Sewing method

After a number of emails asking about the sewing method, I tried doing a little video to show how I do it. Unfortunately, my Samsung tablet takes lousy videos and my phone is the $7 a month flipper you saw last post.  I don't see any adjustments for clarity on the device or in the program but will do some research.  Certainly can't see the over two linen threads but you can get the idea.  I will try other settings and distance to show the full stitch method.  There are other ways also but I've been a bonehead for most of my life and always go back to what I know. 

And according to many sources, I know everything.

 

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Little Robina

Backed with dark greenish brown uncut corduroy with a hanger of the same linen, attached with a pin so I can change my mind and throw her in a bowl.  ME???  Change my mind?  Nah.

 

Needlework Press reproduction done on R&R Sea Glass linen with a walnut dip.

  

 

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Slow stitching

Greetings!  I keep seeing posts and pages of early Fall decorating, many excited about the onset of their favorite season.   We had nothing but cold and rain all of June, a nice July and part of August, and I've had a heater on for a week.  Six weeks was about all I got this year of my favorite season.  My house is 64 degrees and I need a sweater in the evening.  Morning shoppers have jackets on!  Ridiculous.  High temps coming this weekend but it's too little too late.  It's over and I'm about as crabby as I can be. 

 

My fingers are numb again from my neck after a chiropractic treatment.  Hard to hold a needle between the numbness and cold but I'm plugging away at the house.  I do the first half of the stitch horizontally using the sewing method, and then the second half vertically.  Big areas like this end up looking like corn rows if I follow the same route.  A few houses in prior samplers have obvious "rows" going two different directions when I did large horizontal sections and then narrow vertical ones, like between windows.  The method works very well for my tension.

 

The kids have been giving me trouble.  Tiny little Missy Midge took off after the baby turkeys, even though big mama bird was right there.  Nitzy has spit out and drawn blood three times during a worm pill fiasco.  Still didn't get it down.  The pill plunger is all the way back but he makes sure he hocks it up every time.  Filthy dirty Bud will not leave me alone and obviously the flea stuff isn't working.

 

The fawns are not around as much but the turkey moms and poults are.  Probably because of the very wet and cold spring, they must have lost their first brood and had another because they are very small for this time of year.

 

 

The squirrels are happy that without the fawns visiting, there is more bread for them.

 

 

No decision on the car yet.  I am kind of upset that I am losing my bright yellow Escape.  2003 and it's been perfect, still is.  Carole always got her cars from my Dad and he was always upset at what they looked like a year later from neglect.  I am already feeling that.  I am still considering leasing a mid size sedan for her but what about after the lease ends?  One of us may be needing a new car then and I can't do two payments.  I hate decisions.  And you know I can't make them. 

 

  

 

 

 

And this pic is for friend Krissy B.

 

 

Have a nice calm relaxing weekend!

 

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Once again...

you have my answers.  Thanks!  Now I know what the ground cover is and my strange looking fuzzy friend.  I forgot to mention in the prior post to Karen B - I can't answer you.  You're no-reply and I cannot comment on your posts without signing up for Google+.  I don't know why Google has played around with our comments, changed our status, prevents us from communicating with other bloggers, and tries to force us into Google+.  Since I am not + and have no intentions to be so, maybe that's another reason why the majority of my commenters are shown to me as no-reply.

 

I had a wasted afternoon yesterday because of a mishap with a quart can of dark walnut stain.  While sitting on a stool in front of the base cabinets, using a little sponge brush to stain the sanded edges on a door, the brush slipped.  When I tried to quickly retrieve it before it immersed into the stain, my butt tilted the stool, I slid onto the floor, and a quart of dark oily stain flew everywhere.  What a mess.  The light paint cabinets, the floor, dishtowels, and my legs and feet were completely covered.  It took a LOT of mineral spirits and my rough heels and Polish ankles are still pretty dark.  My sandals and clothes were dark to begin with but were victims also.  I was so surprised that no tantrum or wailing session ensued.  But my affliction is still a part of me as later in the day, we visited a car dealer.  First thing - "let's get the keys and take a few models for a ride".  Listen buddy,  I know how to drive and all new cars ride nice.  I want a plain vehicle, all wheel drive, no frills.  "But you can get a screen and Wi-Fi with" ..... stop right there.  I am driving, not entertaining myself.  I don't want to look at anything but the road, don't want to be distracted with nonsense.  I want wheels.  All wheel drive wheels.  With a cubicle attached to those wheels and keeps me dry until I get to where they are taking me.  That's it.  Don't give me your pitch, give me your price.  So I got the price and told them I will call if I want to take the vehicle for a ride so no need for them to call me.  Mark said "something tells me they had no intentions of further contact".   It wasn't the dealership where years ago I walked around with only one lens in my sunglasses.  I haven't been back there since.  I've always wondered if they had video surveillance and there is a lunchroom photo of a frazzled frizzy haired woman roaming around Lincoln Navigators oblivious to wearing .... 

