Wrapping up June

I did little to no work on the back 40.   I have an unbelievable amount of Spiderwort - which I never planted.   Intentionally at least.  

When we moved in 40+ years ago, the former owner had it at the foundation across the back of the house.    I dug it up and threw it in the woods behind me.  Where all the plants I had too many of them went for years.   Although  the purple blue flowers next to the yellow coreopsis make a lovely showing, once the spiderwort declines the heavy stalks - like fat asparagus stakes - just flop over into big 3 foot round circles, looking messy and smothering anything nearby.   I try to eradicate it every year.   It has roots that look like spaghetti and even a one-inch piece left in the ground will sprout the next season.   I have sprayed every kind of weed killer again and once died down, I remove what I can, cut off at ground level and spray it again.   So I guess progress has been made but not so much headway made.   I still need more stone to complete the path.   Bringing it home from my son’s in a half dozen flower pots at time is  not making a big difference.    And since this is technically not my property - it is a landlocked piece of property owned by the township but it is mine by right of eminent domain - I think and I have been cutting and maintaining it for years…..since it is not my property, my rule is not to spend money on it.   I am close to breaking that rule so I can get the blasted walkway down.   I figure I need about a dozen 50 pound bags which really means 18.  I guess if I spend money on weed killer I can make the small jump to paying for stones.    I may just price them out, even price out having bulk delivered. I know Mr. Wonderful will think I am trying to give him a heart attack moving a 1/2 of stones.  

For WIPGO this month, one of the numbers called was 7 hours on Rosewood Manors Cornwall Cottage.  I love this piece.   Every time I pick it up to work on it I wonder why I put it down.   Anyway, I decided to double up this month and dedicate both monthly assignments to this piece which meant spending 14 hours on it which I did manage to do.    I figured it was the best way to make the most progress and I am happy with what I got done.   One of these years I get it done.  And the inner border met!  I count this as a win!   I think WIPGO for July might be put aside.  I promised myself that in July I would work on Christmas gifts and exchange pieces.   

Temperature Tree is half done!   So far so good.  Having fun with it.  Time to stitch that July branch.

French Alphabet Sampler is moving along, slowly.  I only put in one Sunday afternoon of work.   Between traveling and entertaining grand children, stitching got neglected.  Any forward progress is good.   I would really like to get page 2 finished and be well into page 3 by the end of the month.  Although not as far as I would like to be, I am still on tract for a Leap Year finish!  This is the only piece I plan to stitch on in July other than exchange stitching so I feel sure I can be well into Page 3.  

If not traveling, or dealing with minor body ailments,  I was spending my time with these two.    I had William for the week between school being out and camp starting.  We visited a natural history museum with dinosaurs because all little boys like dinosaurs and we saw In and Out 2 at the movies.  Then I had Little Miss Raegan for a long weekend and we had lunch at a tea room.   She was the perfect little lady.

 

And I still have one more Ohio trip to post.  I tried to incorporate here with my monthly update but there is too too much to share!   

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

Ohio, Part 2

Another calendar page about to turn and I still have more to tell about Ohio.   It is true what they say, whoever they are, that time flies.    First up, let’s talk Cincinnati and some Cincinnati Chili!   Yum.    Not my first taste of it.   Stayed at Stasi B.’s house overnight and she had it for dinner for us.   I have made it myself also.   I just couldn’t be in Cincinnati without going to Skyline and having some!  Well, guess what, we never made it to Skyline for my chili.   

This get together with my table mates from the Quilters Station Retreat turned into a great weekend.    On Friday we walked about the neighborhood, called The Rhine.  It is an area of revitalization.   We visited Finlay’s Market, much like Reading Terminal Market in Philly.   We ate lunch at a lovely French Cafe, complete with Bloody Mary’s.  

So much beautiful architecture and fabulous murals on the buildings in the area.

Jackson Brewery

Next to Jackson Brewery.   We noticed the ‘barrel’ like arches over the windows and wondered if it was intentional or our creative minds.

This would be so much better if not for the electric wires!

A beer garden!

The group decided to do a Round Robin which we all started when together.   It is    from Hello from Liz Mathew’s.    We all chose our own fabric and floss and got started.   Starting July 1st, we are going to mail  our pieces to the next person on the list.  We plan to meet up again in late February and hopefully we will all have our own piece back to us and well on the way to completion.

