decided the same thing, so her 3-hour trip took her almost 5 hours. Sorry Lisa!

While Lisa was stuck in traffic, I made some progress on my bohemian basket.

That little wormy looking part in the middle will be tied off and tucked in later. The weaving part will be finished tonight and my beading class is tomorrow night. Max is usually pretty intolerant of me trying to stitch while he wants me to play, but he is fascinated with the "bowl" as he calls it. He can say both yarn and bowl and knows that the yarn belongs to Mama. My sweet boy.

I had a very nice visit with Patti on Sunday. Her Jack Russell Terrier, Cowboy, is such a SWEETIE! I brought him a peanut butter dog biscuit and had tucked it into the outside pocket of my bag and he found it within seconds. And Patti's house, dubbed Casa Pearl, is a gem. It is a 1920's bungalow and looks like it should be on the pages of Cottage Living. I stitched on Frances, but didn't make enough progress to warrant a photo. We had excellent pizza for lunch, which I ate too much of, and I forgot to have the brownies she made for dessert! Doh!

In other stitching news, Stitcher's Hideaway has updated their website with classes for next year. Lisa (who is blog-less) and I are going to Plymouth at the end of September to attend the EGA New England Region "Region Day" with a tour of Pilgrim Hall Museum (the home of the original Loara Standish sampler). I took a Loara Standish class with Joanne Harvey in Plymouth at Sampler Gathering several years ago, but missed viewing the original sampler as I came down with the flu! I am looking forward to seeing it in person now. Note: the colors in the photo do NOT do this piece justice! We plan to spend the weekend in Plymouth stitching and reliving the glory days of the now defunct Sampler Gathering.

Have a good week!

Where has this week gone?

2006-08-18T12:39:00.000-05:00

It has flown by! I haven't made any progress on Frances this week. But that's because I took a bead class at The Beadin' Path in Freeport. If you go to Freeport, Maine and like beads, don't miss this shop! I was not a beading person (other than adding some as edging onto my stitching) until I walked into this ship. It's right on the main drag, at the south end of the street. Don't confuse it with the disappointing, not-worth-a-visit shop across the street.

The class project is called Bohemian Beaded Basket. It's a class in two parts: the first was to make the basket by covering cotton clothesline with yarn. We started that in class and are supposed to have it finished by next Wednesday, and at that class we will attach the beads. I chose a blue/green softly variegated yarn called Nantucket and have blue, green, aqua and silver beads (so far). I'm also going to add another color for contrast and add some little doodads like teeny silver and shells. Weaving the basket has taken up all of my free time since Wednesday. It is a lot of fun though! I'm already envisioning a larger version in fall colors with pine cones and beads and twigs around the edge.

My best friend will be visiting from Connecticut this weekend and we're taking Max to the beach on Saturday morning and will hopefully have time to stitch while he's napping. I'm trying to teach him to say Auntie Lisa, but it's coming out Awnie Sussa. Sooooo cute. Then on Sunday, we're going to Patti's house to stitch! I can't wait to see her stash, projects, cute house and Cowboy!

I'm hoping to have lots of pictures on Monday!

Happy Friday!

Another UFO Morphs Into a WIP!

2006-08-14T11:44:00.000-05:00

Hooray! I am in the home stretch on Frances Burwell, an historical sampler reproduction by Joanne Harvey in conjunction with Williamsburg.

Here is what I have accomplished since finishing Sunflower House. The floral band and the house and bird are all done in reversible cross stitch.

This is a close-up of the house. I hope to really crank through the end of this sampler and get it framed for myself.

This past weekend I took Max to the beach on Saturday and it was blessedly not crowded and it was a little on the cool side. But it was gloriously sunny and we were there for 3 hours before I even realized it! Max always lets me know when he's ready to go home - he starts piling his toys into the wagon and then gets in. What a cutie!

On Sunday we all went to the Zoo and amusement park in York, Maine. I have to say that the zoo part was depressing. It's sad to see these beautiful animals in these very small cages. They're clean, but small and do not look like a natural environment. Sad, sad. The best part for us was the duck pond with hundreds of ducks. Max liked feeding them. And the butterfly santuary. One of the baboons took an instant and violent dislike to Max. He was sitting there placidly looking at all the kids until mine walked up. They he started rushing the cage and shouting. It was kind of scary. As soon as we left, he shut up and sat back down. It was weird. We didn't see all of the animals because Max was tired and cranky as we had arrived late. He was very interested in the kiddie rides, but whenever we tried to put him on one, he freaked out. Maybe he will be more interested next year, but I don't know if I want to go back again. I've never been to a zoo before, are most of them like this? Has anyone been to a nice zoo they'd like to recommend?

SBQ

2006-08-11T08:37:00.000-05:00

Today's SBQ was suggested by Ami (http://stitch.thirani.net/):

For those of you who use hand or over-dyed floss, how do you store it?

