Great balls of Valdani

Greetings.  It's freezing, gloomy, rainy, like a switch was turned off after the 90 degree temps.  We're not getting things accomplished as we had planned on his week off of work, but managed a white knuckle ride to Mercer PA for my first visit to The Gallery.  It's a quilting shop with machines, parts, accessories, kits, lots of fabrics, specialty items, and I saw my first ball of Valdani.  Nice.  Very nice.  I planned on checking a few punch needle designs and making a trip back for needed colors.  After visiting their website, I realized not all balls are the same.  Just as other companies, there is pearl cotton in 12, 8, 5, 3-ply matte cotton floss for punchneedle, and 6 strand floss skeins.  Now what?  So I called and found that their balls are pearl cotton, mostly the finer #12, 108 yards, and $6.  I would prefer starting with the 3-ply.

This punchneedle heart was found on Pinterest and I can't locate the source to give credit or ascertain the designer.  Love it.  I have several of Lori's designs and watched her video tut, but I'm not sure if now is a good time to try something new, adding to my pile of things I'm not accomplishing.

I bought a few new fabrics that I hadn't seen at the smaller shop I visit.   I have a thing for script fabrics and sort of hoard them.  When I really like a fabric, I hate to cut it and use it, the same as I feel about a yard of linen.  A quirk or serious fabric disorder? 

They also carry Sullivan brand of floss, and explained to me that it is long-staple and colorfast, whereas DMC is now short-staple and not colorfast in every shade.  So I came home with one skein to compare. 

There is a slight difference in appearance of a single strand, which separated much easier than the DMC.  In each photo, DMC is top and Sullivan bottom.  Hardly noticeable by eye, but closeup, you can see the thicker twist which I think would be better for the dreaded over one stitches.  The first photo is loose, and the second slightly stretched.  When I ran my nail along the strand, the DMC frayed a little and the Sullivan did not.  It's too bad I have at least 3 DMC in every color, but my next visit I will purchase Sullivan for a project and test it.

This house mess has had me ishkabobbled for a while, and then the accident kind of wiped out three weeks of the end of summer.  A few designs have been roaming in the noggin, I'm trying to work out the labels on the new printer, line up people to complete the house projects, stitch when I can, bitch about the end of summer, worry about upcoming tests, and be thankful I can do all that.  There is a young mom with an adorable baby whose blog I recently found, that is dealing with the unimaginable.  She is always on my mind.

 

The heat pack is on, the Advil is chewed, and I'm hoping for some serious stitching tonight.  Wishing you a peaceful and safe weekend, enjoying your family and the little pleasures we take for granted.

Thanks for visiting.

 

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On the road again

Hi.  How are you on this date that we will never forget?  Can you watch the video and be any less stunned than you were the first time you saw it?  I can't.

 

 The queen bee is back in the bumble bee car.  It looks pretty darn good!

I'm also back on the linen again.  Not much...little at a time....but I finished the top except for the satin border, and started on the script alpha bottom.  I will complete the border flowers as the final stitches.  Numbness is better at times and I thank all of you for your concern and best wishes.

I am still trying to organize and reduce stash and craft supplies, but I have several of these lap throws that are heavy wool and want to keep them for projects.  Problem is, I've never dyed wool plaid and have no idea how it would turn out.  Darker all over would be the expected result but I don't know how prominent the plaid will be. I will find out soon enough.

My Gingher nippers came in and I love playing with them.  They stay in the palm of your hand while your other crooked fingers can still maneuver the fabric, then a quick snip of thread, and back to sewing.  I guess most quilters would use these when sewing the patchwork together, but I'll be using them any time I am at the machine.  So tired of searching under the fabric for the little scissors. 

I don't think Nitzy will ever catch on.

Can you believe how fast September is moving?  Coming up on the middle of the month's weekend.  Did you ever clean throw rugs with a power washer?  Works pretty neat!!  We still have quite a bit to do this week, but I will be checking out some new charts, especially Nash's.  Love 'em.

