Catching up....

This could be a long one, so put your feet up, get your Christmas Cookies and cocoa.....

So what's been going on with me.   Earlier in November I took a 5-day weekend trip to Massachusetts to visit my daughter for her 40th birthday.   What!  I have a 40 year old kid! and she is not the oldest.   Argh!

Alright get over it and suck it up buttercup timing is marching on.

From start to finished we had a great time.

This is just MY stuff all queued up to load in the car before work on Wednesday morning.

(take notice of the large steamer trunk to the right.....more on that below)









Thursday morning, Heather and I left Philly at 7:50 and sped north ahead of a nor-easter all the way up to the Boston area.   Looks like I've got a little bit of room for Heather's things.  In my defense, some are presents being delivered and a couple of boxes from my brother's estate for Amy.

We stopped at Rein's Deli off of 84 in CT for a special lunch.   Special indeed, my PenPal and I got to meet.   Shirley was even more lovely in person.  It was so nice to put a face and smile and hug with the person I have been emailing for several years.   We truly are kindred spirits and she is definitely one of my 'tribe'.  I am so lucky she reached out to me and we started corresponding.  As we drove away I realized we never took a picture of us together.   Bummer!    Well I guess I will just have to meet up with her at Rein's Deli on another trip north.

Before getting to Gloucester to the house Amy rented, we stopped to visit friends in Peabody, shopped at Wegman's and hit the liquor store.   We finally arrived, were unpacked, had a slice of pizza and glass of wine in our hands before the first snowflake fell.

In Peabody, at Staci's house, she had a wall full of potholders.

 She is the ultimate, most fabulous crafter.   She sees something and then reverse engineers it to create it.

She crocheted these potholders.

There was also a stained glass window which she would like to commission a companion window from me.   What year will I fit that in?!?!?

In Gloucester, we had the cutest little in-law apartment with living room, kitchen, dining room, two bedrooms and two baths.   This was how I watched the world come alive each morning with my cup of tea.

The owner, "the Gloucester Quilter" and her daughter were  crafters too.  Mom made all the gorgeous quilts on the beds and around the house.   The daughter made the macintosh rose glass inserts in the china closet.  (hmmm, maybe I need to put her and Staci in touch with each other.)






















This was one of our work stations for the 5 days.   Cutting, ironing and another machine were on the kitchen counter and table in the living room area.  You can get so much more done if you have a work area you can leave 'active'.

I did mainly finishing work.    I deconstructed this finish from several years ago and put it back together nicer than I had originally finished it. This is an oldie, Witchy Washy by Raise the Roof.

I finished these three Halloween ornaments.   The designer is Tiny Modernist.  Looks like I am already for next Halloween!






























I finished this EGA project into an easel finish.

More finishing re-dos.    For Uncle Sam, I took him apart to give him a better base and attached his flag.   For the two pillows, I downsized the red portion on the Bent Creek Uncle Sam and the blue portion on the Little House July.   I like the proportions better.   Doing this re-make I barely removed any stuffing so they are now nice and tightly packed.   These re-dos have been on my to-do list forever.  I am happy with the results and it feels good to cross these off my to-do list.

For William, I made these happy pillow cases.   Not necessarily the 15 minute pillowcase as described on the internet but EZ-PZ just the same.

Here's a quilt top that Heather finished piecing and assembled.

On Sunday, friends came over for wine, cheese and a big pot of chicken chili.  We caught up and laughed and just enjoyed each other.  Staci treated us all to a English paper piecing project.  This is from Lucy Bolton from Alewives.com    She made us all templates for a bit of fussy cutting to yeild cool results.  I need to add the lower left and lower right 'petals'.   Moving and arranging the pieces remind me of playing with a kaleidoscope. Working with the paper piecing really got me wanting to dig back into my hexagon quilt.   It could be the perfect lunch time project or work in the car.