The permalink to this post is: http://blondelibrarian.net/stitching/archives/2006/08/over-dyed-floss-storage/

My current method of storing cotton floss is on little hooks on a pegboard on the wall of my craft room. Not very space effective, but it makes a nice display!

Before I put up the pegboard, I had all of my floss separated by manufacturer (Weeks, GAST, Crescent Colors, etc.) and on large rings in alphabetical order. Much more portable than my wall display!

Sweet Victory!

2006-08-08T07:04:00.000-05:00

Sunflower House is finished!

The victory is three-fold: (1) a finish; (2) a finish on time; and (3) making enough time for myself to stitch! I think No. 3 is the most important victory here though.

This is a Blackbird Design stitched on the recommended 28 ct. Friendship Blue linen by R&R and using the recommended Sampler Threads.

Corners of My Home

2006-08-06T21:11:00.000-05:00

I don't know who started this or where I first even saw it, but I like the idea. Here is a corner of my home. This is in the sunroom. The pool is to the left and the street is to the right, although you can't see either from this picture. Of course, being a sunroom, it's mostly windows and a good place to stitch and relax.

We had a busy weekend with a trip to Amherst on Saturday for a visit with an old friend of Sam's from high school and college. We thought it was a get together to meet his friend's wife, but it turned out to be a family reunion. Oh well, it was fun anyway.

I'm going to try to finish Sunflower House tonight while everyone else is sleeping. Wish me luck!

Happy stitching!

Good Times

2006-08-02T16:11:00.000-05:00

This has such a good week! On Monday Patti came to visit, and even though it was HER birthday, she brought me flowers and cookies - how sweet is that? We went to lunch at Foley's Bakery (awesome bread) at Pineland in New Gloucester, Maine. Then we stitched for a while and dove through my stash. I saw WIPs that I had no memory of stitching. Sheesh! I did manage to get a little done on my Sunflower House, but not enough to show a progress picture.

Today I took Max to the beach. Ah, the beach. Even though it was the hottest and muggiest day of the summer so far, the beach was lovely. Max and I played in the surf all day and he finished off the day with some chocolate cookies and ice cream.

How great is it to be a kid? Hmm, big thunderstorm starting, better shut off the computer. Have a nice week everyone!

Lazy Sunday

2006-07-30T16:31:00.000-05:00

I LOVE lazy Sundays. My husband is out of town this weekend, which should make it a busier weekend, right? Nope. Max has been the angel child I wish was here all of the time. A stitching friend from EGA came over this afternoon and we spent some time cooling off in the pool and then I was settling down to stitch, when Max woke up from his nap. But I am all set to stitch after he goes to bed.

This week I have brought out a UFO and turned it into a WIP. It is Sunflower House by Blackbird Designs. The house is what I have added this week. I will finish this into a gift for my Aunt's birthday (which was in June). But I won't see her until the end of August, so that's not too late.

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend!

Sandy

Happy Dancing!

2006-07-26T09:18:00.000-05:00

I have FINALLY finished Hannah Skinner - my contribution to Lisa's tombstone angel round robin. I haven't finished anything in ages, so this feels really good. In a previous post, I had said that I had this RR kicking around for a year, but that was incredibly inaccurate. As I looked back in the journal that came with the project, I see that I didn't get it until the end of April this year. Although I am still in the doghouse and I have had it for three months and it was supposed to be a six-week (more or less) turnaround. Here it is:

Photo hosting courtesy of www.photobucket.com

Next up for me is to finish stitching the sampler I have designed. It has presented challenges to say the least. I still need to design one small part and that is giving me the most trouble! Maybe I will be inspired and motivated now that I am out from under the cloud of a late RR.

Happy stitching everyone!
Sandy

Almost Finished!

2006-07-25T09:47:00.000-05:00

I am so close to being finished with Lisa's tombstone angel RR, that to post a picture now would ruin seeing the finished picture. I will definitely finish it tonight. I got up early this morning and squeezed in an hour of stitching before I had to get ready for work. Does anyone else who works full-time do that? Pre-child I stitched all the time and now it's in bits and pieces, but I am definitely making an effort now. For the last year I had hardly stitched at all and I was such a grouchy bitch! So now that I'm stitching, I'm much nicer to live with.

I saw a book cover recently called Woman First, Family Always by Kathryn Sansone. This woman has TEN children and doesn't look completely insane. She must have some good advice to share with me - I'm completely harried and I only have ONE child. I would like to have another, but I wonder if it would drive both me and my husband over the edge. Hmmm. It sounds like one of her principles is to take care of yourself first, which will make you happier, thus everyone else happy. Like if "Momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy," right?

And today's picture is Moon and Stars by Little House Needleworks in honor of my son, Max, who loves to say Moon and Star and point up at the sky. I stitched this for him before he was born and still need to frame it! (He's two now).

