And the Pink winner is...

Loraine!  I wrote names on strips of paper and threw them in a bowl for this draw.  Loraine, please send me your address and the Pink package will be mailed Monday.  Some of you who entered are BC survivors and even recently diagnosed.  I'm sorry I can't send everyone a little pink gift, but I can send you all my wishes and prayers for recovery and good health. 

Once again, thanks to all who entered, I really appreciate your participation! 

I received a note from Anneke of My Pretty Corner and she stitched my first pear design.  You can visit her blog here.  Wow.  What a difference the finished shape makes.  I think I will stuff mine more or sew the seams closer to the stitching, trying to get it more like hers.  I like it much better!   I still prefer the second design with less fill and want to have these two and future projects  be a little different from each other.

That's it.  Have a great weekend, stay safe, thanks for visiting, talk to you soon!

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Last minute additions

Hello everyone.  I was digging a path in my little parlor where I keep most of the stitching items, and found several more threads that I will never use so I'm tossing them into the Pink giveaway.  Two skeins of Impressions, a 50% silk 50% wool blend in #040 Williamsburg, two different dye lots, 36 yards each - plus 2 pkgs of YLI silk floss in two shades of pink.  So here's the total package.  Unless I find more.

This has nothing to do with stitching but did you ever see these bra bags?  They are zippered pouches for machine washing, one bra on each side, that I've found for years at Walmart in the washing/ironing section of housewares.  Mine of course, fit, but my sisters (which cut in half becomes two teepees suitable for boy scout camp) would be a tight squeeze.  Just thought I would mention it in case you haven't seen them.  For the ridiculous price of bras, they expect you to hand wash them.  Right. Why one was in the parlor with the linen is a good question.  I also came across this item and finally know what it is.

Made by Kenzan, it's an old "Magic" type adjustable frog of stainless steel.  The instructions were in the bottom of the little case and I never removed the item before.  I checked online to see if it is still made and I couldn't find any but one sold on EBay last year for over $50!  Yay!  Guess what else I found.  Remember the Sudberry House tray and heart box?  I packed them for shipping, ready to sell, and just assumed they were two more empty boxes.  Nope.  Took me a while to figure out what was in them and I plan on posting them for sale next week.  Hopefully, they won't be misplaced again.

And a final note on stitching.  I started the lady's gown at the bottom of Mary's sampler and noticed a change in the blue.  After checking my floss bags, I realized that regardless of how many times I say I will do something, I fail.  There were three skeins of 3768 in the bag, one is a purplish cold blue, the others the warm blue blending well with the 920 series.  No wonder I had trouble choosing a shade.  I don't like the cold blue of the skein on the left and that's what I was stitching with.  The bottom border which was to be 632, I changed to blue to match the top border and also to pull the blue throughout.  Too bad it's the wrong blue.  Thank you again Carole for my tweezers!  I'm back to the warmer floss and it blends very nicely with the verse's 926.

I'm finished yakking - back to work.  Hard to imagine what a mess I create in that room.  I go in to pick floss and linen, tear everything out of drawers, and walk away.  It's easy when you really don't see into the room. 

I'll be back tomorrow night with the winner, drawn by buddy Random.org!  Until then, have a wonderful and safe day.

Thank you for visiting!!!

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Pink Paisley!

Hi everyone.  Surgery was cancelled/postponed until after Thanksgiving.  Thank you for the well wishes.  Since Mark had already scheduled the day off and they postponed last minute, we decided to drive to the outlets and I stopped at the quilt shop in New Wilmington.  The pink linen I'm offering has been really difficult to match with a backing fabric since it's a warmer pink.  In the entire shop, we only found one line that matched and it's Martinique by Moda (3 sisters) in shell.   Other fabric patterns with the shell background in that line work, but I think the paisley is something different.  This fat quarter will be included with the offer.  

Isn't it gorgeous?  If you don't care for this, check the Martinique line for a good match if you require a backing.

  I found this photo on Pinterest

 and  it reaffirmed my desire for unframed pieces.  Here I go again making some of you queasy, but I like how the bottom one is hanging the best.  Yikes.  Yes I know this would distort the linen threads.  But as I said, linen is very strong and when I'm saying goodbye to this world,  I won't be thinking about how my pieces will survive.  I want to enjoy my work, not preserve it.  When I showed you the way I hang samplers on large baskets (the mylar strip inside a folded edge), same principle here.  If the sampler is to be hem stitched, I would sew twill tape inside the top hem. 

