August Flew By

And I feel like not much accomplished on my overall to-do list.  That would be my other than stitching list.    Admittedly, some of the items on this particular list just get forwarded to the next month more than a few times.  I’ve been hibernating in the house, out of the heat,  staying out of my pool-less yard.  While I have not been stitching up a storm, I’ve managed a small squall of finishes.

We were well into the the second week of August before I finished up my July WIPGO but finish I did.  Betsy Morgan’s Pioneer School Girl - ta-da!   Super happy to call it a finish.  This pattern is available in Betsy’s Willing Hands Book.

I loved this piece since the first time I saw it.   I took this as a class at Salty Yarns several years ago, or BC - Before Covid.   I finished all the stitching during Covid.   I put this on my WIPGO board and finishing came up as my July assignment; if not, it would still be in the box o’ finishing.

My other July WIPGO was to work on a WIP and I was able to make more progress on Cornwall Cottage.   I am ready to put this one aside for awhile.   I am thrilled with my progress but tired of working on a big piece.  In truth, I’m itching to start a new sampler!   I know!  How dare I!!   My goal is to have Cornwall Cottage stitched, framed and in the County Fair next August.  It will definitely be part of my 2024 WIPGO board.

For August, my WIPGO assignments were to fully finish two stitched projects and to stitch and finish an Erica Michael’s Strawberry.  I stayed with my sister for a week following knee replacement surgery.   Between being in surgical waiting and then back at her house 6 days, I got the stitching done.

I stitched Erica Michaels - My Needle Berry.   Once home, I fully finished it.

 

Before going to her house, I prepped several projects for finishing.  I picked out coordinating fabric, cut mat board, ironed on interfacing, etc.   What is it that we take a sh#@-ton of projects when we go away thinking  we are going to finish them all? At any rate, it was EZ PZ to keep rolling with finishing when I came home for the weekend. 

I fully finished this pillow.   It is Goodbye Fall from Plum Street.  I used the called for 36 count fabric and flosses.

I also fully finished Olga’s Tart from Plum Street.  I used a fabric remnant and floss from stash.  The fabric is 36 count R & R American Chestnut.  Since I have been working on 32 count with 2 over 2, I unintentionally did 2 over 2 here!  And naturally, it doesn’t fit any of the tart pans I have.   I need to go to JoAnn’s or Michael’s to visit the Wilton section to get a tart pan the right size.   I saw a set of 6 on Amazon but I don’t know that I want 6 tart pans!  I need to make some more twisted cord and add a bow or hanger to the top….or not.

Last but not least, I finished this Christmas ornament from my EGA’s Christmas in July.  

I started making pin cushions as exchange gifts at some upcoming retreats/classes.   Full credit goes to Cathy Haberman of Hands On Design.   She talked about making the pin cushions on one of her Flosstube videos.  See her blog for instructions.  

With my sister napping quite a bit, I was able cut 60, seam and press all of them.   So far, I have 10 totally assembled.  Some are made from a cross stitch pattern fabric and as many as possible were cut from a consignment store cross stitched table cloth that was $10.   I hated cutting apart someone’s work, but the table cloth was stained and I rationalized 48 people will be able to have a piece of someone’s stitching.

I feel like August is a blur.   Between being at my sister’s for a week, regular babysitting and some extra babysitting, things around my house and yard have suffered.  Hopefully cooler weather in September and October and I will get my yard back in shape and tidied up for fall.   

Coming up in September, I’ve got a dilly of roadtrip a planned.   All I’ll say is involves a trip to the top of the St. Louis Arch and adding a new state or two to  my list of states visited.  More on that in my September recap.

July - Coming in hot

and going out on one of the more beautiful days of summer.  Low humidity, temps in the low 80’s, wonderful breeze…..I’m staying outside ALL day.  I may go in and bring out some stitching this afternoon.   We so need this after weeks of oppressive heat and humidity.  

