August Days

I did it!  I finished my i-Stitch Band Sampler, the 2022 Denim Band Sampler.   I used Gloriana’s Bellagio with some coordinating solids for highlighting some motifs.    I enjoyed the SAL but I am glad it is over.   Some weeks it seemed this was all I had time to stitch on.    Thank you Joan B. for the idea on how to display it.    I can now roll it this way or that to showcase different sections.

I think I should have pressed it!

My grandson stayed with me for a week which left little time for stitching but we did all the fun things.  A couple or three days we logged about 6 hours of pool time each day, we did night swimming and watched the bats come out.   I took him to his first movie in a theatre, Minions, Gru.   We went to the County Fair and did the bounce house, petted piglets, sheep and cows, fed cows, watched tractor pulls, had cotton candy and rode a horse.  Second night, more feeding the animals and watching Pig Scramble and Mutton Busting.  Squeals of delight from a little boy and squeals of distress from the piggies and sheep.  One day we tie dyed tee-shirts.  We saw fireworks and last but not least, we went to a local winery and saw Uncle Choo Choo playing at an open mike night.  (Yes, children were permitted - Pop pop had a fit thinking I was taking him to a bar…..🤦🏽‍♀️ )

I've done some work on my hexagon quilt.   It was the only thing I could stitch on when William was here.  I’m pretty happy with the progress.   I am not so optimistic that I will finish by the end of September but I definitely feel like I am in the homestretch.  I have the length I want; just need to finish adding to the width.

I fully finished the folding book from my Guild’s 20th anniversary celebration in May.   

Trying for some quick rewards and wanting to wrap up a small UFO, I stitched and finished the a blackwork flag from an EGA meeting.  I stitched this over one rather than as charted.   I want to go back and restitch it as charted.  I'll have an ornament and a small pillow.

Sometime during the month I had to take an honest look at the basket of projects for 2022.   I mean what was I thinking when I pulled out like 30 projects to work on in 2022?   For sure I do not have a basement sweat shop of stitchers helping me.   Heck, I don't even HAVE a basement.  Six projects going back in the basket after purging.  As for the other,  I took back upstairs and put away and threw them on the bed.

 

I came across this piece when I was cleaning up my UFO basket and I decided to work on finishing it.   The word "stocking" is the halfway point. 

And of all things, I stated a new quilt project with my sister.   100 blocks in 100 days from Gnome Angel.   So far so good.  Each daily block only takes ten to 15 minutes each morning.   Having the blocks cut ahead of time has proven to being the key to keeping on track.  I have been getting together with my sister one day a week and we spend it cutting our upcoming quilt blocks.

My approach to machine sewing turns out to be the same as my cross stitch.....several projects going at once.   This 100 blocks/100 days challenge  has put me in the mood  to spend extra time each morning with the sewing machine.  I picked up the red white and blue quilt that I started last year and I am stitching up a block every other morning.  30 of the 36 6-inch blocks are now done.  Soon I will be cutting out and stitching the 12-inch blocks.

This could be unprecedented!  I might actually complete two quilt tops!  I am considering sending them out to be long-armed.   Otherwise they will just sit in a pile ……..truth be told, for years.

August did bring a good ten days of low humidity days and cool nights.   It was a joy to have the AC off and the windows opened again if even for just a week.  

And then, I’ve done a bad thing……When I was at Hobby House in July, I met Jackie DuPlessis.   Between meeting her and seeing her class projects as well as the beautiful pieces from stitcher's Show and Tell, I was feeling the need to take a "Jackie Class".   It wasn't even a Bucket List item for me.  Just so happens, there were some openings at Salty Yarns in September and I signed up.   I just hope I don’t become addicted to her pieces and if so,  can hold myself to one class a year with Jackie.    I really went back and forth on signing up.   I kept thinking of all the patterns, kits and class pieces that are already tucked away upstairs.   By my calculations, I have to fully finish 1.5 projects each and every month for the next 20 years and NOT buy anything new, to be close to exhausting all my stash.  But I signed up anyway.  Yikes!   Maybe it is time for another sort/purge of charts for sale.  Oy!

I know it seems like I've done a lot but it has been a month since my last post.  I don't want to stop blogging and for now monthly posts rather than weekly ones are working well for me.  