    I've tried the 3M mounting tapes and they stick to the wall, but not the linen.  I'm thinking - poking nails through the ends of twill tape.  At the linen's top edge, machine sew the top and bottom of the nail tape to the linen with a basting stitch and matching thread.   With careful measuring for placement, I think this would work great. The nail heads would be hidden, embedded in the tape, no holes or strain on the linen.  The matching machine thread would disappear so it won't matter if I have the piece fringed or hemmed to begin with.  And no marks on the front to interfere with framing later.  You know......just in case I change my mind.   I'm trying this!  I'll let you know how it works.

That's it.  I've been working on boxes and will have a few for sale in the near future.  I've been waiting for more to come in for weeks and ........ still waiting.  Today I am hopefully stitching without a brace most of the day while I sit here nursing a minor head cold.  I'm having fun with pear designs and worked up a few more that need to be stitched, too.  Hopefully I'll have progress to show next post.  Until then, enjoy this week of October, with its cold nights and cool days, dreary damp rainy days, brilliant colored leaves stuck in the mud, dead summer flowers, woodpeckers drilling your siding for a new home, and spiders as big as a VW trying to get into a warm house.  Did I happen to mention I miss summer?

Hello and welcome to new followers - hope you enjoy your visits.  And thank you all for spending your time with me.

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Something pink for you, and a rest for me!

Hi all.  It's October.   *#&*!  The month of pink.  In honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month, I am offering an 18 x 25 piece of a beautiful shade of pink linen (30 count?), matching jumbo rick rack called Sweet Peach that is discontinued, Wildflowers in Rosebud, Cherry Cordial, and 2 skeins of Parfait.  Rosebud doesn't appear to be a full skein.  If you would like to have this small offering of pinkness, please leave a comment stating so.

Thursday evening I received a call from my carpenter/construction wizard, saying he had Friday free and could come over to work.  YES!!!  We had to have 5/8" dense and heavy underlayment removed beneath carpeting in preparation for 3/4" wood flooring.  A nightmare, and we knew it would be.  It was nailed every 4 inches so the pry bars were breaking off pieces that went flying through the air along with a heavy dust.  I was carrying garbage cans filled with pieces and nails outside, and anything bigger than 5" was taken dragged to the spit to burn.  I begged him to take breaks!!   He works alone, fast, and hard and I could barely keep up.  We didn't have a dumpster or any plan since it was such short notice.  But I'm not complaining - it's done.  Here he is on the last few nails after cleanup, and my fire with the only two larger pieces on top of the burning smalls.  This pile was only 1 hour into the work, and we worked for 6 hours.  Before someone asks, no we don't roast lambs here - we don't eat babies including veal.  He put the carpeting back down over the plywood and it's ready for the new floor.  Furniture is back and most of the "stuff" from the room is somewhere - not sure where - don't really care.

I am sucking down the Advil again today and almost fully recovered but I have to say - I really felt my age.  My wrist brace made it more difficult and my sore leg didn't help either.  But there's nothing wrong with a little hard work and aches are only temporary.  He'll be back to remove the ash floor in the kitchen and put down whatever we decide throughout.  I want pine.  No one agrees. 

I had a wonderful surprise as I dragged my butt to the mailbox.  Penny was so sweet to send me some strawberry corn!!  Thank you again Penny!!  I plan on making a garland. 

I also forgot to mention in the last post that the flexible cutting mat for the kitchen can be used in place of Mylar if you can't find a nice piece. It's much heavier but still flexible.  I tried it for a colonial style sewing bag/pouch but being so flexible, it didn't keep the larger piece's top edge from bending when hung from its straps.  Usually I slip the bottom of a wire hanger or a small diameter dowel rod in the top edge to hold it open and flat.  That works great. 

A few stitchers have stitched my pear!   The first one is here -eefsneedle. 

The second is found here - jubama. She used Crescent Colours.   Love the photos and both used a real stem.  I'm so glad to see these and am happy you like the design.  It's a quick stitch! 

 I'll end on this observation ~ really~ where did the phrase "worked my ass off" come from because in 61 years, it's never happened.  It seems to hang lower and get wider with every job, but it doesn't appear to be leaving.  Just curious.

Hope you're enjoying your weekend.  I appreciate your visit and have so many new blogs to check out!    Don't forget - if you want the pink supplies, please let me know in a comment on this post.  I'll draw a name next Friday at 9pm.

Stay safe and thank you so much for visiting!!