Photo hosted by Photobucket

Merry Cox Finish & UFO

2006-07-21T10:58:00.000-05:00

It's only noon on Friday and I have NO work to done. Nothing. Not even a piece of paper to file. Hmmmm. Maybe I should have taken half a vacation day or something. But I didn't want to use them all up too quickly, you know? I will have to spend the rest of my workday ready all of your blogs - now that doesn't sound so bad, does it?

I didn't get to put a stitch into anything last night - Max was high maintenance. But he was also being cute, so it didn't hurt ... so much. But I love to post photos, so here are some oldies. The first is one of my Merry Cox UFOs - it's so old it has my maiden name. Could that have been 6 years ago? Wow. From the Swan Lake Mending Bag:

And an actual Merry Cox finish - the Red b Needlecase, front and back. The closure is an antique shoe button and inside are two small pieces of antique linen for the pages. The inside is lined in a slubby gold dupioni silk.

In Other News:
I was up from 2:30-5:00 last night/morning. I woke up to pouring rain (thanks TS Beryl) and realized the windows were open, so went around closing the ones where the rain was making puddles, wiped up said puddles. Realized one of (the four) cats was outside, let said cat in, realized the windows in DH's car were open, went outside and closed said windows and then was too awake to sleep and too sleepy to stitch. So I read instead. I finished my third Undead book. They are just too funny and a great quick summer read. Vampire fiction meets chick lit. Try it, you might like it. The first one is Undead and Unwed. Also on the reading front, I found Lauren Willig at the end of last year and just love her. She weds romance with historical fiction and it's very entertaining and interesting. Her first book is The Secret Identity of the Pink Carnation; the second book is the Masque of the Black Tulip and the third yet-to-be-released book will be The Deception of the Emerald Ring - due out in November.

Happy Stitching (or reading)!

Sandy

Progress Report

2006-07-20T08:32:00.000-05:00

Finally, a picture! This is my progress on the Tombstone Angel RR I'm in. It's actually a Chartmakers (Carriage House Samplings & Goode Huswife) RR, but then we each chose our own theme. Lisa's choice was tombstone angels. I am stitching Hannah Skinner, but I changed the colors from the original to go better with the fabric. You can see the original at http://www.carriagehousesamplings.com/antiques.htm. The fabric is lighter than it shows in the scan. I had to use the ancient scanner here at work. I hope to have it done within a week.

While you're there, you might want to check out the home page and see the incredible Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I haven't even started the Houses of Hawk Run Hollow yet, but that Village is definitely calling my name. Kathy is such a prolific designer and her designs just appeal to me so much. I could probably spend the rest of my life just stitching her stuff!

We are having gorgeous weather here in Southern Maine, unfortunately, I am stuck behind my desk at work. I can at least see out the window, but that's really a tease when it's so nice out. I'm taking the boy to the beach on Saturday to play in the sand and surf. That is really the best part about living here. I can deal with the long, long winter in exchange for being 30 minutes from the beautiful Maine coast.

Thank you all for visiting my blog and leaving such lovely comments. I truly enjoy reading what other stitchers are up to (even when it's not stitching). Have a nice day everyone!

Sandy

Another Weekend Over (sigh)

2006-07-16T19:28:00.000-05:00

Thanks for your lovely comments everyone! It feels good to know that people are reading my blog. I am really enjoying reading everyone else's and it gives me such inspiration!

Don't you just hate the end of the weekend? I know I do! I took Friday off from work and spent a lovely morning stitching. Then I went to see Pirates II with my husband (it felt like a first date, that's how long it's been since we had a night out alone - although this was more decadent because it was the middle of the afternoon), and then hung out in the pool until it was time to pick up "the boy" from daycare. A very nice day!

On Saturday morning we went to the beach and came home around 2:00 and I got to stitch in the afternoon while the wee one took a nice long nap. And a few more dips in the pool were warranted due to the rare heat and humidity here in Maine.

Today I thought might be more of the same. I took Max to the beach by myself this morning and was hoping to stitch while he slept in the afternoon, but he threw a wrench in the plans by sleeping in the car and then refusing his afternoon nap. Aargh. The little bugger is on my lap right now, watching a Kipper episode while I type this. He's so ready to crash.

Another wrench in the works this afternoon was that my husband decided to be a MAN. Do you know what I mean? Instead of relaxing while we were gone this morning, which was the general idea, he decided to do a floor to ceiling clean of the house, mow the lawn, take out the trash, etc., and by the time we got home, he was exhausted, cranky, and not ready to take over the handling of an exhausted, cranky child. Bummer. Neither of us is very happy with each other at the moment. This too shall pass I am sure. As it does when this occasionally happens. Thanks for letting me vent.

And the batteries died in my camera, so no progress pictures today. But I will put in an old one, just to make it interesting, but it's new to you, right?

