Little bits

Poor tulip and daffodils.

Even with a snow day last week I have such a little bit of time for stitching but here goes......
We did dodge a bullet on the nor'easter last week and were more plagued by the ice damage to the trees.  

The trees were beautiful in the bright afternoon sunlight.   The noise from the wind and ice falling from the sun baked trees was quite loud.

 

This one is at a house up on the highway where friends used to live.    I remember when these trees were planted.   The weight of the ice just snapped off the branches down one entire side of the tree.  Every road you drive down there are branches down and trees still being tended to.  So sad to see all the damaged evergreens.  It could be worse.....I've seen no issues of trees into houses or on vehicles around here.  Leonard, my tree guy, most be a busy man right about now.

At any rate I spent most of my snowday just lazing around and not taking advantage of the 'free' time.....well, I took advantage of the free time to do nothing for a change.   I never made it to my sewing room to finished squaring my quilt blocks.   In fact, all the sewing 'stuff' is still piled at the bottom of the steps waiting for me to take it upstairs.  Just not enough hours in the day to get it all done.   And when I had a free day, I just crashed!  The overtime should, operative word being should, be coming to an end.   It will be time to catch up on all the things I let slide both at work and at home.   Most mornings I have tried to manage to carve out about 30 minutes to stitch.  It is like a drug people...admit it....we need our daily fix or something is missing or worse, we get out of sorts.  

My Stitching Friend is coming along.   I just crossed the halfway point.   This is the piece I take to work.......lunch at my desk means no stitching at lunchtime.   The little bits here and there and I will get this done.   

 Uncle Sam has seen so little of a needle with thread in my hands.   I only have his legs and shoes and he will be done.   I'd have to check but I may not even have put in any stitches since I last posted a pic!

I did further goofing off this past weekend with some shop hopping and lunch out with a girlfriend.   We always have a blast when we are together.  Here are a couple of oddities we came across.  First a kitchen wench (?) made of kitchen gadgets.

And then in an entirely different store, a man made out of ties.  More evidence that one person's trash is another persons treasure!

On Sunday I took my friend Roxanna to a concert by the DE Women's Choir.   Of course since I don't take pictures of people you will only see the beautiful stained glass windows of the church they performed in.  

There are four of these windows down each side of the church.   Each is an easy 15 foot tall.   Such a shame that what is showing white is actually green.

One of the same windows looking up from the windowsill.

 This is actually a real Tiffany window.   Imagine that.  In little old Salem County, NJ.  Roxanna enjoyed the concert and of course we have to do dinner out.   (She is 83 so it becomes a social event for her.)  The Delaware Women's Choir sang their repertoire for their upcoming tour to Austria.   It was a real treat.

I had the best weekend in a long time.  No work, just play.   Not that my quilting weekend was not great, but that involved driving and traffic and not sleeping in your own bed.  

Hopefully more stitching progress to share next time up.

Until next time....thanks for stopping by and have a great week in stitches.

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Corsica River, One month in

Time for a one month update.   This is my FB SAL.  I am close to halfway through the first assignment which is the complete row of blackwork.    My needle is parked at the mid point.  

So I never go outside the lines.   I obey the rules.   I behave as if someone is always watching.   So what is hiding under the pattern?    Yes, I moved ahead to the next section.   I got curious about the Assisi stitching.   So you see, I am MORE than halfway because I have a head start on the next section.  

I had planned to do the black backstitch last to show a crisper outline.....well it is much easier to backstitch first and fill in the the with the red long armed crosses.




The nice gentle repeat of the first row is making it easy.   For me, I just need to find the time to sit and stitch!

 
 Hope to see some updates from other stitchers on FB later today.

Quilting Weekend Getaway

Just back from a quilting weekend.    Believe it or not but this is the first time ever I've done a weekend with my sister.  Crazy I know.

We participated in a Mystery Quilt weekend.  You buy your fabric, follow the cutting instructions provided and show up with all your pieces cut and all your equipment and paraphernalia to follow along with the mystery.   Wow, think you need to take a lot for a cross stitch weekend......it's nothing compared to a quilting weekend.

Here's a bit from show and tell of previous projects that were shared.  These women were so talented and so welcoming and great to be with.

Beth didn't work on the mystery quilt but worked on adding the finishing rows to this huge quilt.

 This was Beth's attempt to use of her scraps.  Mission accomplished!

 A Christmas block of the month club quilt.

 Another block of the month beauty.

Below, it the back to the above lap quilt.

 My sister's appliqué wall hanging.

I eye this pattern every time I go in the store....I even may have bought this pattern somewhere along the way.   I love Halloween stitching.   It is fun to work in all the bright colors.  Better check my stash.

Pretty block of the month from Keepsake Quilting by Barbara.

 Katie created this baby quilt this weekend for a soon to arrive grandson.

 One of Darlene's many

 Everyone's was so different.   Sarah's is so pretty in the red and white and here's another gal that got to Clue 14.

And my work for this weekend.    When it came to the mystery, I managed to complete 13 of the 14 clues.   Clue 14 is the final assembly into rows and joining them for a quilt top.   I stopped sewing because I wanted to square up all my pieces before the last step.  I don't know if I am making a mistake to do so but....too late.   No turning back once I started.

The orange with white symbols under my thread, my bobbin keep and the pins will be my binding.   The backing is the cream colored with the colored symbols that is under everything.  

There were 15 in the class and it was just the right size.   Cynthia and Jan from the Quilt Block were great hostesses and made it a nice weekend.   Tips and hints were shared.  Of course there was a trip to the store to buy necessary tools and some upgrades to existing tools.  I was shamed (lol) into buying a new 6 x 12 ruler (see mine covered with paint from a rug painting project).

We had a nice time together and met some great new friends.    We exchanged emails and added each other to Facebook friends lists.   I am now in the mood to sew up a storm....and with a nor'easter coming this Tuesday and I am hoping for a snow day in my near future, and time to finish this quilt top.  Not enough hours in the day to do all the crafting I want to!!!!

Perspective

I am a week in on my Queenstown Sampler SAL Corsica River.   In my mind I have divided the first row into 8 target points of completion and at the end of the first ten days, I am on target.  I am pretty sure I can stay on track.  Yea me and all my SAL buddies!

And then a dose of reality.   I referred back to the pix of the completed project.....progress I am happy with but oh so far to go.   Inside that little square marked off with snips of a post-it note, is what I have accomplished to date.  I actually met Barbara Hutson, the sampler designer, last summer and she said the first row was the hardest......I am keeping that in mind as I work my blackwork across the fabric.  What a feeling of accomplishment this will be when finished.  

But, here's another look at perspective........my orchids haven't bloomed for two years but I held out hope.   I continued to water, sparingly, and to fertilize and nothing.....but I kept on keeping on.

I am thinking of the reward at the end of the wait as I stitch on Corsica River because I know I will be rewarded for my efforts.  Somedays it is annoying balancing the large scroll frame but if i stay on schedule, in two years I will have a completed sampler!  Hmmm, two years (and a bit) away from retirement......I think I have new incentive to reach each milestone.

See it all does depend on where you stand.