Good grief. Linen. Again.

Hello people.  I'm having a bit of a stash fit.  For a few days, I've been trying to organize the mess in the room where my charts and supplies are kept.  I've done this before.  And before that.  But nothing changes!  I keep sorting and folding and rolling and putting the material back in the drawers.  Half of if is mystery linen that I've bleached and dyed, much of it is soft and silky, and some are new pieces gifted to me or purchased that I love.  Is it a sin to burn linen?   I made a small pile of bad dye jobs, flimsy see through pieces, and small counts, and topped it off with my lighter.  The way I was told to check a piece of fabric to see if it is wool or a blend, was to take a match to a corner.  If it curls up and melts, it's not natural fabric/wool.  Then why did some of this linen melt? 

I have it narrowed down to several bags by counts, which on some is just a guess.  Is this the right way to find the count?  I go over and under every two threads and then measure.  What's the easiest way?

 

 

 

  

 

  Here's the results after the fire.  But I was missing my yardage from Scarlet Letter.  Unbleached and Golden Streak.  And where were all the larger pieces?  I forgot that I have two boxes, one holding larger charts and one for smalls, many with the linen.

 

 

I think my option right now is to box the pieces I don't plan on using and store them in a place I will never remember.  Can't put it behind the TV.  But at least I won't be sorry that I pitched it all.  There isn't much difference between 28 and 30, but I still prefer 30 or 32 and 3/4 of the pieces are 28.  I'm hoarding some smaller pieces of fabulous colors in 35/36, and look forward to using them.  So not only do I have a problem cutting into a yard or large piece of linen, I can't let go of the outcasts. 

 

 I started on book 88 and cut eight pieces from a 14 x 18 piece of 32 count and I love it.  Great texture and heft.  I will finish the first one this evening.   

Not many were interested in the santa charts so I just chose a name and will send those off tomorrow.

As I'm typing this, a headline is glaring from the nearby newspaper.  I don't bring up things like this, but I'm getting sick of these types of findings, and this disgrace was committed to VETERANS.  I am livid.

"A two month Pittsburgh Tribune-Review investigation found Veterans Administration workers or contractors committed 14,215 privacy violations at 167 facilities from 2010 through May 31, victimizing at least 101,018 veterans and 551 agency employees.  Some had photos of their anatomy posted on social media; others had their stolen IDs used to make fraudulent credit cards." 

How many do you think will lose their jobs?  None.  Never do.  You won't even hear about it on the network news.  Just move them somewhere else.  I think the government should stay shut down and start paying firms where employees are supervised, have consequences to actions, enough work to keep them busy so they don't have time for this garbage, and the managers in charge of them can also be fired.

I was going to leave you with a photo of cat #4 but I'm too angry now.  I think I'll grab some linen and a lighter.

Thanks for visiting. 

 

Santas anyone?

Good day.  I have two tips today for menodistracted minds.

First - when you are at the bank's drive thru, and the teller says "thank you, have a nice day", don't drive away.  Wait until the tube spits out your money.

 

Second - if you remove your shirt so you don't get paint on it, but you're still wearing your neck warmer, don't let it trick you into thinking you are clothed.  Stay in the house until you put the shirt back on.

 

I would like to do a few Santas and had to go into my Prairie Schooler library to get the charts.  Most of the Santa charts are duplicates and I'm wondering why I can't find the extras.  Then I remembered that I had a giveaway and sent out #62, 80, and 88.  So did I have three originally?  I don't know.  I decided on book 88, but that may quickly change.  On 28 count, the ornaments would be a little too large for my tree, but I don't have a large enough piece of 32 in a lighter tan for the entire book.  I don't like to mix fabric in a series.  So the cream piece will be dyed today since I have no idea what the linen colors will look like if I place an order.  There is a lot of the thick weave 32 count that I dyed, but I can't stitch on it.  It needs to go. Looking at some smaller pieces of 35/36, has me confused.  They are still marked from the shop so the count is correct, but some look SO tiny and tight, not like the one I just worked on.  Such a hassle for SWAS (stitchers without a shop).  

Back to Santa. I found these Sew Fine Olde Santas, Collections 1 through 7.  Anyone interested?   One offer for all of them, not individually.  I will never stitch these because of the color changes and details.  The charts are large and very easy to read, but it's not my type of stitching any longer so if someone would like them, leave a comment.  More than one, I'll draw a name this week.  Free, except for international shipping which would be close to $8.   I'm loading up the photos for you because I didn't find all of these old 1980's charts online for you to see.

 Stitch counts 63x93 and 59x93                        84x82 and 57x84

 

Stitch counts 49x102 44x88                          57x100 and 56x91

 

Stitch counts 60x87 and 51x87                   65x105 and 63x97

Betty's name or the shop's stamp is on some of them but the insides are fine, never used.  I think you can click on the photos for a larger view or check EBay since they usually have them.

Stitch count 48x91 and 39x91

 

Hope you have an enjoyable weekend, in this, the MIDDLE OF OCTOBER!!!

Can't believe how fast time is flying.

Thanks for visiting!!!