Enjoy and stay safe ~ thanks for visiting!

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Playing in my sink again

Hey.  What's happening?  Did you have a good weekend?  Mine was fairly productive with labels and dyeing.  I've decided that spending hours of my time on an extensive variety of labels is not smart.  I should have learned by now, as with the tags, that some designs are much more popular while others have no orders at all.  So I am limiting the choices.  But which?  My favorites are never the best sellers so I guess I should pick the opposite.

There were a few unframed samplers hidden in my house mess that I tried to use, and decided to dye.  Yep.  I thought I was done but I still have a few bottles of Rit so..... 

 This one was a strong yellow/gold so I tried the Pearl Gray on it which is in powder form.  There is always one tiny speck that doesn't dissolve, usually red, and it ends up on the piece, never to be removed which is why I much prefer the liquid (not available here in the gray).  It happened again but the speck is on the very edge and won't be seen.  The gray and black dyes create a purplish reddish cast in the water when you only mix a small amount so why this gold piece became green is a mystery.  That's why it is best to check a corner or small scrap first.  The original dye in the linen could react differently????  I decided to drain the sink and try a little black which has a slightly different reddish cast than the gray (red and green = brown) hoping to remove the green.  It worked.  Beautiful natural brown color.  Whew.

Notice the floss has toned down but hasn't really changed.   Scary isn't it?  Using such a small amount would not change the piece drastically, but you never know the outcome and you probably think I'm RECKLESS to be doing this to a finished piece. 

Why, yes I am.

Did get a little stitching in and hope to continue this evening.

I always avoided road trips because of my neck condition and now, with the accident making it worse, I really want to get a brace for wearing in a car.  Maybe that isn't necessary and it will never happen again, but am I willing to chance it?  Only with linen baby!!

Added note....if you have tests done and don't hear from your doctor afterward, don't assume it's because they were fine.  I insisted my husband call for his results and good thing we did.  One doctor obviously never checked the report, the other never received it, and the numbers require attention. 

Tomorrow will be 90 degrees and then drop to 60's by Friday.  Mark is off this week and we have lots of things to do, but I will sit my butt on that swing tomorrow until it's as numb as my arm.   I want to enjoy the atmospheric hot flash which will probably be the last one this year. 

Thanks for visiting!  Enjoy your day.

 

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Eliza's posture

Hello all.  It's Saturday and sunny.  But unmistakably an early fall.  My flowers have not been doing well so into the woods they went, and all the pots for recycling.  We finally have a place to take items up through 7 that is close!  But driving around this township, you can see that no one is bothering.  Well it bothers me.  All the water, soda, and milk plastics, glass, papers, cans, everything that could be recylced is sitting at the curb with the garbage. 

Much to my dismay, my numbness is progressing.  I can't feel the needle well enough to stitch, so I thought I would work on a few new labels for boxes.  I will be offering several soon that were made a while back and never paid for. 

One of the samplers I've been working on is Eliza.  She has so many nice sections to manipulate for boxes, and her yellow house has worked out well for the small rounds and the rectangular flats. 

While I was working on her, I realized that in a short time her top is already stretched and drooping.  I really don't mind since I've seen photos (thank you Pinterest) of antiques that are hanging like her.  My husband still thinks she should be framed and I disagree, but in case I ever do, I felt the top should be stabilized.  Usually I use heavy fusible interfacing or a strip of Mylar, but decided to try Buckram this time.  I dampened the linen, adjusted it back to a straight edge, and pressed.

 Just one row of machine stitching behind the fold.  I won't have to do anything but remove a basting stitch if mounted for framing and if not, it's probably a good idea anyway because of her length and weight.

I've never used this before but because it's so stiff, I'm thinking it may be better than the fusible.  Eliza's posture is good now! If I waited until it was stretched even more, I wonder if the linen could have rebounded to its original position.

 My worker has not showed up to complete the drywall for two weeks now, so I put the final coat on myself and hopefully he can come this week to sand it so we can move along with painting.

My car will be coming home this week too. 

