An offering

Greetings.  It's been a little while since I offered you a token of my appreciation. 

Now ~ I've been seeing a few giveaways that include tons of charts, linen, and silk threads.  This isn't one of those.  It's just this.  Not much is it? 

As you know, I've been ridding my craft room of unused items and I happened across a few labels that I was playing with.  So I thought - what the heck?  The offer is for this small 4" paper mache box with the label of my free pattern (under Needle Keep). 

  You can stitch the chart into a little pinkeep, or a soft folding needlebook (instead of this complicated hard sided stiff book that my lovely sister in law preferred), and have a little box to match.  Or just the peacock for a fob. 

Stitching the right half of the chart beneath the peacock as Jill from Purple Peacock did, would make a great folding needlebook. 

 Thanks again Jill for coming up with this great alternative (which I actually prefer).

Anyway, I made the box the other day and of course, tore the house apart looking for it.  You've made me feel better by relating to my losing misplacing items, but this is really chapping my hide.  I found it, won't tell you where.  I would tape it to the TV (which is filling up rapidly) but I don't want the tape to ruin the paint finish.  So I'm putting it in my car.  I keep a large cooler in the back for groceries and I'll put a note on the TV of its location.  Of course I will need to remove it when I put the ice pack in and go to the market, which means it could end up anywhere.  I'll figure something out.

If you would like this wimpy little token of my appreciation to all of you that take the time to visit with me, please leave a comment stating so on this post only.
The offer will close on Saturday, August 11, at 9pm EST.

Later!

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Pay attention!!!

Hiya.  The putz did it again.  I was so close to having Eunice finished when I realized I wasn't paying attention to the chart once again.  I'll show you what I did and didn't do .... but first ..... my cupboard is almost done!

I've been spending a lot of time with buying removing buying changing buying sanding off the paint and all I have left is the aging wash, wax, wood latches, and knobs.  It's a lot bigger than I thought it would be but I'll have plenty of storage.

Eunice.  Poor Eunice.

Take a look at the main chart. The dot symbol is for 310 (black) and since the over one was dots - I figured black!  Wrong.  Also, look at the distance between Eunice and Birchard along with an element between the two.  (The white line is the fold of the chart which is done on tan paper and kind of hard to read.) 

This is the over one graph printed beneath the main graph.

It clearly shows the symbol of the required color but I didn't double check because I assumed it was black.  Any other symbol would not fit in the tiny space so of course a dot would be used on the main graph.  Pay attention!   I also didn't catch that there is no element and certainly not the space required between the two names as shown on the main chart.  But I wasn't paying attention and continued to follow the over one graph without checking the main graph, stitching "aged 13" right beneath "sampler" which is also wrong.  Look at the main graph putz!  So I had to remove "Birchard", the sampler line was fine, and also removed the "aged 13" line.  Not easy on over one for me even though it is only 30 count.  The black floss left a nice smudge so I used my duct tape to remove the fuzz and it looks pretty good now.  I should have been finished but once again, my lack of focus and patience cost me.  I decided to keep it all in 310 since I would have had to remove "Eunice" as well.  When will I learn?  I'll bet Lucy is shaking her head. 

I'll end with mushball Bud playing kissy face with his girlfriend who is his baby momma.  Does anyone else find that term disturbing?  I do.  Very much.  But this baby momma will no longer be having babies.  Bud bathes her and she just lays there enjoying.  She has no shame.

Hello to new followers.  Thank you so much for signing up to endure a procrastinating, flashing, indecisive, forgetful, menopausal stitcher.  Hope you all have an enjoyable and safe weekend.

Thank you for visiting!!

p.s.  I wanted to mention that I didn't realize the free chart from The Gentle Art was from the fabulous Nan!  Also visit her Threadwork Primitives and click on Free charts to see her great offers.

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Marking samplers and sources #2!

Hello stitching buds. I'm almost finished with the over one (AUGH!!) on Eunice and decided on a simple black frame. I messed up with the starting point of the single thread journey and it's one thread off in the top area. You can see how close it is to the V. Too bad. There was no way I was removing it, even though I caught it at this point.

