February 2024

Before the end of January, I did manage to eke out one of my January WIPGO’s.  I actually was doing the hand-stitching sitting at the airport gate on my way to Tennessee.   The WIPGO assignment was to fully finish the Civil War Huswif from Needlemade Designs.   Parts were a little tricky and seams not are so straight but I say it makes it more authentic to Civil War times.  That’s my story and I am sticking to it. 

The kit included a website to research family members who may have been in the Civil War.  Instead, I added my grandson’s name and 1st Pennsylvania as the first grandchild and he lives in PA.

The beginning of February found me in Tennessee at my friend Diane’s.  Her EGA Region has a great retreat so a couple of years ago I joined the Knoxville Chapter so I could attend.   It makes for a nice excuse to visit Diane for a week and as a side bonus, to attend the retreat in Carson Springs.    They always have little projects to do for us.  The first one I did was this needlebook.  The design had a pineapple on it for their 50th Anniversary.  I talked to the gal that was in charge of the project and told her it was my Chapter’s 50 Anniversary as well and wondered if I could modify her design to fit my Chapter.…..by all means she said.   Thank you Jennifer to all the leg work.  She even had books with motifs to choose from.     Stitched and finished in an afternoon, my kind of project. I am pleased with how it turned out.

The other class I took was a peyote beading class with Judi T of the Knoxville Chapter.   I have only done peyote once before so I was slow but I was able to start and finish this pen cover in one day.

For the month of February I  got so much stitching done that I cannot believe it.  It is all due to 7 days stitching at Diane’s.  I finished these two beaded hearts for Hearts for Hospice that my EGA is doing.

I put in 7 hours - my February WIPGO assignment - on Merry Little Christmas from Willow Tree Designs.  It was going so well that I continued stitching until finished.   It doesn’t show up here but this is stitched on a pretty green, Vintage Willow.

I put my WIPGO required 7 hours on my other February project, Rosewood Manor’s Barnwood Buttons.    And again, since it was going so good, I just keep stitching to get it done.   Since many of us don’t like how our stitches with white look, I gave DMC Floche a try.   Jury is out still on the Floche.  This landed in the WIP pile because I didn’t like the weight and feel of the fabric.  The color, which doesn’t show up, is a  pretty blue.   Instead of working in hand, I put this in one of my Nurge hoops.  I recently got rid of all my Q-Snaps and replaced them with a set of 4 sizes of Nurges which I am liking.  Getting rid of the Q-snaps also freed up from space!

I have all the verse in.  Just a few more flower stems and the rest of the border under the verse.  I know I can get this down by the end of the month.

I just had to get the buttons I have been saving out to ‘play’ with them.

I finished my SAL from the Blackbird Designs from a last September class in Kansas City.  It is designed to finish as a Huswif but I don’t know.  I am toying with adding rosebuds to the upper corners and framing it…..but for now it is a finish and off the WIP list.   Fully finishing is a whole other endeavor.

All these finishes lead me to check out and prioritize my WIPS.  I had 24.  I didn’t include class pieces; that is a rabbit hole I am not going down.   I have more than several projects kitted and I am anxious to start more than a couple.   Then there is always a new great must-have pattern that comes along.  Thankfully nothing from the Nashville Market has swayed me so far.   I made a pact with myself - six WIP’s done before I think about a new start.  Considering my progress on Barnwood Buttons, I am close to four down so far in 2024.    I have a guild class in April, a stitching cruise in September and a Retreat in November and each will involve a new start, another reason to stay away from my stash of kitted projects.   

Perusing my own WIP parade lead me to my word of the year.   I decided on MONOGAMOUS.   Now let’s not get excited here, there is nothing nefarious going on.    Doing WIPGO last year I realized what many of you already know……you get more done if you just stick to one project.  Dare I add that stitching is not the only non-monogamous sector in my life?   Take the bathroom curtains I made a few years back - still not hemmed. They have been on the list 4-ever right next to the infamous wall paper removal project from I am not saying when.  Or that 100 day quilt I got all the way to Day 93 and stopped!  My projects seem to be a lot like my stitching.   I am gung-ho to start with and then something new and shiny comes my way or I need something new to work on to have the vim and vigor I feel at the beginning of a project.   I seem to have no willpower to be able to stick to a job until it is finished. If I were to look up “side-track” in Webster’s Dictionary it would be no surprise if there were a reference me as a real life example.   The worse part is this jumping from job-to-job usually happens when I am about 85% finished.   Obviously I am project-oriented and not completion-oriented.  For stitching I’d like to get down to maybe four ongoing projects.   One you carry with you, one you cannot carry due to size or difficulty, one that is easy on the eyes and the last, an obligation stitch.   For household projects, my delinquent culprits are on the list AGAIN this year and I really hope I can get my act together and they are not arrowed-over on the calendar to re-appear next  year.   So monogamous it is for me.   Not sure how well that would be received as a pillow so I am won’t even try! And I am even more sure that while this sounds like such a good plan and I have even intention of carrying out it, I know me and I may very well stray from my good intentions.  