Amy worked on her whimsical wildlife quilt completing the hedgehogs and she started the fireflies.  II think they are butterflies.)  The last of the animals.   Next stop, assembly, probably on the next girls weekend.  In addition to our annual 4th of July sew-a-thon, we are thinking of a long weekend in the Rhinebeck, NY area.   I'd love to visit that area and check out Hyde Park, FDR's home, The Culinary Institute,  as well as a the Hudson River Valley.

Here's the pattern she is using.  

Sunset in Gloucester, Mass

What's girl time without animal face masks?



















Then home and quick turnaround for Thanksgiving.  We had a great Thanksgiving with Mr. William and his family.    I know I have so much to be thankful for and I am....family, health, friends, bills paid,  good job and so much more.

We made cookies

 ...and practiced our 'angry' and 'happy faces'

And I'm Irish!   I never knew this.   I was excited to find out and may have an excuse for green beer on St. Patrick's Day.   There is no confusion on my mom's side, straight from Scandinavia.  I always thought we were Scotch/English on my dad's side.   If I would have thought about history and Robert the Bruce it seems unlikely to be Scotch/English.   My son is super into Ancestry.com and we did a bunch of input over the holiday using papers I found in my brother's things.     It started after we noticed the name stamped on the end of the steamer trunk in the foreground below,   F. J. Ramage.   I recognized the name as it was my father's middle name.   We sat around the dining room table with the laptop and started noodling around.     We found out my father's family was from County Derry.  The trunk was my brother's now has a place of honor with my son in State College.   BTW, this is Etta patiently waiting for her master to return.   Well, maybe not exactly patiently.

My Thanksgiving cactus is blooming like crazy.   Did you know there are Easter Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus and Christmas Cactus?    I did not know this.  The shape of the leaf will tell you what kind you have.  https://www.hortmag.com/weekly-tips/qa/christmas-cactus-thanksgiving-cactus-and-easter-cactus

I created this needlework accessory for our holiday exchange at EGA.   The design is from this year's  Christmas edition of Just Cross Stitch.  The intention is to use it for the exchange but I just may keep it myself!

I also finished my Thanksgiving piece from Summer House.

I redid the year "1621" in a brown instead of the green.   I ironed interfacing on the back to firm it up.








I also lined the shaker box and finished the turkey to for the top.  I didn't want to mark up the beautiful shaker box so I cut out a circle in the center of the mat board that I use to mount the turkey.   I set the magnet into the hole in the mat board.  Now I can change out the top of the box. (Really?  Am I really going to create something for each holiday?   In what lifetime?  Let's be honest here.)

 Check out Mr. LeHays' website.   He is a one-man operation in Maine.  He takes you through cutting the trees, drying the wood, assembling and painting or staining.  It's no wonder the shaker tray I ordered in June at PSS has an approximate delivery date of December or January.

And I finished up this oldie.   Stitched years ago but never finished.    I got the idea of using the nun stitch and fraying the edges as done on the  Thanksgiving piece to make it look like a bedspread with fringe.


One thing for sure, that basket of items to be finished items has gotten smaller.


Better get the iron out and press the 'wild' fringe into place.

For my current stitching piece, I have been concentrating on Hands On Design Mend pin cushion.    I have finished the sides and am working on the top.   I have buttons and charms picked out to attach.   I stitched this on 28 ct Maritime White from Lakeside rather than the called for 28 ct dusty miller.    I changed up some of the floss colors to better suit the linen color.  This is my #2 project for my EGA Monthly Challenge.   I just may finish the stitching before the next meeting!

Lot's of busy times ahead between now and the first of the year.  And a big decision needed after the first of the year.  My retirement plans have hit a speed bump.   Mr. W. will loose his company sponsored insurance January 1 when he goes on MediCare.   I've got to decide if I will continue to work or go on COBRA or get my own insurance.   In a perfect world if I could work a 4-day work week, work 8 to 4:30 and not 7:30 to 5:30......I might be convinced to hang in another year.  Sounds heavenly but a fantasy for sure.    I'll keep you posted on my decision.