Mylar and Mary and a sticky solution

Hello to you! What a gorgeous day we're having in PA.
Sunny, breezy, warm, and colorful, with all those damn leaves. I'm having another ultrasound and mapping (fake tattoo!) for the left leg in preparation for the second zap surgery next Tuesday. With wearing the compression stockings, I found a new product. It's called "It Stays!" and you may already know about it, but it is a skin glue for holding up the compression hosiery. Well it works on just about anything apparel related. It's very tacky, clear, and easily removed with water yet holds very well and stays flexible. I decided to try it on my sling backs that keep falling off my heels and it worked great. A few swipes inside the strap held it on, and also worked on an annoying bra strap. Keeping a camisole from gaping open, spaghetti straps, men's socks, trouser socks, you name it. Great great product sold where you'd find compression stockings. On to Mary.

I'm making progress on the bottom area and have the people and a few birds and small motifs before moving back into the verse. I changed the birds from ecru to 3768 and the lions from the 316 (mulberry!) to gold 680. I plan on repeating that bird blue in the bottom design and I think the verse's lighter blue will work nicely so it will remain that shade. It seems that adding the darker blue into this area will really pull it all together. I'm glad I moved to the bottom because it really brought the piece's colors into perspective for me. Without seeing that area stitched, I think I would still be changing the verse's color. Not sure which blue I will use to complete the upper alphabet. 

Now on to the Mylar. It's great for ornaments that you don't want too puffy, or don't want to mount to board backing with the gluing and trims involved. It works for any small project, except usable pincushions. If you want a stiff unbendable ornament, mylar isn't it since it is very flexible. For those, the styrofoam or mat board is still a good option to slip inside.

Here's the steps I use when choosing to "insert plastic"! Trace and cut slightly smaller than the finished piece, bend to insert. You can bend it back to being flat if it develops a little curve. Make sure it is fit and not too large or it will make the entire piece bend.

Slip it in against the fabric with the seam allowances on the back side of the mylar so they don't show through the front if you're not adding batting. I chose to add fill - cut it to fit, slid it in on the front side, decided to add another piece to the back of the mylar, and you can see the difference between just the mylar and the two additions of batting. It's very soft and pliable but still holds shape.

  

So there she is. Slightly puffy, nicely smooth from the fusible interfacing, and not distorted because of filling.

I'm done. Gotta get moving.

Have a great evening, thank you for visiting!

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A little freebie for your kindness

Hiya!!  First off - I still hate the new Reading List in Blogger - too much text! I have so many blogs in there and if they would enter just the new post title, the list would have room to show all the new posts without clicking and scrolling multiple pages.  I think I'm missing quite a bit. Finally found that clicking on the orange "g" in top left will take me back to the dashboard.
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I've been having giveaways but still feel it's not enough for all the support I receive.  So yesterday I worked up a little pear design and stitched it for you.  This morning after a much needed haircut (I swear I lost 3# after the cut), I sewed the little bugger together. 

 As you know, I love pear shapes.  I'm considering designing one a month for you of different sizes.  But please don't count on it!  A forgetful procrastinator cannot be relied upon.  I haven't stuffed this yet and am thinking of using the Mylar inside with fleece, not batting.  I already used a mid-weight interfacing but haven't decided yet on a final fill.   I love the colors on this.  I used a piece of rolled wool for the stem and green felt for the leaf. 

These shapes are not easy for me to sew, mainly because of my lack of preparation and patience.  I just follow the outline of the stitching about an inch out, and then turn it right side outside 40,358 times to add or remove a few stitches here and there. 

Making a template would cut that time down one quarter, but I am a putz and always think I'll get it right the first time.  There are two things that help me with this shape, and also for heart designs.  After stitching, I fold in half matching the stitches on each side to see where the shape needs tweaking.   This can go on for quite a while so I use basting stitches on the sewing machine until the sides match. 

Once I have the shape to my fusspot satisfaction, I sew the seams with a regular stitch and use pinking shears.  I trim away the rounded bottom corners instead of clipping, well before the stitched seam ends, which gives me less bulk and a smoother bottom for hand sewing (or gluing) shut.  Nothing is trimmed until I'm sure there will be no more tweaking.  So there you have it.  You should be able to click on the photo and right click to save, or print from there.    I hope you like this design.  And thank you again for your concern over my wrist, for your support of my "style", and for taking time to visit with me.  Much appreciated!!! 
Welcome to new followers - hope you will enjoy your visits!