December!

 I hope everyone stateside had a Happy Thanksgiving!    Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and this year did not disappoint.   We were all together again at my house.  There was that nasty pandemic thing and also for several years,  the middle child has stayed in Massachusetts and celebrated with friends. This year she came home for the week.

There were no cell phones at our table, but we did have a little fashionista.  Aunt Heather gave Miss Raegan some costume jewelry and she had to put it all on right away and leave it all on all day.  

I do admit I got myself a little wrapped around the axle and in a tizzy at the end of November/beginning of December.  All of a sudden  it was the week before Thanksgiving.  

You know how is goes when you start thinking of all the things you have to do and don’t know when you will get them done?  And this person wants something from you and another person wants something else, and someone guilts you into something, and you have your own list and you’re supposed to somehow fit it all in.   I needed to drop back and punt.  It was time to stop everything and just kind of review and plan what was needed.  I made my list and prioritized it.   It is the only way I could 'unwind', get it all done, see progress with increasing check marks for  completed items and feel in control of what is a sometimes out of control week!  I had just  run amok for a bit.   Not too much of a control freak am I?  Or too many years as an Executive Administrative Assistant and using that Franklin Covey Planner I guess.

It started with some texts.  I am doing an advent exchange with four friends and they were all trading texts about shipping  their boxes!  What!!  I hadn’t even wrapped my gifts!  What am I saying, I hadn’t even finished the construction of my gifts!    I’d better rethink how I use that  list  that I believe keeps me on track because “wrapping” has been on my list since August so has the ‘construction’ of a couple of the gifts.    Maybe #1 on the list is to CHECK the list.    Taking a realistic assessment of what I had to do I could see it wasn’t that bad.    I spent an afternoon to sort and wrap up to December 11th for all four exchanges.  I spend the next afternoon figuring out what I still had to construct and got started.    In four days, I got things constructed, wrapped and shipped.  Things do get easier if I just stay home a for a few days to get things done. Why is that I so often BLOW the task up in my mind to something bigger that is actually turns out to be?    It’s true, every journey begins with one step and the first step I must take is jumping over the hurdle of my avoidance……I just needed to jump in and do it.

Since middle daughter was here for a week and since we were delaying our Thanksgiving Dinner to Friday due to work schedules,  she and I had a mini-sew-a-thon.   It is great to be able to leave everything (and the mess) set up for several days straight.  This is when I was able to get those items constructed; and was able to trim, press, and interface four cross stitch pieces for finishing.  

I helped her make her layer cake of backing, batting and top and then helped her quilt this quilt.   She made and attached the binding and took it back north to hand stitch the binding down.

She also made this banner style wall hanging.   Don’t you just love that grumpy cat face?  She took some Kreinik and some Etoile floss to stitch whiskers.

 

I didn’t do any work on my Block-a- Day Quilt.   Boy oh boy, am I on a hiatus on this one or what!  It’s only been 6 weeks since I  dropped the ball but it seems like it was six months.   13 blocks left to cut, sew together, assemble and I will be done.  I am taking the pressure off myself and I am not worrying about finishing it after the first of the year.  A good two or three days will do it.

As for stitching, I have made decent progress on Garden of Stitches as well.   I hope to get another big chunk stitched by the end of the month.  It is such a pretty piece.   I need to finish that row above the WXYZ  and I have the large flower basket under the WXYZ and I will be done. There are some other little things - like satin stitches - we were to leave to last that I will have to go back to complete.

I did fully finish HOD’s Costume Party.  This was a mystery SAL in September.   I added the purple beads for what my mind sees as bubbles coming out of the witch's brew.  I also added some JABCO buttons from my stash.   Why save them, right?   I might do a stash dive and change the ribbon to a purple.

I am in the homestretch for the Civil War Huswif, from Linda Vinson.  It is from a  July Guild program.    I used my grandson’s name and 1st Pennsylvania represents him being my first  grandchild and he lives in Pennsylvania.   I only need to finish the flag that is taking forever. 

The Liz Mathews Tree was a project she created for my Delaware Guild.   We pre-stitched the piece and part of our November meeting was dedicated to the assembly.   Liz was a great teacher and I was able to work right along with her via Zoom and have my tree done by the end of the meeting.  

I stitched this Jeannette Douglas Design last winter and fully finished it this weekend.   I need to glam it up still with some ribbon and a sprig of greens.

 I stitched and finished this cute little ornament that was one of my Advent gifts.

I also stitched and finished this perforated paper pumpkin from my Shaker retreat.   This one and the bird above were stitched and finished in a day.  I have one more holiday finish I hope to work on tomorrow.  The piece is stitched, pressed, interfaced and finishing fabrics chosen.    I have the incentive of Show and Tell at my EGA this Thursday which is motivating me.

The first weekend of December I participated in Jingle Ball.   It was an online event put on by Lindy Stitches.   The concept and the execution were  very well done.  There were 10 or 12 designers participating.  Cathy Haberman, Linda Stoltz, Janis Note, Beth Seal, Stephanie Webb to name a few. They had Meet and Greet zoom rooms with each designer, lecture rooms, online classes (which sold out in seconds), finishing tutorials and of course, a merchandise mart.  A girlfriend spent the weekend and we stayed up until midnight catching up chatting in zoom rooms with friends from all.   We drank Mimosas and stayed in our PJ's all day.