I wanted to answer a few questions emailed to me about finding out of print charts and ordering new ones. First off, Thistle Needleworks has a listing of #19801 through #43000 of older charts, many of which are already gone.  You can use Control+F keys to create a search bar at the top for a particular item or designer, or just browse through.  Another is Old Stitch and you can choose a category to browse.  There isn't a lot of samplers but they have a nice selection of Christmas, Santas, and other topics.  Inventory seems to change often so check back.  Another that I have never ordered from is Cobweb Corner. And of course, there's Ebay.  When I search for a particular design, I save it.  Getting an email whenever the item first lists saves me from constantly checking and I won't miss an opportunity to bid.  I received an email a few days ago that the Plantation Sampler was newly listed as Buy it Now for $4.95 with free shipping.  Needless to say, it didn't last long.  Without these email notifications, lots of charts are gone before I even know they were listed!

As for purchasing, a lot of designs I did in the past and even now are from The Scarlet Letter, and R&R Reproductions.  I prefer marking samplers and found a great selection with these two.  You can order both through Homespun Samplar, which I just did again.  I haven't found the R&R selection anywhere else and for the $5 and up prices along with the quality of their packets, a great deal.   There are other online shops that I use too and one carrying the R&R charts whose name I can't remember!  She has much clearer photos of the pieces than Homespun does and although I Googled, still can't find her.  I prefer the marking style for several reasons, #1 being that I am a stitch wimp.  I prefer simple stitching.  #2, if I had to constantly change thread colors or count numerous linen threads to place a small element, I would give up.  When an intense hot flash hits, it makes me fidgety and I have to get up, walk around, open a door, jump out a window, stand in front of an open fridge, all of the above, bathe.  When I settle down and return, coming back to a row of letters or a large house is much easier than having to locate and count in a motif or large border.  And #3, I like 'em.  The simplistic alphabet, primitive creatures, houses, and odd elements of a stitching lesson, are what drew me to samplers in the beginning.  Sure there were young ladies who created elaborate and complex samplers, but I prefer to stitch their laid-back cousin's work.  Viewing these pieces is fascinating and I enjoy seeing all types, but for now I have no patience to stitch them so in my stash they will stay.

I wanted to link a sweet free chart that Ann was nice enough to pass along from the Gentle Art folks here.  Another that has some of my favorite frees is The Workbasket.

My husband makes these egg pancakes called Pizzarelles with wild mushrooms and he decided to modify the recipe for zucchini. No mushrooms yet! It's chopped bell peppers, onions, lots of eggs, parmesan, seasoned bread crumbs, and twice squeezed shredded zukes fried in very little oil. Damn they were good. We even ate them cold. I think we should all post at least one of our go-to zuke recipes this month. And don't forget about the chocolate zucchini cake recipe I posted! Fabulous.

Have a great weekend everyone. Stay safe and enjoy the final month of summer which is breaking my heart.

Thank you much for visiting!!

Added note - my preview of the first post was fine but after seeing the post - it was all HTML and I couldn't correct it so hopefully this new post will be OK.

Marking samplers and sources

Hello stitching buds.  I'm almost finished with the over one (AUGH!!) on Eunice and decided on a simple black frame.  I messed up with the starting point of the single thread journey and it's one thread off in the top area.   You can see how close it is to the V.   Too bad.  There was no way I was removing it, even though I caught it at this point.

 

I wanted to answer a few questions emailed to me about finding out of print charts and ordering new ones.  First off,  Thistle Needleworks has quite a listing of older books. 
OBVIOUSLY A PROBLEM WITH BLOGGER!  WILL TRY TO CORRECT AND REPOST.

Fried salami and other goodies

Another two in a row!  Hi all.  Just a few things I wanted to show before I forget. 

First off, how the heck did I miss this opportunity?  This was my last basket purchase from James Creek and it's from Ragon-  the really stiff painted ones.  This one is a monster but I can't pass up an unusual size and shape.  I was getting some things ready for the framer and decided to do Fanny Erb when it hit me.  Here she is!  I'll show you how I did this one.