Hope everything in your neck of the woods is going well.   Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

I’m ready to bust into June!

Cake was enjoyed by all!

It has been a busy April and May for me.   Lots of babysitting time.   William's birthday party.  Yard work.  My Guild Anniversary event.   June is looking very low keyed with an empty calendar....so far.    I look forward to quiet, warm afternoons and evenings on my deck.......but that can change in a heartbeat.  Yes, I laugh out loud as I type this. 

Talk about warm….last weekend 99 degrees and today, I’ve got on sweats and a long sleeve tee.  And the 99 degree day is the one i CHOOSE to work in the yard.

I finally caught up and have kept up on the i-Stitch Band Sampler.   So easy to keep up but also can so quickly fall behind.  This week’s assignment is not yet complete but it is not yet Friday! 

I have also been working to get current on my DVHSG SAL.   I'm getting there.  We are all really enjoying this year-long project.  It is called a Garden of Stitches by Samplers Not Forgotten.  I hit a stumbling block with the rice stitch and put this aside for about 6 weeks.   My problem was the foundation stitches I put in over 5 rather than the called for over 6.   Once I found my error, it was clear sailing.  I am alternating between this and the i-Stitch Band until I get back on schedule. 

I had a wool appliqué class at my EGA meeting.  Always fun to do something a little different.  The teacher gave us this technique to sew the stem and make the wool 'roll' to give it dimension.....mine not so much.   I decided my tulip was hit by a late frost and that is why he is a bit wonky.

My grand-daughter got her first sewing lesson.  She would giggle that contagious toddler giggle as I pulled the thread through and it disappeared.

My guild celebrated it's 20th Anniversary albeit two years late.  In typical Robin fashion I was involved behind the scenes with the event.  It turned out great.  We have fabulous classes, great goody bags, fantastic raffle items, good food and a great time seeing everyone in person again.   Although it was somewhat local, I indulged and got a room for the weekend.   Such a great way to chill after the hub bub of preparations.  Everyone on the Anniversary Committee did a great job as far as I am concerned and our speakers, from the Founder of the Guild to our Guild Historian, were phenominal.  Some us went to Winterthur on Thursday; then there was tours at Westtown School and the Chester County History Center on Friday.  It was a great weekend all around.

Our teacher was Vickie LoPiccolo Jennett from Needlework Press.    The classes and projects are great and I can't wait to start stitching on them.....that is once I am totally back on track with my SAL's.   We started with making this book on Saturday and have the chart to stitch the front cover pieces.    

This sampler chart is so sweet.   It is on the smaller side which translates completely doable and the colors are bright and cheerful.   I do plan to stitch it to complement the drum, book, tray and fob.

 

All the necessary fibers and fabrics and finishing needs were included as well as the wooden tray for the chart above.  The tray lining is to be stitched on perforated paper and I am considering stitching on linen instead.

 

One member made these snap-trays for each of our goody bags.   Thank you Susan!  This has not left my stitching side since the event.  I just un-snap the corners and pop it in my project bag to take it with me.  It really helps me control the 'sprawl'.

I finally had some days at home that were not spent dealing with Guild or EGA stuff, so I got my flowers and veggies to get planted.   It was more than a tiny bit of time cleaning out  needed for both the herb and veggie gardens.   But there is now a check mark on the to-do list for these two tasks.  My son also spent the day helping me completely empty my shed to clean, sort and purge it.   I can't believe the amount of room I have in there now!

I have signed up for a Shaker Retreat in Enfield New Hampshire in November.    We are adding a few days on the front end and plan hit some museums, shops and sites on the way up.  With the Anniversary behind us, I need to start plotting out our trip and stops along the way.  I am sure it will be a full trip reminiscent of our Asheville Trip with days filled with a whirlwind of sight seeing along the way up and back!   Vanderbilt Mansion, Hyde Park,  there's a wool store and Sturbridge Village, and Waldens Pond and ....well you get the idea.

And I keep forgetting to share this Consignment Store find.   I have been looking for quite some time for a tomato salt and pepper shaker set.   I didn’t want the set for the ‘normal’ use.   I want to use the tomato for broken/old needles.   Now before you start thinking, oh that Robin is so clever…..It is not an original idea. I saw it on a FlossTube or a Blog but don’t remember where.    