Enjoy your weekend and stay safe.

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Lost and found

Good day all.  Can you believe we're over the hump in the first week of September?  Uh-oh.  The 5th.  Today is my anniversary and we both forgot!  Well, after 43 years and a house in disorder with rearranging schedules to share a car, it's understandable.  A Dairy Queen chocolate rock sundae tonight! 

 Before I forget, Yankee Candle has a BOGO large candle offer until 9/8 that is not listed on their website.  You need the coupon to use in stores and that was sent by email, but if you order online or call (1-877-803-6890) and use the code FALL, you can get a free large for every large you purchase.  Great for Christmas gifts and only $5 shipping, free over $100.

I had my camera on my wrist after snapping the brats, and in my frustrating search, kept clicking.  I think I was assuming that reviewing the photos would reveal the items' whereabouts.  It was cold and I wanted to grab a pair of socks, but couldn't find them.  Why?  My furniture is wearing most of them.

 

So I went upstairs and checked another drawer for the fuzzies, grabbed a pair while holding two boxes I planned on finishing. Don't forget the TP for the bath downstairs. Hmm.  I thought I had the boxes.  Must not have grabbed them - check the cupboards.  Nope.  How about here?  Nope.  Have a few pieces of chocolate while you're looking.

 

 

 

 

 

 So get another box and start over instead of wasting more time.  Hmm.  Feels a little heavy - must have a smaller box inside.

 So this is where the GPS cord has been hiding for a year.  YAY!!!  I'm going to put it in hub's car and tell him it was there all along.

  Now where are the little Friend pillows I stitched a few weeks ago and have not seen since?  Caswell Massey had the best lavender scented soap on earth, and I wanted to get a few bars for gifts.  Not the same as it was years ago.  Very disappointed, but being very fragrant, I like to put stitchery in the box to grab the scent.  So I did.  But kept checking and they weren't there. 

 After throwing the lid in frustration, I see this.  The damn things were stuck in the top of the lid so every time I peeked inside to get what I KNEW I put in there, I couldn't see them.

(Note the empty Dove wrappers)

And where are the labels I printed for orders?  Wasting more time searching so just reprint.  After doing just that, I needed my recipe book for mom's rice pudding, couldn't find it, but when I needed the drywall trowel to add another coat, there was the recipe book with the printed labels beneath.  Why????

Printing them again was a good thing, because as I picked up the new *$#@ printer and slammed it back down, I saw this peeking out.  My floss guide that I've been searching for to check on this.  Big difference.

  

So even though I had a very frustrating day of searching, I found several things in the process.  A good day!  But where were those boxes and the pair of socks I grabbed?  After a shower, I went into the closet for lotion, and saw them sitting on the attic access steps.  I must have set them there when I grabbed the roll of TP!  A day of mysteries, all solved.

 

The End.

Nippers vs. scissors

 

Hello people.  I have a sweatshirt on again!  It should warm as the day progresses so I will try to enjoy outdoors as much as I can.   Some of us have already changed over to a dull wintry gray, but some of us youngins' won't give in!

 

I only have a few more stitches before I am finished with this page and on to the bottom half.  My progress...

My little cheap plastic snips have become my scissor of choice.  With enlarged joints and an arthritic thumb, not struggling to remove them from the loops is great. I know some are made for big girl joints, but these are a joy to use. 

 

Years ago I watched Nancy Zieman's show and she always had Gingher's nippers with the loop in her hand.  Haven't seen them offered in years but I checked Amazon and voilà! 

I found it and ordered.  The loop is to slip on the ring finger which allows you to hold the snips in hand while sewing at the machine and always have them ready.  Wal-Mart also has them online - Gingher nippers - $14.33.  You probably already have them, have seen them, don't like them, or don't care.  But I thought I would mention it anyway.

I had one hell of a day yesterday in my lost and found department but relaying the details would be a long post, so I'll hold it for another day.

Nitzy still eating from the wrong side, and the lovers still necking.

  

Enjoy your day!
Thanks for visiting.


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