Hmm, blogger photos isn't cooperating. I've tried about 7 times. I'll try tomorrow. It was a good one too! I stitched it in 1997 and it's by Eileen Bennett of The Sampler House. The verse reads
"Oh heaven preserve us from a wife with fancy work run wild. With hands that never do aught else for husband or for child. Our clothes are rent, our bills unpaid, our house is in disorder, and all because my lady wife has taken to embroider." Kind of fits what's going on at our house lately!

Happy stitching,
Sandy

Still Learning

2006-07-13T14:59:00.000-05:00

I'm new to the blogging and html thing, so please bear with me while I work out the kinks! My pictures are not showing up for some reason, so please feel free to click on the flickr link to see what I have posted there. I need to take more photos of my completed stitching and hope to add more links as well.

In stitching news, I'm working on a design that I hope to publish. I've got many more ideas that I have yet to put to paper (or in this case PatternMaker). My first one is almost stitched. I can only work on it once "the boy," my 2-year old son is in bed, or before he wakes in the morning. And because I work at a computer all day, it is hard on the eyes to start stitching at 9 at night. But I'm trying. I hope to have at least 5 designs ready for publication by the time market rolls around in February.

We have short summers here in Maine, and had a very wet, icky spring, so I am trying to soak up every bit of the sunshine and warm weather while it lasts. Our new house also has a pool and I want to take advantage of that while I can as well, so my stitching time has been greatly reduced. By winter will rear its ugly head soon enough and because I'm an "indoor girl," I have more time to stitch in winter.

In other stitching news, I'm stitching on a round robin for a group that I've been with since 1999 or 2000. We initially started a rr devoted to the Chartmakers (i.e., Carriage House Samplings (f/k/a Barrick Samplers) and now defunct Goode Huswife. We have repeated this three times in the 6 or 7 years (how can it be that long?) that we've been together. My first one was huge, the second one a little better and this last one tiny and much more manageable. All in all, we've had good experiences with our little group. This is the last one I need to stitch on for this round and it is taking me an inordinately long time to get to it. I just realized last night that I've had it for close to a year. [BAD STITCHER] But we're a very easy-going group. I've put a renewed effort into finishing this one and will post a picture of my progress tomorrow after I've worked on it some more this evening. Her theme is Tombstone Angels and I'm stitching Hannah Skinner by Chartmakers (http://www.carriagehousesamplings.com/antiques.htm) but I've changed the colors to go better with the lovely gray-green of the RR fabric.

Happy stitching,
Sandy

The Throne Room

2006-07-12T09:36:00.000-05:00

I am so lucky to have a craft room of my own. After having lived in small apartments (one as small as 500 sq. feet), having enough space was a huge consideration when we were house hunting. Sam needed an office, Max needed room to play, and I needed my own craft room, where I could shut the door to get away, or shut the door to hide my stuff from sticky toddler fingers. We finally found what we needed and now complain that we don't have enough "stuff" to fill it. If only everyone could complain of such things, eh?

This is the door (did I mention that I love having a door?):

Here is the wall with my shop-style Weeks Dye Works and Gentle Arts Sampler Threads storage:

And a shot of my Throne and floor stand. It's a Gazelle II and was a present from my husband for my birthday this year. I had a floor stand for years, but after we moved a few times, I lost of of the pieces, and just needed a new one in general. I like this kind much better than the one I had before and highly recommend it!

I need to take more pictures of the room. There are two windows which provide some good light in the morning (one faces the pool area and the other the back yard). There is also a bookcase with my stitching reference books, a desk with my computer, a counter for my scrapbooking, and lots more baskets with stash hidden inside. It's like Christmas whenever I open up a basket to look for something. I do need to get better organized.

Happy stitching,
Sandy

Welcome to the Modern World

2006-06-16T18:11:00.000-05:00

I wonder why has it taken me so long to create a blog? I have only recently discovered needleworker's blogs, for some reason I thought blogs were just political forums. I'm glad to be part of this modern world, to be able to unite such technological wizardy with the very grounded and ancient form of needlework!

I have too many WIPs to name right now. I went to Celebration in Nashua, New Hampshire (www.celebrationofnw.com) May, and came back with more stash, and two class projects. The first is Time for Tea by Barbara Jackson. I hadn't had the opportunity to take a class with her before, and she is just delightful. The project is almost complete. I ran out of thread and need to remember (should do it right now) to e-mail her to ask for more.

The second class project was Take a Lovely Sampler by Lauren Sauer, and it was indeed, Lovely. I will post pictures soon.

But right now I am focusing on designing my own patterns and have one in progress called The Checkered Path, which features (you guessed it) a checkered path. I will post a picture of that once I've finished stitching it. I also have ideas teeming in my head, now that I've decided to start creating my own. Hopefully they will come to fruition!