Nah.

 

Have a great day.

 

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Questions and photos

Good morning.  How was your weekend?  We've had beautiful weather, but it feels like fall.  I have to wear a fleece jacket by evening for several days now.  Almost over!!

 

Progress on Sally has reached the bottom, no more letters or verse.  It's hard to see the house outlined in light thread so I circled it.  Sally's a big girl and needed a big house, it's 6" x 6".  The vase and flowers to the right of the verse are specialty stitches so I will attempt that area after the house is finished, before the other motifs.

 

 

Can anyone tell me what this chartreuse ground cover is?  We had a large patch of it and it just glows in the shade, but our fierce winter killed almost all.  The spring bloom is a small light lilac spike.  I've searched online and can't find it, but you gals always seem to know what I can't locate. 

 

I wanted to show you my Limelight hydrangeas.  HUGE!  They are a creamy white, not stark like the Pee Gee bloom behind it.  This is a bush and I wish I would have purchased the tree instead.  The trees sell quickly in the spring and local nurseries have none by June.

 

Now these are the old fashioned type called Annabelle.  Obviously, the deer prefer this variety which is right next to the Limelight.  It's odd how they pick and choose.  Annabelle suffers every year but never the others.

 

I see lots of stitchers are starting to work with yarn which I haven't done in decades.  But while searching for Acorn wrought iron hinges, I came across another Acorn site that carries clothing and saw these.  I love them and will search for a pattern.

 

 

And what is this little thing?  I see it every year with lacy wings, a frayed butt, and a long snout.   Acts like a hummingbird, quicker than a bee, large and long. 

 

All went well with Carole's epidural.  I almost fell over when the nurse came out to call her in.  She was the nurse, exactly a year earlier, that tried to keep us calm and informed when Carole was slipping away after the Tikosin induced torsades.  One year to the day.  I got all meno weepy and thanked her again, while Carole was listening at the exit desk. Carol did not know the nurse because she was, well, dying over and over again and not coherent.   The nurse did not recognize Carole because she was not part of her cardiac team and there was always someone sitting on top of her waiting to pound her chest for CPR so she didn't she her face. This nurse, Patty, came from the cath lab when the emergency started and decided to be the liaison since Carole's team could not leave her side.  She was off-duty and left after the pacemaker surgery when Carole stabilized.  Neither really saw each other that day but had a little joyous reunion in the office.

 

The king of the swing is still keeping watch over his domain.

 

Have a great start to the last week of August.  You have no idea how crabby I am about that.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Done with the over one!

Finally.  Four more short lines over two and it's all motifs and the house from there.  Can't wait to finish this, starting Niky's Primitive Christmas for outdoors.  An attempt was made to work on Big Sally outside (for the politically correct version of Big - she is quite adequately proportioned for the amount of stitches).  I hung the floss ring from the swing's chain, added the magnetic clip for the scissors, and may be organized enough to give it a go. 

 

Have a great weekend.

 

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You're the best!

 

Thanks to fellow stitchers, she has ordered the Four Angel (Scarlet Letter)

 

and also the Life How Short Mourning sampler from Morning Glory Needleworks.   Both beauties.  The latter is very interesting with motifs used representing death and mourning. Thank you all very much for your help.  (Photo from her Etsy site)

 

I just finishing spraying my hand dyed Sea Glass linen with tan/taupe blended dye and hung to dry. Result - stiff and brown/green.  Looks good.  I was afraid it would be ruined since you are not allowed to wet hand-dyed fabric but the fine mist spray worked great.  I also gave a squirt to Robina.  You knew I would.  But she is still bright and happy.

 

This has nothing to do with stitching but I am a fusspot about (well...everything really) dishcloths and towels.  I found all cotton at Kohl's, Sonoma brand, that I love.  I had the 30% off, they were on sale, so I ordered online and stocked up.  They wash and dry so nice!  And there is another source for the old fashioned string type, including matching towels here.  Don't know if you've ever browsed Mast General Store online, but they have a Made in USA tab here with various items including the cloths and a foolproof ant barrier for your hummingbird feeder.  Haven't had an ant problem in years, but still have to use bleach to remove that black bacteria that forms around the ports.  Some items are mighty pricey, others are unique and reasonable.  I love the No. 3 leather key ring.

 

Taking Carole tomorrow for an epidural and we're hoping it goes smoothly.  She never has good luck with even the simplest of medical procedures, so you just never know.

 

Thanks again to you all for your help!!

 

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Any help?

