Jumping Jiminy!

It is cold out there and blustery too!   A week ago we were without coats....and now, double brrr!  I guess I should just cuddle up on the sofa and stitch!  We stitchers you know we don't need much coaxing.

So nice to have a weekend to myself.   It allowed me the time to get ready for the family coming in later this week for Thanksgiving.   Let's see in 3 days we went from four for dinner to 10 or 11.   It's all good.....you know how Turkey Day is and I doubt I will cook any differently.  I will just put more plates and chairs at the table.

I took this WIP to the next step.   I bought this last spring to finish and put in my dining room when I bought the new chairs with the black finish.  I cut everything and ironed on the interfacing and then put it aside.    Yesterday I peeled the backing and ironed the individual pieces to the ground fabric.   This will be a great take-a-long project because the blanket stitch is mindless.   I need to discipline myself and load only three needles and vow to stop when I exhaust that supply or I will never make progress on some other WIP's, like...

on Grace Mason.   Seven of us are doing this one.   Two ladies are completely finished and framed; 4 of us are at about the same place with me slightly bring up the rear of that middle group; and one hasn't started.    

It has been helpful to have  some ahead of me to give me pointers.   Each lamented about the 4 sided stitch and I thought What?  It's just a four-sided stitch...trust me it seems like you are stitching four-sided stitches forever.

Then there was general grousing about the curly-ques around the letters in the next band....and again, I am thinking, what's the big deal?   Now that I am there.....yuck!  It is not the stitches but it is the difficulty seeing the placement on the pattern.

So far only a little bit of over one but I know there is more to come further down the pattern.

Yesterday's post from Needleprint shows what they called 'sister samplers' from the Feller Collection going to auction at the end of the month that have very similar bands for the upper half of the piece.  Grace didn't date this piece so it is interesting to see similar works and maybe try to put together a history.




All and all I am happy with the progress I have made since I took Grace out of time out.  Each of us has changed something:  the linen color or count, the shades of green or red, etc.  I think it will be neat to have all 7 photographed when we are all done.  Maybe we should make it 8 and include Susan who inspired us to all do this.  I'll put that out there on the 2015 to-do list. LOL!

So guest rooms have been cleaned and made ready for company and I am ready to bundle up and head out to do my Turkey Day grocery shopping and then back to an evening with Grace Mason.   Happy Thanksgiving All!

Teeny Tiny Progress

I've been stitching but the going is slow.

I calculate that once I finish the numbers out to under the letter "M" as well as the red band under them, I will be 1/12 complete!  Next up I will continue the top border and the rest of the alphabet as my focus area.  Oh joy, more four-sided stitching.  I might have to relook at the pattern to see if there is more further down the sampler.

The other gals stitching along with this have lamented about the four-sided stitch taking so long.......What?   A four-sided stitch is simple.  I didn't get it until I started doing the four-sided stitch.   The stitch in itself is not difficult however, what was Grace thinking with soooooo much four-sided stitching!

I am pleased so far.   I think it will be neat to photograph all the samplers together when all seven of us are completed.   Sorry girls, but at this rate, it won't be until next summer for me!

Stitching Progress

Not much stitching going on here.  We are suffering from the heat wave that has the east coast in its hold and quite frankly, I come home and jump in the pool each night and let the cool water ease the tension of the day.  This heat has surely taken the starch out of me.

 Progress on my Jeannette Douglas class piece.....love the bunting.

 Not a whole lot to show here either but slow and steady wins the race.  Good thing, I am not as overwhelmed (so far) with these piece as I feared.

I am enjoying the differences in these two and it makes it an easy transition to change from one to the other.  For now, both are 'parked' until this evening and whichever strikes from fancy at that time.   Seems we might we getting a break in the weather a bit and I sure need to tidy up my craft room, weed my flower beds and maybe I should consider vacuuming the pool instead of cooling off by lounging on a float.

Not so DIS-Graceful Start times 2

To my surprise, Grace Mason is moving along quite nicely.   I have done a bit of the border which is a pleasantly simple repeating pattern.  Not to get tired of stitching just the border, I started stitching up some of the letters.   I figure I will add to the border once the alphabet starts to pass the border.  





















In addition I started an outside project today.   Me and my silliness thought it was a one day task....wrongo!  I painted a rug (or almost painted a rug) on my deck.   About ten years ago I painted a rug on the unstained deck using little bottles of Folk Art paint.   Over the course of summer sun and winter snow and seasonal power washing, it soon was washed away.   This time, I used stain.  I'm hoping it will last longer than the paint.  The best part I got what are called 'sample can' of 8 oz. of stain at a $1.99 each.  Sure a lot better than buying 4 gallons of stain!    So here are my steps....

I taped off the area I wanted as my rug and started sanding.

Several sheets of sandpaper later I was 

wondering why I stained the deck two coats 

only two weeks ago only to now be removing some of that finish. 

Oh and see that green peeking through.....remnants of my old rug.  But not to worry, I am hoping the stain with cover it.  

Got out my trusty quilting rulers to help me lay the painters tape.  

Green strip done

Yellow strip done

And entire rug, not quite done.    It was a little more on the old girl's bum hip painting a rug on the deck in 2013 than it was in 2003.   I took relief every now and again by floating in the pool because it sure was a hot one today.  I will continue the white squares and come back and paint the unpainted squares  yellow.  It looks good from the top of the bridge as we say.....up close, don't be checking it out because if you need absolute precision and perfectly straight lines......you won't find it here.   It's a rug on a deck not a work of art.  For now, I am off to my class in Massachusetts and finishing this will have to wait until I get back.

Here's a look at my first rug from 2003.

DIS-Grace Mason

This is the Grace Mason - Of Female Worth Sampler.   I am afraid by the time I finish, I may well be a DIS-Grace to the hobby of needlework.   Susan, (see Susan's finish) of my Delaware Guild stitched it and when we jersey girls saw it, we thought, hey let's do it as a stitch a long.  Six of us are doing it together.  Of course there is always an over achiever who jumped ahead and finished already.  It has been interesting to see the look on different count and different color linens and with small color changes some made.  A couple of girls are about halfway and another just started to I figured I was due to jump into the mix.   I've been churning out a finish a month so far this year but I think this will take quite a bit longer.

I finished my patriotic small for the exchange at Stitchers Hideaway next week and am generally happy.   I think it looks decent enough to gift to someone.

Exchange finished and Grace Mason my love of a BAP on my scroll frame and of course I had to start something small.  You know we all need that little take along stitchy project to throw in the tote bag or purse just in case you have a few minutes at lunch or get stuck in a waiting room somewhere.  This is the third in a series from Bent Creek and of course a no brainer since it fits the patriotic theme.

I picked this up at Salty Yarns a few years back.  The center and right hand designs are stitched and framed and in my red, white & blue powder room.

Last of the series, the house on the hill.

Some more posts shortly to catch up on my adventures....one involving a biker I wanted to ride away into the sunset with.  Not in the bad boy biker/Sons of Anarchy way kind of way......more like the tall, blond, blue eyed rancher tip your hat and call ma ma'am kind of way.   Oh my.....