First off, fold the top down and press.  Cut a piece of mylar (the clear stiff stuff in the stencil section) to fit, and machine sew on a basting stitch.

If you do this on the outside, you can use a strong double back tape to hold it to whatever you are using for display without the tape coming in contact with the linen.  That doesn't bother me since I've never had a problem.  I sewed mine to the inside because I planned on pinning, but this hard surface was not easy to pierce so I may move it to the outside and end up with the tape. Just secure to the top  right under the rim and flip it over.  I used double back tape on the bottom edges since the basket is angled and Fanny was hanging out too far.  The tape really doesn't stick that well to the linen because of the weave not allowing complete contact.  Regardless, if and when I frame, this area would be turned back for mounting. 

 And I love what this little area did to Eunice.  I changed the 224 to 3772 in the body and decided to use 300 instead of the pink in the bottom area.  Love it.  Then that black border cinched it for me.  A motif, date, and over one in black is left and I'm going to have her

framed.

Do you remember the large cupboard we were working on months ago?   I finally made a decision on colors and am doing the painting to get another project completed.  I chose a dark taupe for the under color since I'm tiring of black, and a very dark brownish red for the top color.  I'm using a technique that is really primitive. Here's one of the small doors.

Now for fried salami.  I don't eat fried or greasy foods and was really disappointed when my 6 month cholesterol check came back with the bad number HIGHER, even with meds and fish oil.  I love salami and once in a great while, I sneak a few slices.  I throw the slices in a non stick pan and brown them (microwave works too and very quickly!) while they release a lot of fat.  A LOT of fat.  Dab with paper towels to remove even more.  They shrink and the flavor is intensified.  On garlic bread with Land O Lakes 5 cheese Italian blend....heaven!  Getting them really crisp and crumbling into a salad is divine too.  

And finally, the mushball and his last offspring, Nitwit.  You can tell just by looking at those eyes that he fits his name.

That's all folks!!!  Eunice will be making her final appearance soon.  Thank you so much for visiting with me - it is much appreciated - and have a wonderful week!

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Eunice, Google, the cat, and the bird

Hiya.  I have wasted more than two days trying to get the Google translator box to appear and I don't know if it will be working so please bear with me if there is a problem. I have two "practice" blogs that are not published and there was no problem at all with the bar, but this published one was a pain. I ended up with my own fix and held my breath. It worked! But if the other problems continue, I will remove it. For the size and reach of Google, you would think they could have answers for us, but even the forums don't reply anymore. On to Eunice.

I made two errors that really aren't important except for sizing this almost perfectly square design. The last two lines on the rice stitched alphabet were to be two threads down, and I did four. I may compensate on bottom border since I am planning on a square frame. I haven't worked on Pumroy because I'm taking the smaller Eunice outside to stitch, which has become a little difficult.

My big old warrior has turned into a mushball of love since being snipped and won't leave me alone.

There's only a small area left at the bottom plus the limited over one stitching to the right of the Z, which isn't enough to get my feathers ruffled.

Now for my new bird. We've never seen this beauty before and after checking a few books, think it's a Prothonotary Warbler, but he doesn't have the dark beak. Photos aren't the greatest but take a look at this guy!

Isn't he beautiful? We may have the identification wrong but we're pretty sure it's a Warbler of some sort.

I made a trip to the Olde English Shoppe which closed this weekend and found another cupboard at half off.  I couldn't pass it up because I also learned that The Hidden Den, another great shop about an hour from here is closing.  I have no choice but to get back to making my own items.  This is a good sized corner unit and is tall enough to set on the floor.  I plan on repainting and aging, removing the half door and adding a full length, and possibly a top with moulding.

That's all I got!  I've been busy with the Google crap and spent a few days discarding craft items and such.  If I haven't used it and am keeping it only because I MAY use it in the future - it's out of here.  The less I have, the more I can focus on what I enjoy the most.   I want the background static to be reduced to a pleasing hum.  Or Elvis.  Toby Keith.  Chuck Berry.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Stay safe, thank you so much for visiting, talk to you soon!

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