A quick flashback on my two weeks babysitting.   Some of the fun things I did with the kiddos.  We did underwear panting - keeps the clothes clean;  A trip to Chick-Fil-A  playground; rock painting for leaving along the trail on our next hike; Raegan helps me stitch; and, Damma does Twister!   And there was more.   I thoroughly enjoyed the time but my own bed did feel good after 13 days.

What’s about as exciting as watching paint dry?  Waiting for grass to grow.   So much of the seed washed away with the heavy heavy downpours we have had. After having the first spring in YEARS….and I say that because for the last decade it seems like we have gone from winter to summer in about 5 days time…..we were very fortunate with warming but yet cool and crispy days you expect in the shoulder seasons……now July is hot, hot, hot and I am missing having a pool to jump in more, more, more. I digress…..

  

The pavers were finished while I was at my son’s and I need to figure out how I want to ‘furnish’ the area.   A couple of years back I ordered some outdoor furniture from a company called POLYWOOD.    I love their quality and the fact that they are made from recycled plastic.  Although, quality does come at a price.  Mr. Wonderful picked out a large picnic table and has ordered it from POLYWOOD.  Umbrella ordered from Amazon.    I am in no rush to ‘outfit’ the area especially since stores are now sporting back to school and fall items.  Geez!    Mr. W. did paint my park bench a deep brown and my planters, a seaside blue that matches my existing chairs.  I did pick up a couple of bright orange Gaillardia to brighten up the area.   Choose them with the idea that come fall, I will plant them in the back 40.   

Ah, the Back 40……I am still working on the area.   Between being down with a summer cold for two weeks, then two weeks at my son’s, the Smokey skies and the heat, the Back 40 is suffering.  I spent 6 hours on the 4th tidying up all the flower beds.  And now that we are at the end of the month, it is time to do it again.    I try to bring stones home from my son’s each week.   All his flower beds are stone lined and they don’t want that look.   Hence, dump them in Mom’s Back 40 path!  As they say, one person’s trash is another’s treasure. When they lament over the long list of things they want to do in their house, I keep telling my son and D-in-L…..Rome wasn’t built in a day.  Heck, it wasn’t built in 42 years either since I still have projects at my house.  LOL

Since it is so hot I try to get outside around 7:30 a.m. and work until I’ve had enough of the heat and humidity.   I usually don’t last much after noon so come in, shower, eat and do whatever.   I find if I don’t shower and change, I am too tempted to go back out and putz about until sundown.   This gal is getting too old for all yard work and no play.  And worse, it leaves no time to stitch.  

Veggie garden was doing well.  Lots of cucumbers, zucchini, tomatoes and beans.   Seems I have ground hog that likes my garden too.   I came home to only the beans, rosemary and tomatoes left.  Mr. Wonderful mended the fence to keep the darned whistle pig out! 

As for being crafty, I managed to fully quilt and attach the binding to my hexagon quilt.  I am super happy with it!   One down and four WIP quilts and many more on the drawing board to go!  Ugh!    

  

 I forgot to share this finish from last month.    This is my June Summer Camp piece.   It is "Stitcher" by Luminous Fiber Arts.   Used WDW Turkish Red, mystery linen and a consignment store $4.50 frame! Winner winner - Chicken dinner!  As for July, I didn’t complete the project.   Hopefully I will in August.

WIPGO for July was part challenge/part month of progress.   The challenge for the month was to fully finish Betsy Morgan’s Pioneer School Girl.   Stitching has been done for three years.   I knew the smalls would be no problem but, the two hinged boxes on the left and right inside of the ‘book’ were scaring me - which is why the project has sat for three years.   So in that respect, it is a good thing it was called on my WIPGO board.  I’m not quite there yet and I knew I could do it but it was just taking that first step to start. 

Using that curved needle.   I’m getting there.

Using all the clips and had to resort to pulling out the cheaters for this one.