Mine is on the left.   I choose multiple colors.   Becky, turbo stitcher, was ready for the hand off before we left Cincinnati, choose Raspberry Parfait on Oaken fabric.   

Both Friday and Saturday after having big lunches out, we settled into our AB&B for stitching, adult beverages and chatting over charcuterie boards made up of cheeses, fruits, nuts and such.   We mainly just enjoyed each other’s company.  Laughed a lot.  Shared a lot.  And thoroughly had a great time.   I, for one, didn’t get much stitching done but I wouldn’t change a thing about how we spent our time.  

Stay tuned for Part 3 of Ohio complete with a tour of an haunted hotel, The Harmon Museum in Lebanon, OH and some consignment store shopping on the way home.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

Traveling to Ohio, Part 1

The first of the month I was in the car and headed west.   And as you know, I go kind of picture heavy with my escapades and travels so you get a two-parter this month.  Destination Cincinnati, but not to Stitch Con.   My table mates and I from the Quilter’s Station Retreat in Kansas City last September planned a long weekend together with Cincinnati being about halfway for all of us.  

Before my trip, I decided to make a little gift to exchange.  These were super easy.  I ordered the ‘pendants’ from Etsy, got out my  Ultimate Sampler Motif Book, picked an alphabet and stitched everyone’s initial.   Stitched up in no time and put together in no time.   It was fun to do and I would do it again.   They can be used as a scissors fob or to attach to a zip pull on a project bag.   

The trip started with lots of fun and shopping as Vicki and I took two days to get to Cindy.     Our first stop was Canton, Ohio and no, we went no where near the Football Hall of Fame.     When I travel, whether with Stacy or Vicki, it all about the stops.   Stacy’s are more educational and Vicki’s are more shopping.  But both work for me.  

While we were driving across Pennsylvania, Vicki referred to herself as being built like a ‘fireplug’, mainly based on her being height challenged.    So I sat there in the passenger seat and thought, how would I describe myself……almost instantly I came up with I was shaped like the Momma Nesting Doll.   We laughed and that was that.    Arriving in Canton, Ohio, we came upon this sign…

Of course we had to go in.  Oh my goodness!   Somehow, with no planning, we found the nesting doll capital of the world or maybe at least,  their  secret headquarters.   IDK.   But I never saw so many nesting dolls in one place.   Thousands, truly.

Trust me, this is only a fraction of what they had.   This place had many rooms and every time we turned a corner we busted out laughing at MORE nesting dolls.  And no duplicates.    I wish I had snapped a photo of one of the current presidential candidates set of dolls.  

Irish

Snowmen

Halloween

Some for pet lovers

Land of my people!

And books about nesting dolls as well.

No worries, none came home with me!  Actually we did very little purchasing at any of the consignment stores we visited…..on the way out that is.

We visited Little Creek Needlework in Canton, Ohio and what an adorable store with a lovely owner, Pat.   Anyone in the area has a great LNS in Little Creek.  Poor Pat had laryngitis when we visited but that did not diminish her customer service or smile.    We happened to be there on their Thursday stitching day.  As  I shopped and I heard the ladies talking about email they received and I have just received the same one.    I interrupted them and found out we were all members of Western Reserve Sampler Guild of Parma, Ohio.  I am not that quick to think and should have taken a selfie with these lovely ladies. 

I bought this 40 count linen at Little Creek.   I am going to ‘attempt’ 40 count.  Stitchy friends tell me I can do it; we shall see.  One of them will be used for Heaven and Nature Sing by Kathy Barrick.   I have started and stopped that piece at least twice, not liking the fabric I was working on either time.   It is on my radar now.  

Here’s the house.  Let me tell you, we got our exercise with all those steps.  

It was worth the climb up four flights to my room.    Look at that view.

We did visit Keepsakes while we were there!   

  By luck, I found my friend Stasi’s car in the parking long.  She and Lisa were attending Stitch Cons

The Stitchy Bus was there when we were.  

And here we all are on the front porch at Keepsakes.  

Ok, there is much more to share but if I keep waiting until I get it all added and edited it may never get posted.   So there you have, Part 1.    

