Stuff, lots of stuff

where to start.....middle of a polar vortex here in the northeast and we've been using space heaters all week....we have heat but it has been intermittent......circuit board fried on the heater.....new one installed yesterday and all is warm and toasty now.

I  have only picked up one book since last May, Need to Know.   It was excellent.   I am now reading Where the Crawdads Sing.    Only about 75 pages in but I can't wait to pick it back up to see what comes next.   My sign of a good book.

Speaking of books, I just purchased the Antique American Needlework Tools from Amazon.   It is a beautiful book filled with tons of color photos.

Mid-January I went to Camp WannaStitch in OCMD for a great weekend.  We sat with our friends from Rose and Thistle Guild of Williamsburg.  It is always fun to reconnect with them.   I got to ring the bell as I finished my Halloween Quaker.   Since MLK weekend I have managed to take steps to fully finish it.  I need to get more black Chinese braid.

....unless I want to walk on the wild side with the purple.  One step at a time.

I started a new sampler from Summer House Stitche Workes, called Karoline Beringer.   Beth Seal of Summer House was lucky enough to find and buy the original and then chart it.     It is a small sampler and I am almost half-way done.    Love when a project zooms along like that.   I made some substitutions using colors I had on hand......no need to add to my stash with a dozen more WDW threads.

Stitched and finished this Cherry Tart pin cushion.  It was an EGA meeting project from our January Meeting.  EZ-PZ.  At the meeting we watched three quick videos that gave us great hints for the wool appliqué.

Also, stitched up this week, this Valentine’s  humbug.  My first humbug.  Another EZ-PZ except for stitch-stitch-change-color-stitch-stitch-change color part.  It has me wanting to pull out a humbug that was a Christmas in July a few years ago that I never completed.

My sister gave me a great daily planner that I am enjoying using.... silly it is just a planner.   But alas, I am list maker.  I get so much more accomplished if everything is written down in one place.... I review it each morning at breakfast, making my notes for things I need to accomplish that day or week, grocery lists, phone calls to make, etc.  It has biweekly quilting skill builders included.   I have done the first skill builder.







The coming week doesn't look to bad......let's see what the planner looks like at the end of the week.

The skill builders for quilt blocks are featured every other week.   I am a couple of skill builders behinds but hope to catch up.    

Here's the first week.  Quick and Easy four-patch.  Before I started the second one, I decided to pull all my blue and yellow fat quarters out so at the end of the skill building at least I will have something cohesive.

More quiltie stuff......I purchased three sets of the same jelly roll from Missouri Quilts.   I issued my daughter’s a quilting challenge.   We get together every July for a five day  stitch-a-thon.  So my challenged to them is find a quilt pattern to use for the jelly roll.  It will be fun to see the different outcomes we have.  I have my pattern picked and hope to start soon.

My daughter's and I are also starting a 12-Days of Christmas SAL.    Yikes!    It is scaring me!   Lots of embroidery.  I hope to spend the afternoon with Heather next Saturday and we can get started.  I am thinking safety in numbers.

Which brings me to the need to have a grand sort out of the craft room.  The holidays with gifts and wrapping and pushing furniture here and there to accommodate everyone takes it toll on my craft room.   Fabric has been pulled for projects.    New stash added.   I have so many fabric scraps from myself and from friends that I think I need to take a vacation day to tame the bags and piles.

This also needs to be done with my stitching bag.   It is so full of stuff that I 'might' need that it gets heavy.   I need to re-evaluate and make sure it is filled only with what I really need.  Somehow it seems no matter what I am toting along there is always that one thing I don't have.   Just an afternoon spent putzing and sorting I feel like I got a lot accomplished but there is more to do.  I could have been lost for a full weekend in my craft room but it felt good to make a dent in 'taming' the mess.

 I managed to sort my fat quarters in color ways.

 Believe it or not, I need another large tote.  And this is ONLY the fat quarters.    Larger yardage is stored in the chest of drawers in the closet.   OMGosh....too much stuff.

Under the bed they went and the bed is all cleared off for Mr. William who will be visited later this month.

So of course I got derailed when I was mucking about in my craft room.......after I finished the humbug, I pulled out this name tag I made several years ago.   I made the braided cord, ran the gathering thread and mounted the front and back with batting.  I am all prepped for the final stitching to assemble and attaching the cording. This is my first attempt at stump work.   Love these EGA projects that give you a taste of a technique

And I FOUND these!    These are from a class I taught several years ago and then
couldn't find them. I knew I stitched them as samples for the class and just thought I lost them when I packed up after class.     Double wow....room cleaned and what was lost is found.

Well I know there is more to do....never made it as far as either walk-in closet where there is more stuff is stored!  ....but I am off to watch an episode of Mrs. Maisel while I work on some finishing.

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

Wintertime

Today's a snow day.   A winter storm is blanketing much of the Mid-Atlantic.   Fortunately I am on the west and less snow side of the event.   It is giving me a good time to take down and stow all the holiday decorations.    I should have taken them down last weekend but had a surprise party to help with on Saturday and went to Longwood Gardens on Sunday.   So today it is.....and I believe it will include some culling of the decorations creating a separate pile to donate.  