Assembly has not been hard, just fiddlily trying to wrap clumsy fingers around the pieces.  I am in the homestretch now.  I may have to dedicate an early August post to just the Pioneer School Girl when it is finished.

The second call for the month - Work on a WIP.   Liking the progress I have been making on Cornwall Cottage, I just kept at it.  With other things going on, I didn’t get as much time to stitch on this in July, but forward progress is forward progress.   

The sunshine’s shows the wrinkles; the shade dulls the colors……

For August WIPGO my assignment is to stitch and fully finish an Erica Michaels Strawberry and to fully finish two stitched pieces.   Let’s hope I don’t go down a rabbit hole when I am picking out a strawberry pattern or when I dig into the finishing basket which I have promised myself I WILL NOT do until I fully finish Pioneer School Girl finishing.  Here’ hoping.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

Let me try the Reader's Digest Version of January

OMG!  What a year already.

I retired on January 10th and on January 15th there was a big party for me at the Hilton.   Not one to like the limelight I do have to say it was one of my best days ever.   In addition to the nice things said, (a Resolution from the Board of Directors!),  the great food, the open bar and the tear in the eye of my boss who had to turn and walk away with a raised hand - awww - my three kids were there.   Their attendance was a well kept secret and was an ultimate high.   I was so proud as a mom that they came and so proud they got to hear all the nice things said.   Coming was no small feat - one flew in landing at 2 pm with a return flight at 9:15 pm back to Boston.   Another drove four hours, enjoyed the evening and drove four hours home.   So proud I was.

To end the week I went to Camp Wannastitch in OCMD.  Another great time.   Camp Wannastitch is a MidAtlantic Region EGA event.   There were 204 of us at the Clarion.  Much stitching, much fellowship, a few drinks and some great meals.   Win/win/win/win.

At Camp Wannastitch, I started the cover of Betsy Morgan's Pioneer School Girl etui by pulling threads and replacing them with blue silks to create the 'teaching linen'.

I also finished this cross stitched tote bag at Camp Wannastitch.  On day two of January,  I broke my pact to work on WIPs and not start anything new.......this is a pattern from Janis Note of Noteworthy Needle.   The kit was complete with perle cotton, pattern and bag.

I joined the Sassy Jack's SAL of the Jeannette Douglas Learning Stitches Sampler.   Jeannette Douglas is a favorite of mine and I am looking forward to starting this one.  This is designed to stitch as pictured but Sassy Jacks is offering a way to stitch it on banding.  I am not sure which way I will stitch it.

I also want to share information about a pattern from Hands Across the Sea.  The Jane Marshall 1857 Sampler.

It is a sweet sampler that you can stitch from stash.  The sampler is being offered as a PDF download for 10 pounds ($12 US), with the proceeds going to help two fire brigades in Australia.  I am told their original goal was $3,000 and to date they have raised almost $40,000!   The power of stitchers!   Please click on the link above to read more about the fundraiser and consider stitching this sampler.

Ok there is more but.....only ten days into retirement I have no free time!   I am sure it will calm down and I will get into a routine, for now, busy busy busy, long to-do lists but I am making sure I am allowing for  time-outs to stitch.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

Christmas is coming

and everyone is scurrying about with last minute shopping, visits with friends, Christmas parties and decorations.   But for me a bit of relaxing for me on this Sunday afternoon.  

I finally managed to get all the decorations done, inside and out, except for the tree.   I voted to start the wrapping of presents over doing the tree.   Sweet William will be here on the 19th.  If I can't steal  a few minutes each morning before work to get the tree done, Willy and I can do it together.   Much more important I get the presents wrapped and hidden before the wee one gets here.

 Even Mother Nature has decorated the trees and bushes with tons of red berries.

Inside, the carolers are all queued up.

As I count down until Christmas, I am also sure to count my blessings.