Hello people.   I received an email from a stitcher asking if I knew of any memorial samplers.  She lost her 28 year old daughter several years ago and would like to stitch a piece in her memory to be passed on. 

  I looked back in the posts because I remember someone sending a photo of how they personalized my little free piece.  Denise stitched it for her sister with their parents' names and added her mom's angel pin.  I searched for memorial samplers from real designers for her, but I didn't find many at all.  These two from Midsummer Night designs are very nice. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Does anyone have any suggestions or sources that I could pass on to her?  Are there others that you know of?  Surprising to me that there aren't more or if there is, how hard they are to find.  Would appreciate your help.

 

 

I finished Robina with linen and thread color changes and used the brighter red.  Robina at 13 was playful and colorful, and me at 64 is dull and drab.  I thought it was time for a little fun.  The colors will look great on my lighter paint hanging from a knob.  Hope to finish her in a few days.  When I see it, it will remind me to have fun and be a little more colorful.  The only way I am currently, is with my language.

Thanks for visiting.

 

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ROBINA!!!!

 

Picture Brando yelling that name.  She's a winner this darling little sampler.  I started her on a dark sage green and naturally had to change most of the threads to something lighter.  My dilemma right now - do I use 816 or 355? 

 

I'll get to the winners in a moment, but I want to show you the setup I use for stitching outside.  This holds everything I need so I leave the Magma and move it all to a magnetic board.  I have the plastic stand for it but also use an old cookbook stand when I can't find the other.  Like now.

I use a magnetic clip to hold the scissors and insert a very large hoop between it's claws to hold the floss bags.  It clamps securely to the board.

I made a little heavy denim pouch for the glasses and it's held on with strong magnets inside.

And now....I had to use Random!  I had no idea there would be that many entries.  Thanks to all that participated. So. 

 

The linen goes to Amanda.  Please contact me because your email is not listed and you're no reply.

 

The Nash chart goes to Joan who I will email shortly.  Joan's comment isn't forwarded to my email because she's Yahoo, but I went through all the comments and matched them to my forwarded comments to make sure no one was left out.  Good thing huh Joan???

 

That's it.  Hope you're all having a great weekend.

 

Robina and I will return in a few days.

 

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Sit out back with me

 

After disassembling the swings and chairs, 2 coats of oil base, days to dry, reassembling, we're done.

 

 

Both larger swings

 

the chairs
 

 

my large copper kettle
 

the barrels are overflowing

Instead of purchasing new swing chain sets for $25 every few years because of rust, we decided to spend $59 for the stainless.  Oh my what nice chains.  They look like they may even be chrome plated over the stainless because they are really shiny, but heavier than our standard ones and will last forever.  She said to wipe them down with a rag sprayed with WD-40 to clean them when needed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We have three Pink Diamond hydrangea trees and if you want to attract bees, plant a few!  They are loaded with hundreds of them every day for weeks. 

 All types, fuzzy butts, striped, plain, honey bees, and even the monster carpenter bees.  Easy to spot because of their size and shiny butts, unlike the hairy ones of the bumblebees.  Bumblebees live in the ground, carpenters drill a perfect hole in your house and live in the wood.  We had a colony of the bumbles under our brick patio years ago, never saw them again. 

 

 

It will be very warm for a few days, this middle of August, closing out summer, and I want to sit out and just take it in.  My little sampler charts came and I may pull supplies for Robina.  Sally is too cumbersome for outside.

 

Enjoy your weekend!!

 

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Pears & Strawberries Sewing Bag offer

This post is the offer for the STACY NASH CHART ONLY.

If you would like to enter this giveaway, please leave your initials or name since the majority of my comments are no-reply.  Name will be drawn Saturday at 8pm.

 

Linen offer

This post is for the LINEN OFFER ONLY.

It is marked 18th Century Rook and you can see the color compared to a tan cloth on the left.  It's more like a taupe color, not greenish at all, a shade warmer on the other side seen under the folded section.

18" x 28" 28 count, soft and silky 

If you would like to enter this giveaway, please leave your initials or name since the majority of my comments are no-reply.  Name will be drawn Saturday at 8pm.

 

 

Two small giveaways - no, not the bowl

Greetings.  I can't stand moving this linen piece around any longer.  I ordered 28 count 18th Century Rook a while back, they were out of it and ordered in another piece, it looks nothing like mine.  Not greenish, more taupe, not stiff, soft and silky.  It's 18 x 28, the other side is a little different shade.  I am also offering the Stacy Nash Pears & Strawberries Sewing Bag chart in a separate post.  I donated my finished bag to The Attic for their auction and won't be stitching it again.  I hope someone is enjoying it!  Rather than make it too confusing for myself, I am doing one post for the linen comments, and another for the chart comments.  Some of you may want the chart but not the linen and vice versa so I decided to split them.  So two posts will follow this evening and I doubt there will be many entries so I will draw a name on Saturday at 8pm.