 

 

 

 

The winner and another little finish

Hi all.  First off, I need to clear up a misunderstanding, that is my fault.  In the post before the offer, I mentioned that I would be offering the charts.  In the offer post, I didn't specifically state that it was the charts, not the samplers that I was offering.  I did mention about using your own colors but it was my fault for not being specific.  It's the charts.  I held my breath when Random was choosing a number because if it was the samplers that the winner was expecting, I would have to say good-bye to these babies.   Believe it or not, the name scramble and then number, came out to be the very first entry - Helen.  Whew!  She mentioned in her entry that she would love to win the sampler CHARTS!!  Helen, I need your address and I will get these in the mail to you.  Have fun with your color choices.  Thanks to everyone for participating.

Now my other little finish. 

I'm sorry I didn't follow the design exactly, but I was constantly interrupted or distracted and made so many errors, that I changed the spacing to accommodate them.  I love this design.  Thank you Eszter!  The colors I used ...

DMC 3857, 3011, 3021, 830, 831(or 3829) - can't remember and I have floss bags everywhere.  My border is only one row instead of the three charted, and I may go back and add them before finishing. 

I bought two Scarlet Letter samplers on Ebay today.  Both buy-it-now and I grabbed them as soon as I got the notice.

Mary Elliot and Sally Hunt.  Scarlet Letter still has my favorite piece, Hannah Breed, which you can see here.  There are many that I consider favorites, but she is at the top. 

I bought a few odd color and shape pumpkins today and took a white knuckle ride to get our baseboard.  Need to pick that paint color quick.  Thanks for all your suggestions!  

To Jocelyn - In the peach recipe, you have to use the box of Jello labeled "cook and serve" and not "instant".

That's it.  I'm wiped out with another virus and the second part of the pneumonia shot I got today is throbbing and spreading under my arm and across my chest. 

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend.

Thanks for visiting!

 

Edited - Right after I published this post, I read that Cathey has passed.  I am so upset and angry I could rip down my walls. 

 

The next little sampler - and it was free

Greetings. I've mentioned before about the Eszter's blog Sub Rosa, her wonderful designs, and her generosity in offering her talent.

This little piece is 81 x 66, Harriot Simpson was 83 x 66, and being almost exactly the same, I decided to choose it as the next project.  My criterion for new projects never really makes sense. You can find the chart here.  The pages take forever to load on my computer, but it's well worth the wait.  IE kept shutting down and the laptop almost ended up outside.  Scroll down to the labels column on the right, and click on "free" to browse several pages of really nice charts.  To purchase her patterns for sale on the left, click on the photo for her email and instructions.  The Google translate bar doesn't always show up for me - so I right clicked and chose Bing translator.

 

 Can you see the marks from removed stitches on the left where I messed up the border placement?  I'm using some of my favorite colors as I go along without deciding on which until I get there.

 

 

Gotta get busy!  Just thought I would show you another small sampler for a quick stitch.  

 

One of my favorite dinners, the beef short ribs recipe, is in the crock pot and smelling divine!

 

 

 

Thanks for visiting!

O f f er with Peaches and Cream

Hiya.  I'm in a pickle here.  I couldn't leave well enough alone and tried to work on the drywall seams and ceiling patch a little more, which turned into a lot more, because the ceiling paint was the first beige I tried and it's all gone.  I forgot!  The walls were several shades mixed together and is lighter and different, so now the ceiling has to be repainted instead of touched up.  We won't even get into how this small patch turned into a quarter of the ceiling.

 

So here's the o f f er.  Since these samplers are so little, I'm offering both in one drawing.  I changed a few colors to show up better, stitched the birds in blue, and you can have fun mixing your colors, or follow the original.

The counts are ..... oh crap.  Where the hell are they?  Wait.  I'll be back.

 

Found them.  What a stupid place to put them so I wouldn't lose them.  Anyway,

H. Kessel is 82 x 91 so 28 count would be around 6 x 6 1/2"

(their design measurement is wrong in the chart), 

Harriot Simpson is 83 x 66, on 28 count around 6" x 5". 

 I did mine on 35 count so they are much smaller.  My first attempt on that count with one thread, and I like it!  Leave your entry on this post (anonymous please leave initials).  Thursday at 8pm will be the deadline, unless only one person is interested.  I may not post again until then because I really have to stay off this computer and get things in gear.  I haven't been reading blogs and am missing quite a bit anyway but a few days unplugged is necessary. 

Now....

Here is the out-of-this-world-good peach recipe.  I'm not a big cinnamon fan but this combo is divine. You can change the 1/2 teaspoon to a little more if you really like cinnamon. I made it into a .jpeg so you can right click to print if you want, and I'll add it to the other blog of recipes.  I used to make a Peach Kuchen that included a quart of heavy cream and fresh peaches.  Brought me to my knees. 

That's all I got.  Back to the joint compound and sander.

Have a safe and stitchy week!

Thanks for visiting and don't forget to leave your name if you'd like the samplers.

 

 

 

H. Kessel

Hi everyone.  Hope your weekend is off to a great start.  I just finished H. Kessel and wanted to show you what a bad girl I was. 

 

Not only did I change a few colors, I added a few, and put them wherever I pleased! 

I'm really busy today, but couldn't wait to pin her to a pumpkin.  I think both of these smalls will be pouches of some sort, but who knows when I'll get it to that.

 

 

 

 In a few days, maybe even tomorrow, I will offer these two little sampler charts and if more than one request, will make it a giveaway.  Details in the next post.

 

 

 

 Also, the elderberry pie was replaced with Peach Dream.  This easy and luscious recipe will be posted too.

 

 

Gotta run.  Have a great weekend!

 Thanks for visiting.