It's that time again

Springtime and yard work.   I made some great progress on weeding flower beds and prepping my vegetable garden but there is so much more to do.   Our weather continues to see-saw between unseasonably warm, rain and then cold or to use the words of the weatherman, raw.   I feel like I am ahead of schedule as far as the gardens are concerned but could easily fall behind schedule if the weather does not cooperate!  So wonderful to see everything greening up.

Because I have been spending time in the yard and the gardens, stitching does suffer.  Alas, today is check in day for my FB SAL and I have failed to reach the bar.   No worries, I am not stressing it.   I am close and of course, I got tired of stitching the blackwork row and jumped ahead to the Assisi work.

I have four more of what I refer to as the 'fuchsia' flowers to complete.   The schedule was quite lenient and there is no reason that I didn't finished except that I lost interest in the first row.

 I have also put in a lot of stitches in my Mon Ami pattern.   I can actually see a finish in my future on this piece......which has languished in my workbasket for several years.   This is how far I was when I picked this back up in January.  I really look forward to completing the stitching and then finished this.  I will need to get some silk dupioni for the lining.

Next on my list, I plan to attack Uncle Sam and finish him up.......maybe by the 4th of July and maybe not.....I remind myself this is my enjoyment and not my stressor!

Thanks for stopping by and happy stitching one and all.

Bit of a mess

I seemed to have had a run of a week to ten days with not much stitching.  Once I did get stitching again, I didn't pick up my stitching on Corsica River......like I should have.

Instead I put needle and thread to linen on my mon ami piece.   I know borders are necessary and often pretty but....I felt like I was not seeing any progress so I jumped to the motifs.   Each motif is so quick and so doable in a little bit of time.

It is nice to see progress.    I am hopeful this will be stitched and finished this year after many years in that WIP basket.

Oh I am out of order in so many ways......I signed up for, canceled and then signed up again for a Betsy Morgan class.   Oh the mess I am.   The piece is just too pretty, was my first thought.   My second thought was why sign up for yet another class to have yet another small or worse, yet another unfinished class piece.   Then, I waivered back to signing back up because I knew once I saw everyone else's project I would be sorry.   So there you have it.....I am a true waffler!

The pre-stitch was easy.....except when I was stitching along all gung-ho on the initials and I started to stitch an "m".....because that is what was charted and the initials of the designer.   Duh.    Amok, I run amok as random.  Class day was yesterday after my regular guild meeting.  The class consisted of a review of the kit contents, twisted cord making,  tassel making and the joining stitch Betsy prefers.   All instructions were reviewed and may tips and hints given.   We got to see a lot of Betsy's exclusive designs.  This morning  I finished the scissors fob complete with tassel made using Betsy's method.   I rewrapped the tassel because I thought my job yesterday was messy.

This is the rest of the kit.  A companion piece to the scissors fob.

Now back to my classwork. I layered my fob per instructions, first ironing on the interfacing, then inserting the skirtex and last pressing and tacking the mitered corners.

I need to work on my tension.   I do like the finishing stitch she used.   It is easy and very sturdy.   It doesn't take long to get into a rhythm.  I have spent years trying to make teeny tiny stitches that don't show but really do so I am all about just embracing the joining stitch that is this uniform.

I am going to hold fast to not start the class piece.....it will be hard.....I have made a bargain with myself to not dare start until I have either finished the assigned Corsica River section or finish my Uncle Sam.  Really, I should make it both.   Getting my hands on Betsy's Virgin Queen will be my reward for the completions.  But I could get distract by making tassels.   They are fun, fast and easy.  

The weather has finally turned nice and a bit of yard work is calling me.  Slow and steady wins the race.  Thanks for stopping by and had a great week in stitches!

Hot Mess

I am a hot crafting mess.    I started an EGA stitch-a-long this week only to decide that with the fibers I choose it was (no other word) yucky!  Out that came and back to square one with that project.

This is the restitched version.

I started my pre-stitch for a Betsy Morgan class I am taking later this month.  I used two strands of silk only to not like the bulky look so I frogged that too.  How those silk threads shred when you frog!   And I was trying to be extra careful as our instructions are to bring all the leftover thread to the class.   Ugh!      Thankfully I had only stitched the border and flowers on one half before I had the mind boggling revelation.  I hope to manage to get the pre-stitching done this weekend.



I have moved onto the next assignment in my FB SAL.......because I finished the first assignment ahead of time?   No, because I wanted to see what the next section was like.   Oh I am out of control for sure.  But I can say  the Assisi work is interesting.   There are two school of thought, stitch first and then outline or outline, then stitch.  As you can see, I am doing the outline first and it is making the stitching whiz along.

 I am exactly halfway across the top row.   Better get my needle in gear, stop straying from the assignment and get that first row done.

For my take along piece, I have managed to complete the left hand side of third section and should be turning the corner on that at stitching night this week.  

 It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that I have charged full steam ahead in yet another project!  Kind of no choice move on this one.   I am making a auction item for a friend's fundraiser for Brain Cancer and the event is next weekend.

Yes those are my squares for my mystery quilt.  And in the upper left corner are Rows 1 and 10 sewn and pressed and just waiting for Rows 2 through 9 to be stitched.  Say no more.   I am scattered.  Isn't admitting you have a problem half the battle?

At any rate, a co-worked and I bought a bunch of scratch off lottery tickets and I was tasked for how to make them/display them as an auction item.  I have promised to delivery my item Monday morning.   I grabbed some branches from the yard, some tissue paper and started.  I debated about using a glue gun but thought with my tendency to make a mess of late, floral tape was the better choice.   And besides doesn't everyone have a half dozen rolls of it just lying around?   I tore about two inch squares of yellow tissue paper and literally just scrunched them up and then taped the 'flowers' to the branches.

First time chalk painting.

 Nice use of a Moscato bottle.

Kind of doesn't look like much in the photo.   Think artsy, think whimsical, think impressionism.

Even though it is sparse, it actually kind of turned out how I envisioned it.   One point for me!

Although I should have been cleaning, closets need straightening and laundry needs to be put away.....    just call me Side Track Robin!  And remember that wall paper project?   Yeah, not seen any attention from me in weeks.    And that makes more points in the no column.    Before you know it, I will be distracted by the yard and gardens!  Ack!  But first  I think I will go back to my sewing room and clean my mess before I have to cook dinner and maybe earn a point on the achievement side.

Have a great week everyone.   Thanks for stopping by.   Keep on stitching.

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