Thank you if you have hung in long enough to get to the bottom.   Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching and have a blessed holiday season.

Summer House Stitche Workes Retreat

I have been in long enough to do a quick pick-up and vacuum and have the  second load of laundry in the washer and now it is time for a settle into the sofa and review the weekend.  

Wow, what a great retreat.   Stitch by Stitch in Cape May,  NJ was the location.   Shop owner, Sharon and all her staff...Donna, Elana and Carol....were great and couldn't have done more for us.   It was fabulous from the time we checked in on Friday at noon until checking out this morning.  

On Friday, after a quick tour around the shop and picking up our goodie bag were were off to the classroom where we sat up for the weekend.

We chatted and caught up with old friends and met some new ones, then settled into stitch the afternoon and evening away.  

Is this the coolest pumpkin?   Janice of Noteworthy Needle stitched this as a present for Sharon of Stitch by Stitch.

Not a bad view for my morning wake-up and surprisingly it was not too terribly cold.   A good jackets was enough.

On to the class was with Beth Seal of Summer House Stitch Workes and it have a Thanksgiving theme.

 We stitched this candle mat.   The "1621" is the date of the first Thanksgiving.   I may take out the green and stitch it in the light brown to have it show up better.

Easy enough to do since this was finished off with a nun stitch boarder.

In keeping with the Thanksgiving theme, we stitched a turkey complete with a waddle.

The class also included this scissors fob with felt leaves and cranberries.

We also made the felt acorns with real acorn caps.     And see the Ron LeHays shaker box?   A gift from Sharon of Stitch by Stitch.

 And what does the shaker box have to do with the Thanksgiving project?    Well we are to mount the turkey on the lid.   I think I am going to try to fashion a way to do it with magnets so I don't put glue on the top of the beautifully finished shaker box.   I hope to be able to do the finishing this week.

There were giveaways and there were games (poor Donna and longest Bingo game in history), giveaways and fun all over and above the project.  Great class, good times, good food and a beverage or two.  I am already looking forward to next year's class weekend.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

T-Minus 6 days

Oh no!  6 days to a class in Cape May and I don't have my pre-stitch done yet.   Better get stitching.  So many things have been getting in the way of stitching time but I sure hope this weekend I can eek out some time.  

I might be stalling on this a bit since I have changed it up from the original design.   I added the green to better suit the color scheme in my house and then I added a set of different colored leaves along each side of the border.   I kind of feel disloyal to the designer and certainly unworthy of questioning her skill when she created the design so I think I have a stitching block.    No fear, I need to charge through it this weekend.....and heaven knows if I will be able to stitch and finish a scissors fob for the exchange.   Thank goodness that exchange is voluntary.

On to what I have been doing, stitch wise, at least.   I have been devoting my morning pre-work hour of stitching to Halloween Quaker.   The way I am approaching the motifs may seem crazy but there is a method to my madness.    I know somehwhere in the middle I am off a couple (or more threads) so I worked the border across the top and bottom so I could do the right side (and it matched!).   And now I plan to work from the right side of the pattern back to the middle.

I won't be finished but Halloween but I am so much closer than I was.    My EGA Guild Challenge really helped me get so much done this past month.  It really is a fast stitch when I just put my mind to it.

Here's where I was at my last posting.

My goal is to finish the stitching by the time I have a long weekend with my daughters in November where I hope to finish/finish it.

So that's it for me.   Nothing spectacular going on.  Work drags on with new assignments and training new employees which keeps me from doing my regular work.  They are tempting me with dangling the carrot of a four-day week and a salary bump but I just don't know.  It's the workload that needs to decrease more than the hours do.  My brother's estate is also dragging along.   All the antiques from his house arrived this week and my living is piled to the ceiling.   The nieces and nephews better come make a pick and take it or there will be no Christmas decorating this year......hmm.....while I speak sacrilege and am conjuring visions of Byers Dolls with tears down their faces if denied their normal holiday positions no decorating could be a great time saver!