Somehow, Miss Raegan turned 4 years old in February.  Wow, where does the time go!   Below is the day we had a tea-party in her family room.  She insisted we use her teeny tiny cups and plates from her kitchen.  All decked out in her favorite princess dress and her jewelry.   She is a trip.  I think a real life trip to a tea house is in our future.

Until next time, I will try to stay a monogamous stitcher.  Check the comments with each post to see my reply to your comments!   Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching!

School Days, Rule Days

The real last stop on my way home from my August Traipse about the country was at an antique shop Zanesville, Ohio.   Just a quick stop, 30 minutes, to stretch our legs.   Oh, I should have known, that 30 minutes turned into 3 hours.  We needed to empty out the car so we could unbox our purchases and shoe horn them into the car.   

This view actually doesn’t look so bad and it looks like we could have added more!

Patrons and store owners alike were laughing at us.  No hard braking lest we be concussed by a purchase.  We need another trip to Missouri to see all the things along the way we didn’t have time to see.

So back home and enjoying the days as the temps have started to cool and the humidity has high tailed it out of here.   I have enjoyed being in the garden.    In late August we had our shed - actually my shed -  torn down and rebuilt. I have been having a grand time sorting and filling the new shelves and the peg board with my garden tools and such.   It is not a she-shed, it is a working garden shed where I keep my gardening tools, power washer, decking furniture out of season, yard stuff.    Mr. W has his own ‘barn’ where he has control over its domain.  I even managed to get some of the things out of my laundry room like my tub of birdseed.  

There is still a wall behind me with 3 sets of 36 by 72 high shelves yet to fill but all I have left to sort is the stuff in the yellow wagon.  I am sure the open space with on be filled with something else.   Isn’t that some law of nature?  

My husband also had the contractor put up a new fence around my vegetable garden .   Hopefully this will keep the rabbits AND the groundhogs out.   No hope for the tomato thieving squirrels.   The best part is the GATE!  With the old fence, there was no gate and I had to ever-so gracefully “NOT” swing one leg, then the other over it; definitely not a pretty site!

Well I broke the rules and started not one, not two, but three new projects!   I meet once a month with a group that works on class projects only.   First we eat dinner, then stitch and break for dessert and then stitch some more.  I had been working on a Betsy Morgan piece, the Christmas Etui.  It is all blackwork and I found out not the easiest piece to work on in a group setting.   So, justification out of the way  I picked up Dance of the Wildflowers, from 2022 Jamboree at Salty Yarns.  This is from Summer House Stitch Workes.

Since I was itching to start a sampler, I started And Heaven and Earth Sing from Kathy Barrick.   I had two others in the pile looking at me but I couldn’t make a decision.   Unfortunately I had to go to services for a fellow stitcher.  Her family had some of her needlework displayed at the viewing.   Heaven and Earth from Kathy Barrick was one of them and I took it as a sign.   It has been in my pile of possibilities for a while so it was easy to move it front and center.  I started it but wasn’t liking the fabric.   There was not enough variation in color between the fabric and some of the floss.   Fortunately my stash is not just charts and floss.  Oh no, I seem to have a bit of fabric as well.   Shopping my craft room I found a large piece of 40 ct Milk and Honey from Shakespeare’s Peddler.  Restarted but I don’t know if I am terribly happy with this fabric choice either.  So and start and stop.

And my third new start, Red Bird Sampler from WTNT.   All kitted up and waiting on the bench for me to call it into play.  Did I hear the coach call SUBSTITUTION?    Two weeks in and really enjoying it.   I absolutely love the colors.

  

So I did a fun thing.   I have been wanting a retreat mat but just couldn’t find one that I liked.   So I bought an apron and tea towel set from Hands Across the Sea/HATS.   I took the tea towel and folded up the bottom to create pockets.    I sewed channels to create pockets for pencils and scissors.

Perfect timing that I stitched up the mat today and today I got Happy Mail.  I am participating in a Secret Stitcher Pal and I got this lovely HATS bag from my Secret Stitchy Pal today.  Included was the nail file to put in my bag.  Great idea!   Between the mat and the bag I think I may need to change the  colors I choose for my jewelry box make over so I have a matching ensemble.   LOL

And before I forget……maybe everyone else knows about this but it is ‘new’ to me.   I have starting “replying” to your comments with my comments!   So much easier than going down the rabbit hole of looking at profiles, getting email addresses, going outside of blogger, logging into outlook - otherwise comments come from iCloud which I never use.  Anyway, so much easier for me.   I am far from the most technically proficient person.   You know you kind of loose that when you don’t work any more.  Now, if you leave a comment, I am sure to comment back now since it seems to be so much easier. For all I know this has been an option all along and I just found it.   