 

Before I close, I wanted to show you for the last time (I promise) my cleaned and waxed bowl.  I am so glad I got it!  This is on my kitchen counter so you can get a better idea of size.  I used Real Milk Paint Co.'s Soapstone/Wood wax.  Food safe and not tacky like those containing beeswax.  I think I will do all the bowls with it.

And also for size reference is Ruth.  She not a little pillow like I usually do but because she is firm and flat (instead of soft and bumpy like....) she can stand nicely against a case or on a shelf.

 

OK.  The posts will be up this evening if anyone is interested.  You can certainly enter both, international welcome.

 

Enjoy your day.

 

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Ruth's finish

Hello everyone.  I decided to finish Ruth before I misplace her.  When a sampler has uneven edges, I never know how to center it.  A border makes it easier but it has to be stitched, and I have borderitis.  Measuring from the furthest stitch on each side makes the margin even, but not always appealing.  I tried centering it differently this time.

 

I fused the interfacing, measured the margin, marked with the Frixion, and then machine basted on that mark.  Folding the fabric on that line showed me if it would be a good seam placement.   Once it looked balanced, I added the backing (right sides together) and the basting was easily visible from the backside because I used a darker thread.  Since I needed to mark the front, the pen alone would not have been seen on the back. Sewing along the basting line was very easy and I knew it would be right, no more removing, adjusting, re-sewing.

 

Being lazy and liking primitive style works well together.  For the back pocket, I tore the fabric and left all edges frayed, used a zigzag stitch to attach, fringed the linen's top edge and folded it over, glued it shut.  I think I'm getting more lazy with each finish.  Two squares of thick quilt batting inside and I have a firm flat pillow.

 

The end.

 

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Slowly I turn, stitch by stitch

I only stitch in the evening and I've been sitting outside enjoying the weather instead.   Progress is slow but I'm getting the sections that I've been avoiding out of the way.

 

Finished the eyelet row..

that chain (?) dividing band, and now the over one but up two (or tall cross over one) (or single wide double high).  Not as bad as over one both ways but still a pain.  Good thing it's only a few words and letters within the lines.  Completing the next rows will be easy.  I really need to work on this more and get'r done.
 

 

I visited the framing shop where the baskets are going, and there isn't any primitive at all, but lovely china, Lenox pieces, jewelry, dining sets, and decorator items.  I saw a cherry chest on wood casters with original keyed drawer locks.  For a bedroom I guess, but for the price, I may get it for the parlor.  The tiny room is never used and I keep stitching supplies there so it may be a good fit.  I'm getting too old to wait for the "right" piece that compliments a colonial look, or to spend a fortune on it.  It's storage, it's well constructed, it's old, and it's reasonable.   The only question will be, how many times will I change my mind before someone else buys it.

 

Have a great day!

 

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Sharing

Hello people.  While car shopping in Columbiana Ohio, I stopped in the Pewter Peddler shop.  It was opening day for Shaker Woods Festival, but I just didn't have the energy for the crowds.  We used to go every year but the older I get, I need a place to rest my hind quarters every once in a while.  Finding a spot to sit for a minute is sometimes difficult when it's opening weekend  It's held in the woods on gravel paths and a very nice shopping experience with good food and live music also.  Three weekends in August, here is the Facebook page for Shaker Woods, and here is the crafter's map of the grounds and a brief description of their wares.

 

I always think of Patti when looking at primitives and since everyone else thinks I'm nuts, I only have you to share purchases with!  Two items from the Peddler.  The sweetest little set of drawers,

 

 

 

 

 

and this small hanging wall box with drawer and recessed shelf.

We had a large and friendly visitor today that we collared and leashed to the tree out front after playing with her for a while and sipping water together.  Different bowls though.  Sure enough, the owner came by within an hour and spotted her. 

This visitor didn't need our help.

Have a great start to the second week of August as summer slips away.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Still buying

Hey.  Did you know there is a 40% off sale on a variety of charts at Stitch & Frog?  Just click on the notice in the upper right corner .  There are almost 20 pages of charts to go through, many samplers of various styles too.  I got three yesterday and two are no longer listed.

 

 

I've wanted this Nikys design for so long and always forgot to add it to other orders. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martha Hards  is a sweet little thing that I plan on stitching in Uniform Blue GAST to go with Eliz Laidman from Threads of Gold (one of my favorites).

 

 

Another sweet quickie, Robina Leadbetter which is the only chart I still see available from the three.  But of course I could be wrong.

 

 

There is a large variety of smalls and holidays and samplers from favorite designers so check it out and see if there is something you've wanted and can no longer find.

 

Have fun!

 

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