Almost forgot, I have the September AND October buttons of the month from JABCO to share.  

 It is such fun to get the little box each month and see what they have included.  When I was last at Salty Yarns I priced these individually and the month automatic shipment is about a 40% reduction in cost.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

Fall is upon us

We seriously went from the A/C one day to the heat the next!  Better add pulling out the fall and winter clothes to my long list of things to do today.     No rest for the weary.

I was able to put in a little stitching on my EGA challenge piece.  This year's challenge is to select four pieces you wish to work on.   They can be new starts or WIPs or even the dreaded UFO's.    Each month a number is chosen and the corresponding project is what we are to focus on for the month.

Here is where I was when I picked this back up on Friday morning.

And here is what I have added since.  I am happy with what I've gotten done.   And as I stitch, I am wondering why I put this down.   I won't put the pressure on to finish before this Halloween....

The fabric is just perfect.   It is called "murky" from Weeks Dye Works.  I finished off the row of houses and the quaker motif on the right.

Then added the "frog legs" green spot motif and started the 310-Black motif.

I also have gotten a teeny tiny bit on my class pre-stitch.   I'm getting there.   Now I have to decide if I want to stitch and finish a scissors fob for the exchange we will have during the class.

The '1621' is the year of the first Thanksgiving.

This week I have interviews to hold and something to do 3 of 5 nights but I want to try to start planning for my trip to Boston in November.  Middle daughter will turn the big 4-0 and mom said you can't celebrate a big birthday  without your family.  No. 1 daughter is going with me and we are planning a 5-day sewing frenzy.   I think I want to concentrate on doing some finishes.  I need to go through my supplies and start assembling them on my craft table while making a list of what I need before we leave.

That's it for today.  Short and sweet.  Got to clean, do laundry, paperwork, yard work and about ten other things on my list.   Ugh!  I used to say I go to work to recovery from my weekends but work has taken a turn.  I had to add to my workload covering for two employees who are out on medical leaves to the list of already covering two positions for the last 12 years.......wonder how many people they will have to hire to replace me when I leave.  Counting the days.......

Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner.....not

Just back from my semi-annual retreat at Salty Yarns in OCMD and I was NOT the winner of the contest of who spent the most!  I might have even won the least amount spent award.   Wow!   I showed restraint.  

But first, my stitching progress since my last report. I finished the halloween witch before I left.    I kind of don't like the like the moon.   It looks like of goofy to me; like it is backwards.  It might stay.....it might not.  

 The day before I left for OCMD, my pre-stitch for a class in November arrived.   This is a "candle mat" from Beth Seal of Summer House Stitch Workes.  I took it along with me to get started.   We're cutting it close but it looks easy enough to finish before the class.  

 For "Mend" from Hands on Design, I got in all of the tape measure, EZ-PZ

As for the tomato, tamoto.....not so EZ-PZ.    I stitched it once and frogged it to change colors; then stitched it and frogged it a second time because I was off from the start........third time is the charm.   I think I am on the right track now.  When this one is done, I have three more identical ones to stitch. 

As for the goodies I brought back fro Ocean City.    First up, our fabulous gift from Salty Yarns.  Brenda Gervais pattern, package of needles, linen, floss and box were all packaged up for us.  What an awesome gift.  They are so good to us.

For purchasing, I bought about a half dozen WDW flosses I needed, the Just Cross Stitch Magazine Christmas Edition and a Scarlett House pattern and fabric.   Like we have all said so many times, the flyer does not do the piece justice.   One of the girls brought her finished and framed piece for show and tell and I was sold.   I bought 36 count Mello from PTP to stitch it on. 

So that wraps up my weekend.  I've got a busy week ahead with a full calendar so maybe not much stitching time for me.   

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.