Something else I forgot to share.    The hair.   Ugh!  Why did I think I wanted long hair?    IDK.   In July, I got 3 inches cut off.   I was super happy when I left the salon.  Such a lift, a neat chin length bob.   About two weeks into it, it was the same thought when I looked in the mirror.   No style to it.  Next appointment, 2 more inches off and layers cut in.   Now I must pause here to say the hairdresser is giving me EXACTLY what I am asking for.   My ideal haircut would be a cut like Jamie Lee Curtis.   Let’s face it, I don’t have her body or bone structure so it is a no.  With this week’s cut, I think we got it this time.   Maybe it is time for a new profile pix.   The only thing I dislike more finding the right hair style is having my picture taken so it is unlikely.

On to WIPGO.  This month my task was to complete a motif on Land That I Love and to stitch and finish a patriotic ornament.   I wasn’t even able to pick Land That I Love up until mid-September.  I didn’t complete a  motif but I put a good amount in two different ones.   I’ve got a few more days til the end of the month so here’s hoping.   I want really would like to get this finished.  I hope to put in two or three lengths of thread two or three days a week.  Once I get closer to the finish line, I will make this a monogamous stitch.

Since I had 30 hours in the car to and from  Kansas City, MO, I decided to try my hand at stitching on perforated paper.   I pre-cut the paper, lined my stitch bag with two pieces of cardboard to keep the paper flat and stitch on I did!    I stitched up three patriotic ornaments from the Just Sew Emma Pattern Star Spangled Ornaments.

Got home and did a quick finish with felt and ribbon.  Another WIPGO assignment completed!  I have already make a list on the bag of this year’s WIPGO board for ideas for next year.   WIPGO has really helped me accomplish a lot this year.  

That brings me up to date with September.  Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.  

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!

May Days

Wow, three posts in one week.   Trust me, it is not going to be the norm going forward.   I just had a lot to share this month.  May has treated us to a lot of beautiful weather making breakfast, lunch and dinner outside a daily occurrence.  All the flower beds are in order, except of course, for my long term Back 40 project.   I planted some summer blooming bulbs and now will wait until they grow and pop with color.  I am to the point I only need to do about a twice weekly walk-around to keep the beds tidy.   Let’s hope I don’t slip up.  

Even though we had a warm spring, I waited until Mother’s Day to get in my seasonal potted plants, put out my hanging baskets and get my veggies in.   I’ve done geraniums for years but changed it up to Gerber Daises this year.   I am doing fewer pots than usual.  Not to worry, I have other ‘outside’ things to take the place of the weeding and potted plants.  I still haven’t pulled out the power washer for the deck and patio furniture, heck, I haven’t even pulled out the furniture yet.   Maybe this weekend…..it will be a quiet one for me as everyone will be busy with their barbecues.  

With the decision not to replace our above ground pool we have been going back and forth on enlarging the existing deck.   I don’t have the energy to argue with what Mr. W. wants so I will just let him roll with his idea.   To my mind it will be the size of a helicopter pad…….well at least I can comfort myself with buying furniture and ‘stuff’ for the humongous deck.  Estimates in and it is a go.  I might have to pull out some more pots to plant for the heli-pad.  

May WIPGO was another great success.    You know the WIPGO rules - Your Board/Your Rules.   It happened that two different samplers were called in one month.   One with the assignment to complete a page of the pattern and the other to stitch for 15 days on it.   I made an executive decision to rearrange the board and make both numbers called to be the same sampler.     I completed two partial pattern pages and I am very close to completing a third pattern pages.  

 

I just need to stitch to the pin to have completed 3 pattern pages.   I got this!

I am very pleased with how much I got done so far with WIPGO.  I do however need to take a hard look at my board for the remainder of the year.  Although thrilled with my progress, I am not decreasing the PHD’s - Projects Half Done.   

Upcoming are personalizing this perpetual calendar and starting Rosewood Manor’s Barnwood Buttons.   No offense to Thomas Kincaid but I plan to personalize the plaques with my last name and initial.

  I’ve got some ideas  for this once it is finished! 

Barnwood Buttons have been a favorite since it first came out.   I am changing up the linen color to this coffee stained blue and I am using DMC floche instead in B5200.  As we all hate stitching with white I have been wanting to try this alternative to regular DMC or even WDW Whitewash of Grits.   And you can see I have my buttons all lined up and ready to go!

 

I did manage a finish on this Plum Street Design.   It is called “Goodbye Fall”.  I think I will be finishing it as a pillow.   It called for snowflakes and the wording - “Goodbye Fall” but I wanted a more fall than a going into into winter vibe.

So that sums up my May.   As always, thanks for stopping by and……..keep on stitching.