Made some new friends, chatted with designers, was able to order show exclusives, saw previews for the Nashville Market,  and just enjoyed the weekend long event.   It was a bargain for the $10 ticket price.  

Back in August, I  gifted myself the advent stitch from Moonfeathers in Denmark.   It is an embroidery project.   Each day I open another little bag and stitch with the directions and fibers inside.   The design is outlined like a Christmas tree.....time will tell what the finish will be like.

My (current) plan is to start the Jackie DuPlessis piece from my September  Class on New Year’s Day.   This piece and working towards a finish on Land That I Love by Teresa Kogut are my ONLY 2023 stitching plans......oh fear not,  I am well aware something will come along and cause me to stray.....this stitcher has no will power.   In fact, I am intrigued by the WIPGO SAL many are joining on FB.   Since I want to stitch on ALL the things at once, I need someone to be the director of my  chaos and tell me what my assignment is for the month.   And of course, a class, a retreat, a new design that everyone else is doing will easily divert me from my appointed path.    Oh if only I could be monogamous.   There is slim chance I can stick to my pledge to only have a new start AFTER  after  two finishes.........  I know all my plans are likely to be feudal.   Too many projects and too little time.  I got nothing people.

Thanks for stopping by, stay healthy, stay happy and keep on stitching!

   

The Ride Home

Sunday morning and another delicious meal and we were on our way towards home.   We left New Hampshire and headed to Deerfield, Massachusetts.   What an adorable village.   We toured several of the homes and had a fine meal at the Deerfield Inn.   Some homes had tour guide while others were self guided. There was a lot to see here and you would definitely need more than an afternoon.  Also part of Deerfield was the Deerfield Academy, a boarding school. 

Some of the homes, such as this one, currently serve as dormitories for the Boarding School.

Deerfield Academy Boarding School

Roses still in bloom in November 

Home of the headmaster of the Boarding School

Before leaving Deerfield we stopped at The Flynt Museum.    They had an extraordinary collection of needlework.   

Orpheus charming the animals, circa 1650. 

Charity, hope and faith, from England circa 1654 - 1660 

Above and below, close ups of Charity, hope and faith.    Look at those bullion knots!

Esther and Ahasuerus, London, circa 1650-1675

Gloves, English or French, 1675

Looking glass, England, circa 1660

Sampler stitched by Elizabeth White of Massachusetts (or possibly northern Connecticut,) 1677, age 10

Ruth Hawkins, age 10, 1692, London

Below are three pieces from the Deerfield Society of Needlework.   Only the best needlework was permitted to have the “D” stitched in the lower center motif.  

French waistcoat, 1750

And the special treat at the end of the display…….a casket.  Not just any casket but one stitched by Trisha Nguyen. Caskets were lidded boxes stitched by girls in the 17th century.  Completed caskets once stitched once assembled they held various personal objects serving as both their skill and their families wealth. 

Back in the car; home safely by 8 pm; crashed on the sofa; and then up early and off to my son’s to babysit for the week.   No rest for the weary and all my trip goodies left spread across the dining room table waiting for my return. I didn’t even bother to unpack, just took my suitcase as it was and did my  laundry there.   

Knowing that once I got the kiddos out the door in the morning, I would be free until pick up time at Day Care and the bus stop, I took my sewing machine with me as well as some projects.   Surely I was out of my mind.   I did not put in one cross stitch, I did not finish one strawberry, I did not cut one quilt block….all I managed to do crafting-wise was to do some paper crafts making these tags for an upcoming project idea.

I did manage to sew ONE quilt block on my 100Days/100 Blocks Quilt.   I was getting a cramp from trying to pat myself on the back for keeping up with this one since the start August 1st.  My missing the deadline has humbled me. I’ve got 13 blocks to cut and sew. It’s on my (long) to-do list for the week.  Looking forward to getting this sent off to be long armed.   Once the inner and outer borders are added, this will be queen sized and way too big for me to quilt on my machine.  Been there/done that and it wasn’t fun.  So far, this quilt has been sewn ENTIRELY on my new-to-me 1947 Singer Featherweight machine!  

First 80 blocks have been sashed and sewn together. 20 more to join and add; then inner and outer borders and done!  It has been a challenge some weeks to keep up but I have enjoyed the process.

It was a good week spending time with the kiddos but it was also great when 8 pm bedtime came around too!  Often, I was soaked from bath-time and just as often this Damma fell asleep when I laid down and read bedtime stories.

Miss Raegan is ready for picture day at school.

My little helpers as I was cooking dinner.  They pulled the bar stools over to the stove to watch me cook …..hot dogs of all things!

Finally Friday afternoon I was back in my own little nest I just kind of vegged out for a day and a half.   I saw that The Crown had a new season out so I thought I would chill and watch it.   I was about 5 episodes in and wondering why there was so many flashbacks……well seems I was so brain dead that I started watched from the beginning again.  Geez, it is obvious I am not the sharpest tool in the box.  

At the Shaker Retreat I managed so little stitching.  I did put in a few stitches on Garden of Stitches SAL.   I had caught up in September and then hit Row 18 and stopped.   But I am back at it again and have finished Row 18 and I am moving through the next rows easily.   I hope to start on Row 22 before this weekend. 

Stay tuned,  I already have a trip in June 2023 and October 2023 and November 2023 on the books with Stacy.   We will have to see what we can add to our list of must see’s along the way.