And I am counting down until my last day at work!    January 9th will be my last day so between holidays and a few vacations days I have to take, I have 8 more 'get ups!'.    It has taken until the last week or so to get excited.  I have a list a mile long of household projects, craft projects, trips and adventures of things to do once I retire and have been warned that I may start with gusto but will soon have my zest for accomplishing these tasks quickly be dashed as I learn to put off until the next day.

For a well deserved treat this afternoon, I have turned to Betsy Morgan's Pioneer School Girl project.   Until recently I had not picked it up since I took the class in 2016 at Salty Yarns.   I decided to suck it up and dive in.   Earlier this month I did all the backstitch outline for the smalls and managing to steal a few minutes here and there have been able to stitch through the smalls.

Close to finishing up the last of the smalls and then I will start the 'book'

I gave myself an early Christmas present.   Mr. W. and I decided not to exchange presents this year.   Not only have we enjoyed a new pergola on our deck this year, a new bathroom and an upgraded kitchen, we really don't need anything.   During the year, we see it, we get it.  And I want to be on the downsizing side of collecting stuff and to more actively get rid of things.    My present to myself, Betsy Morgan's  Willing Hands.    What a beautiful book, beautiful photos, great stitch diagrams, complete patterns and finishing instructions and background on each piece.   What a nice respite in the middle of the holiday crush.   I have enjoyed paging through it.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching

Down the rabbit hole again

I hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving with family, friends and good food.  I think this was the easiest holiday dinner I even cooked.   I even had time to take a NAP while the turkey was in the oven.   I don't know what I did different than I have done the last 40+ years of holiday dinners but it seemed to be effortless.   I credit the new kitchen layout!

And then the opposite happened.  Ever have one of those days when a simple light bulb change leads to nine other things none of which were on your to-do list?   That was my yesterday.  It started with my husband wanting to change out the light bulbs in the ceiling fans which required the extension (cathedral ceiling) ladder.   That lead to my climbing up to clean the ceiling fans, and the exposed beams across the room.   Which was side tracked by getting the duster I use that was buried under too many things hung on the rack in the laundry room which led to a sort out of the grocery bags and plastic bags and not to mention all the lost bras that I hang on the rack to air dry.  While the ladder was in the house, I decided to wash the windows up in the a-frame peak.   Which lead to washing the other 8 windows and the sliding glass door in that room.  That lead to pulling out furniture from the wall, which lead to wiping baseboards.   Somehow sorting the paperwork on my desk, filing papers, composing some letters for my bother's estate and writing some estate checks came next.   No need to continue, you get the picture of how my day was spent taking care of things that were nice to get accomplished but no where near my to-do list of things I wanted to accomplish.   Just call me side-track Robin.

And remember my pledge to keep my workbench clean and free from being the dumping ground for all things?   Well I have kept my pledge.........but

don't look at the other side of the room where the things have landed.   Ugh!  I see an evening this week taming this mess.

but enough.....












I've got some stitching updates to share.   First, at my last guild meeting (Delaware Valley Historic Sampler Guild - DVHSG) one of the classes was with Janis Note of Notheworthy Needle.    We learned to drill foam pumpkins to later be cross stitched.    Here's my start.   I didn't get all the holes drilled during class......and work on it since has been sidetracked by other things.

At my November EGA meeting we made these neat wool candy canes.    We were lucky enough to have Sue Gonzales of SusanGonzalesDesigns.com  instruct us.   Sue provide the pre-stitched wool that was stitched with a channel where we inserted 18-gauge wire, we then scrunched, twisted, crimped and bent these into the candy cane shape.   These were so super easy.   We each completed three in about a half hour.    Sue has a ton of original, adorable designs and is a pleasure to work with.   If you are lucky enough to be in the Middletown DE area, you may be able to get her to come to your guild or you can stop at her shop.   

Stitching progress has been mediocre.    I have finished three of the smalls for the Betsy Morgan Poineer Girl Etui.    Next up, I will work on the pin cushion that makes up the spine of the book.  I am enjoying these quick finishes and working with the beautiful silks that are part of the project.