 Sorry the flash didn't work on my metal cardinal.  He really is a pretty bright red.

But back to Longwood Gardens for a minute.    If you are ever in the area of northern Delaware or south-eastern Pennsylvania it is a definite must see no matter what the season.    Heather and I spent the most of the day there on the last day of the holiday display.   An evening visit is awesome as well with all the lights on all the trees and outside displays.

We walked the grounds and found some new 'favorite' spots and were just as happy to just tour the conservatory.

 It's hard to see but these trees were suspended over the pond.

 Each year they pick a theme for the 'drawing room' area and this year was books.  Pages were strategically folded to create images.

 The garland around the fire place was created from pages of books.

Bows on packages were also created from pages of books.

The orchid area is always a favorite.

This one looks like the face of an alien!

 Suspended in one of the greenhouses was this tree made from rectangular pieces of glass, hanging on a fishing line sort of fiber of different lengths to create a perfectly shaped evergreen tree surrounded by amaryllis.  It was another great visit......looking forward to a trip back in the springtime when the grounds are alive with the colors of spring.

For stitching and my EGA Challenge - 

I finished my challenge piece for December.   This is My Stitcher's Heart, a collaborative piece from Elegant Stitch and Hands on Design.   The project consists of several smalls, a hexagon box to store the pieces and this stitched piece for the box top.  

I think now have all the pieces except the scissors fob completed.   Time to schedule an uninterrupted  day to do the finishing.    I'll put it on the list!  Best part is to pick a new #4 for the challenge.

This month at my EGA, Number #3 is our focus piece.     I should be able to easily accomplish the completion of this piece during this rotation!  I am really enjoying this challenge so far. 

My starting point this month.

Two motifs completed since Thursday.

Camp WannaStitch at the end of this week should really help me move this to the finished column.   It's another win-win.    A finish and a chance to sort through my stash to find a replacement #3 project.

So that's a wrap from me.   Off to un-decorate and leave the house with lack of color and looking blah.   :-(   

Thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

Closing the book ....

....on 2018 I am.   It was a year filled with highs and lows and decisions and I for one am ready to move forward into a shiny new year.

Before I share my recent stitching, I need to share my trip to visit my son and his family.  First, if my son had anything other than a Griswold Christmas we would all be in a suspended state waiting for the other shoe to fall.   It starts that he had to work and couldn't come home and he had a house full of in-laws instead for the holidays.   Someone, or perhaps the fridge itself, didn't shut tight on Christmas eve and they woke up to defrosted freezer and warm food.   But is gets better......time to put the turkey in the oven and their stove does not work.......not to  be discouraged, they are going to modify dinner and cook on the grill.......hmmmm, someone left the propane open and the tank was empty.........so, you guessed it, Chinese Restaurant for dinner!   My son had the right attitude, the stove could be fixed and there was no point is getting upset and it wouldn't be long before Christmas 2018 became a Thompson legend.   Breakfast on the 26th was done on the grill and the hat on William just seals the whole Griswold adventure.

By the time I arrived, fridge issues were resolved, the in-laws gone, a new tank of propane was bought and a new ignitor was installed in the oven and there was nothing for me to do but enjoy my daughter-in-law's finally cooked delicious Christmas dinner and enjoy my son and his family and a bit of wassail!  And boy did I enjoy my little Willam opening his Christmas presents.

Of course, Damma buys the bests presents.   He loved his little tee-pee I got and even slept in it that night.



























Before I left for my son's on the 28th, I tried my hand at something different........and as always, there's a story.    I saw this pattern at quilt show years ago, long before the red 50's truck was popular.   Every year I went back I looked for the pattern.   I searched the internet for the pattern but none were the one I remember.    Imagine my surprise and embarrassment when searching through my quilting fabric I find it all kitted up!   The embarrassment came when I told my daughters to stop looking for the pattern because I  had found it.....conversation goes, "Wow, what store/site did you find it?" ..... I reply. "..um, in my stash".....silence and then "just more evidence for us give to the home when we check you in"......children!   On to the stitching...

I didn't quite like the plainness of the truck and tree so I got out my box of 64 Crayola crayons.    I shaded the truck and then using paper towels, I ironed and melt/set the wax.

I did a section of wrapped backstitch but I pulled them out because I liked the more primitive look without it.

 Since I changed the color of the truck, I think I will have to change the color of the coordinating greens.  It was fun to stitch and quick....only two days......now how long it takes for me to assemble it is a whole other story.

I also stitched these cuties up.  Hard to believe that I finally made Christmas ornaments for myself!   Hopefully there are more ornaments in my future.

 I think the red bird may need an eye added.

 And here is my progress on my EGA Challenge piece......not so much stitching on it but I think I can make progress before my January EGA meeting.

 I just love the colors and think the tassle is too cute!

 So that's where I am project-wise.  2019 holds more stitching in my future.   I will be heading to Cape WannaStitch in mid-January and have a few other stitching related events on my calendar for 2019.   It's going to be a good year!

Wishing all my friends and fellow stitchers a bright and happy New Year.