Day III in the i-Challenge

Well, first and foremost, let's get things in proper perspective here....althought I am seriously twisted about devoted time to stitching OVER cleaning, filing, etc., I need to tell everyone about the Blue Men.   What could be more important than stitching, a day spent with family.  What a great show.   The tickets were a Christmas present from my daughter and son-in-law, who I must argue it the best son-in-law in the whole world.  We went to the Merriam Theater in Philly.  It is a small theater but very ornate and gorgeous.  The show was 90 non-stop minutes of entertainment.   These guys were fabulous and the finale was fantastic.  I haven't laughed that much (in public) for quite a while.  I may have even *snorted* once!  After the show we walked to Rittenhouse Square and ate at the Devon Seafood Grille.   Another must do again place.   Our seats over looked Rittenhouse Square and it was just really lovely to sit and look out at the square.   I imagine it would be really pretty in the spring and summer.   Mr. W. is not one to want to leave the house and he is definitely a man of minimal verbage but once he got back to his safety zone of his Man Cave and had a "beverage" he wouldn't shut up about the show, the dinner and the day.   He didn't even once refer to the City of Brotherly Love as Flith-a-delphia.   This may be a first.  Sorry folks, he is just a country boy with roots from Arkansas and not a fan of the city - any city.  He kept telling me to let our daughter know what a nice time it was and we should do it (or something like it) every year.  (hhhhhhmmmmm, do I see Jersey Boys in my future??? - one can only hope)  I instructed Mr. W. the he needs to email her!!!!   It would mean so much more coming from the man of so few words.   So few words except for those times of technical instruction.  Then we know he has an unending flow of words.



I just love this little flower.

Fir stitching, my progress on i-Challenge Day 2.   Not as much as I had hoped.   I was having an issue focusing last night and need to figure out the count of linen I selected.   It just seemed small.   That and in my infinite impatience wisdom to start right away, I didn't take the time to overcast the edges on my sewing machine and kept pulling at the wisps of threads unraveling around the edges.   For one, I can't wait to work on this a few more times to get the sizing or stiffness out of the linen.   It just get aggravates when it is old stiff and starchy and seems to have a mind of its own. 

For today, the i-Challenge is brought to us from The Prairie Sampler.   It is called the Friendship Star Puzzle Purse.  When completed, you fold the piece into a small little purse.  It opens to something similar to an Ort box.  The photo shows the folded version.  This is the little blurb from the pattern....

    "The puzzle purse was first made in the last quarter of the 18th century.  It was usually made out of           paper.   It was quite often given on Valentine's Day with a message to a loved one.   One source said that it has been known to find birth cerficates folded this way.   Quite often they were painted with faktur."



This is the finished and folded version - kind of the center square of a 9 patch. 

This is another pattern that has been high in my list of soon to-do projects.   I purchased it at Celebrations event in Nashua, New Hampshire.  As I think about the piece and write about it, I feel like a little child telling her mother that whatever toy is placed in front of me is my FAVORITE and spout the reasons.   I am sure I am not alone.