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

May 2024

Where does the time go?  My favorite little man turned 8 at the end of April.   How can that be!?!

I had a lovely time at the Hodge Podge one-day Retreat in April.   Three of us rented an Air B&B for three nights and had a nice time together.   We shopped, we ate, we laughed, and we stitched, quite literally, until the cows came home.

Each night we were treated to the most beautiful sunsets.

If you are ever driving on Route 30 and find yourself in Kinzers, PA, you must stop at A & J’s Twisted Kitchen.   Best-brisket-ever.    Just tell the waitress, named Johnnie, that Customer - “Not your  turn”, recommended the place.  Sorry, but the explanation would loose something in the translation so I will just let you wonder why I was  told it was not my turn.   She was such a hoot that we had to go back a second night.  

I am spending more time in the yard in recent weeks so while I may be completing my monthly WIPGO assignment, it is getting harder to get projects fully completed.   I have finished 14 pieces so far this year and 11 were  WIP’s.   Win-Win! I did re-evaluated what qualifies as a WIP.  I removed a couple of projects that had only a dozen or so stitches and had been  tossed aside because I wasn’t happy with the  fabric or floss colors I was using.    I also had to re-enter all my charts into the X-Stitch Ap - due 100% to something I did.    Part of the re-entry had me ‘find’ some other WIPs.  On the up side, I was able to bag up a bunch of charts to send off for eBay sales.   

I finished Betsy’s Tart from Plum Street.    I would have not looked at this chart twice until I saw how my friend, Diane from Tennessee, ‘colorized’ it.     The original design called for numerous shades of grey with only the flag stitched with color.

WIPGO #1 assignment done and I started in on the second of the monthly assignment.    I was to stitch 7 hours but I think I did close to 3 times that.    It is Harvest Time from Lila’s Studio.  I just fell in love with that plaid skirt when I first saw the pattern.  There was more stitching to this than I realized.  I used the called for colors but no way did I like the hair color.   Frogged it and used Molasses instead. 

…..I wanted to keep working to a finish but I put it aside around the 21st so I could work on my French Alphabet.   

Even though this is the BAP Leap Year SAL from FB and I have four years for completion, I don’t dare to fall behind.   It would be so hard to catch up if I did.  I am trying to keep making more than the “required” progress each month to keep ahead of schedule.  My goal was to complete the second page of the pattern by month’s end.  I only made it half through the page but that is still more than the ‘scheduled’ amount. Below, on the left, where I was when I started this month, on the right, how far I got as of yesterday.  I’ve got some ‘trinket’s” I need to put together for a June Soiree’ I am going to so, reluctantly, I had to put this aside until I get my trinkets and then my June WIPGO Challenges completed.   It’s OK, it is proving to be a nice balance flipping between the projects.  

Something that has become a culprit in adding to my WIP list are EGA projects.  I don’t know why I seem to think I need to participate in all of the projects my Chapter offers.  I usually get so far and then put them aside to come back to them at some untold future time, or perhaps even never.   Anyway, our March meeting we started blackwork bookmarks.   

Kind of proud that it is totally reversible!   Albeit some lumpy areas where the thread ends were worked in on the back side.  We are supposed to bring them to our June meeting for finishing but I kept at this piece to just “git er done!”  No adding this one to the WIP list.    

I am keeping up to date on my Temperature Tree. Another month almost completed and it is filling out nicely!

While I was on a roll, I finally got to hemming the bathroom curtains that I made a few years back.   Why I put things aside to never return to them I don’t know.   I used the pierced ladder stitch to finish them off in two evenings! 

One number for June WIPGO fell on a big sampler I have let lag.  I am going to re-write the second number’s assignment so I can dedicate the whole month to working on the sampler from Rosewood Manor.   I will be sure to share before and after pix next month.

With each of the projects on my house-hold to do list,  I just never felt like I could spare the time.    In reality, not one of them took that much time when I just dedicated my attention to solely to them.   I guess that means I am a process person  not a product person.   Bless Mr.  Wonderful for he never says a word about my hare-brained ideas, most of which are started before any number of previous job are 100% complete.  

June is just around the corner and I will be off to Cincinnati……retirement is rough.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.