Thanks for stopping by.   Keep safe and keep on stitching……

January 2022

New Year’s Day saw me start not one but two new stitchy pieces.   Both have been in stash forever and I have wanted to stitch both forever.    I  thought why not?   Neither are particularly large or complicated which by saying so automatically means I have jinxed myself when I declare there is not a lot of stitching in a pattern.   So ‘round the bend I went on Day 1 and I added to my WIP’s.

My two new starts on for the new year were Thyme to Gather and Winter Cometh.    Cathy Habermann has such a good eye for what colors work together.   I don’t have enough fall pieces that are not Halloween so that  was my rationale.  Stitched and ready to finish up into a pillow.  

Winter Cometh from Summer House has been in my stash since it first came out in 2017.  I have done several of Beth’s and have several more in my stash to do.    Again, not enough winter stitchy pieces in my repertoire so it had to be done.  My Thursday morning stitching group will be a great time to work on  the border.  

I was fortunate enough to go to OCMD for Camp WannaStitch.   185 had signed up but only 75 attended.   We wore masks and sat only 4 per table.   It is always nice to be with fellow stitchers, have some great seafood dinners and get stitching done.  I also started and finished this EZ PZ stitch on a mesh bag while there.   The bag is from It’s Sew Emma and the pattern from Shepherd’s Bush.  

I finished Winter Wonderland.   Designed to be finished as a drum but I will do simple framing.  This is a Primitive Hare design from a retreat in Cape May, NJ a couple of years back.  One WIP down and many more to go.   

The first of the year also saw me catching up on all your blog posts and left me drooling over some of the work and finishes.   Also making me want to vow to do one ornament a month…..but I fear I won't keep up so for me I can just OH and AH at everyone else’s.  Then I saw Carol's 12 in 22 on Instagram and I want to jump in.   I picked up this EGA ornament from my stash to work on for January.   It’s not quite finished but then again neither is January.  I am not exactly enjoying this one BUT it will be another EGA piece from Christmas in July done.

I am doing my first band sampler from Carol i-stitch on Facebook.   This one is called the Denim Band Sampler.  You can choose your own your own fiber and I chose Gloriana’s Bellagio.   I saw a friend's completion last year and she used Gloriana's Bellagio and it was beautiful.   I would have been too afraid to try a variegated until I saw her completed band sampler.   A portion of the pattern is released each Friday.   I thought working on this and an ornament each Friday would be a good schedule to keep me on target for the 12 in 22 Challenge and keep up to date on the band sampler.  There again I fail to have my feet in reality as to what one/I can accomplish stitching-wise in a day all the while keeping up with normal life and interruptions.  

Mid-December I dropped two pieces at the framers.   I picked then up the first week of January and I am very happy with each.  First Coming to America from a Brenda Gervais. I participated in the SAL in 2020 that marked the 400 year anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.    

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I am absolutely in love with the green and gold frame the framer suggested!  It is hard to tell but the color matches that of the waves.  While this view looks like the linen is wrinkled, it is not.  It is the color variation of the linen.   

Winter Rose Manor also from Brenda Gervais is the other piece I had framed.   Super happy with the the framing and the quick turn around.   I will definitely be using Finley’s Art Shoppe (Newark, DE) again.  Winter Rose Manor was stitched in most of the called for colors on 36 ct Heron Gray from Legacy.  The pink house (Conch) shows up well but the white (Grits) not so much in this photo.  

Settlement for my son is this week coming up.   I will be on Damma duty to help watch and to keep the kiddos happy while the moving happens.  I am spending Tuesday in the kitchen to whip up  a couple of casseroles as well as a big pot of bean soup to have at the ready during the days of moving.   I will be ready for a massage after five days of moving,  kiddos and not sleeping in my own bed.  And on the Damma note, Raegan finally has put a name to me……she has been saying pop-pop since summer.   I am now Dam to her.  Ask my kids…..it could be considered appropriate.   I hope she learns to add the ‘ma’ to that soon.  

Thanks for stopping by.   Wishing you all are keeping well.   Stay safe and keep on stitching.