I'm off to start the holiday decorations.   Might even treat myself to take-outs so I don't have to stop and cook dinner.

As always, thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

Not without incident...

So everyone knows my Mr. Wonderful is retired.   I have no idea what he does to busy himself all day.   He is playing angry birds on his iPad when I leave and also when I return home......I hardily hope he fills in the hours in between with something else.......   I have been trying to stir him into some yard and household helpful jobs that he could do while I am at work but it hasn't been easy.    He has been contemplating painting the Adirondack chairs.....and after some months of thinking about it.......he started.   Of course, it was a major undertaking to take him to Lowe's explain the different paints and why we couldn't use stain on the already once painted chairs.   I gave up on explaining the virtues of buying a good brush.  Imagine my delight when I came home one day last week and they were painted and in place by the fire pit......  I gave Mr. W. the once over since he hasn't handled a paint brush in 42 years of marriage.....he had only one splash of about 5 drops of paint on his sweat pants.   I was impressed.......then I saw the cat!  His little Buddy following him around all day must of walked under the freshly painted chairs and got paint in his tail.

I was able to take a quick long weekend out to see my grand baby.   Gramma bought him a swing with he loved equally as much as the box it came in.

The long drive is worth it.  We laughed and it was good to see him.   He is growing so fast.    I was excited to learn my daughter-in-law and grandson will visiting me at the end of June and the whole family again in the end of August.  Definitely some pool time in store for us.  For this trip to make things easy, I stayed at the Marriott Courtyard about 7 miles from their home.   It gave me some quiet time and stitching time in the room in the evenings and early morning.

 

It's hard but enough of Mr. William.    I do have a finish to share.  Uncle Sam.   The pattern is from a 1992 pamphlet from Alma Lynn for duplicate sweater patterns.   I plan to finish him as a stand up.   I have red and blue pearl cotton to make the cording.   Instead of stitching the flag as charted, I plan to attach this metal flag from Hobby Lobby.   I kind of went overboard when adding the doll hair.  He may need a hair cut!

This weekend was a class at Salty Yarns.  I took the Betsy Morgan Virgin Queen Stitching Wallet class.   Betsy is such a great teacher, so thorough and shares so many tricks and tips along the way.  Oh my......I will be adding this to the backlog of projects.  As always, it is good to see old friends and to make some new ones.  

  I managed to complete the pre-stitch just in the nick of time, like Saturday morning.  In class we assembled the needle book.

Look at the awesome way we laced the spine of the needle book.

A little shopping after class and I treated myself to Hands on Design "Mend".  I changed the ground fabric from the called for 'Dusty Miller' to Lakeside Linens Maritime White and I am using the 'reds' Sally (of Salty Yarns) used.

I also treated myself to this as well!   It is a limited edition project by Cathy Habermann of Hands On Designs and has to be ordered through Elegant Stitch.  It arrived last week.   Oh boy, my to-do list of new projects is getting longer.  I just feel in love with this when I saw it.  The trims, fibers and fabrics are so pretty and everything is included in the kit.   I have a class in the fall with Cathy Habermann and I hope to have this at least started.   Maybe I can get her to sign the box!  Seems Hands On Designs is my latest favorite designer.

Progress is coming along on Mon Ami A Stitcher's Friend.   One more motif on panel three and then the fourth and smaller last panel.

We made a quick stop at Serendipity Quilt Shop in Dagsboro to pick up fabrics for the lining.  I had in mind mattress ticking.....and ended up liking a batik!   Never would have guessed that.

My Corsica River SAL project has not seen any work......just hope it doesn't fall into the abyss as the wallpaper removal project.

Maybe next post,  I will share from some garden photos.   For now, indoor plantings.....my orchids are blooming like crazy.

Thanks for stopping by.....keep on stitching.