Anna Eliza Abe

Hope everyone is fine and dandy.  Which rhymes with candy.  Chocolate.  Damn.

After aging the piece with the Ranger Archival ink pad and brush, I moved on to the backing.  The fabric was fine but I wanted a darker look (too lazy to get the walnut stain), so I turned the pad over and lightly moved it over the fabric. 

 

 

 

 

  

You can see the difference after inking.  Make sure it is dry before ironing.

I had extra fabric at the top of the sampler and decided to make a flap because the linen excess wasn't enough to save. 

  Using one piece of very thick quilt batting for the fill, I folded the backing fabric over the bat, folded the linen, and stitched it by hand on the edges.  In case I want to hang it, a piece of jute was laid in the top fold before turning down.  The corners are not stitched, just left a little opening for the jute to slide around and either be removed or added back later. 

So here she hangs after all the inking and with the sliding jute, front and back.

 

 

Wouldn't this finish be a nice idea if you wanted to personalize?  That flap can have the date, initials, sentiment, and not be a part of the design.  I personally don't like to date and initial but this way would be acceptable and I think a great idea.

 

The original sampler is wider and more rectangular, probably because of the linen weave.  I added the dividing band under the first line which isn't in the chart but in the photo, and made a few other changes by looking at them both.  I am considering this on Havana linen with 822 substituted for the pinks.  I can visualize it - I like it - but will I do it?

 

Got a room for the week in Cleveland with shuttle service to the Clinic, microwave and mini fridge in the room which will help with snacks and meals. 

 

That's all I got!  Taking Carole to the lab soon and her driveway can double as a luge training track so wish us luck.  If you don't make the curve coming down the ridiculously steep hill, you go head first over the eight foot straight down bank.  Freezing rain between the snowfalls has made such a thick layer of ice and it can't be scraped off.

 

Thanks for visiting!!

 

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Warm and fuzzy

Yes I am warm from hot flashes and fuzzy in my brain but I'm talking about wool!  Bought more.   Several minutes before midnight Sunday night, I decided to browse The Old Tattered Flag for more wool colors.  My goodness the wools were 20% off and I got in right under the wire, midnight to be exact.  If I had more time I would have ordered a bunch more but wanted to get the order in for the one day only sale.  When searching for something - can't remember what it was - I found my brother's Navy blankets.  I have one dark gray, one white, one green/brown, and another brown wool from the flea market.  Plus three plaid wool lap throws.  All are heavy and thick.  Originally I planned on donating them to the local men's shelter, but they wouldn't take them.  Now I'm glad they didn't.  A little Googling will produce the types of dyes suitable for wools and I can make a mess, something I have honed to an art form.

The visit with my cardiologist today was informative.  He not only noticed the weight gain, but when I mentioned the more frequent bursts of tachycardia and arrhythmias, he wanted to have the monitor on again.  After listening to me babble about the last few months (he's also Carole's doc) including what I've been eating, he looked at me in astonishment.  "You consume how many Dove a day?"  "Half a bag doc".   I felt the words leaving my scrawny lips and wanted to pull them back but it was too late.  It was like seeing slow moving words floating in mid-air but my arms weren't quick enough to grab them.  "Well, now wait a minute Doc - some days it's not exactly half a bag, it could be less."  A stern talk ensued, monitor was cancelled, and I left with my head hung in shame.  Who would have thought there is that much caffeine in those little squares?  "There isn't", he said, "but you don't consume squares you consume bags".  Instructions are to go to Aldi's, get the 70% dark cocoa bar and have ONE 200 calorie portion once a day.  Is there a Chocoholics Anonymous because I will need help with withdrawal.

 

I saw something on Pinterest from Bertie of Samplers&Buttons blog (now closed), and a pinner found the source.  I love the shape and idea and will chart one of my liking.  I'm not a buttons and bows type, more like rust and jute.  This design is from The Purple Thread and is available as a kit, called Sylvie's Penny Bag.  Since my Sampler Bag #1 was such a huge success (gag) would I even bother with #2?  Maybe.  I still have those charts printed and may offer #1 again to get rid of them.

 

Anyway, the snow has stopped, the cold temps are here, the cats are still in.  When I crush the catnip over them, they just roll and roll, gentle and happy.  But this morning I crushed to a powder and rubbed into the wool yarn balls and toys - Nitzy has been bouncing off the walls ever since.  Mr. Yellow is still hanging around, interested in my spayed female, keeping Squeak away, and attacking the boys.  I guess February is mating season around here and hormones are high.  Neutered Bud and Nit don't roam, but they defend their territory with a vengeance and will get into a battle.  My sister has a little furbaby trying to stay warm in the window well but as soon as it sees her, gone.  When we pick her up for labwork today I will take some food and a weatherproof box, hopefully the little one will use both.

 

Be safe and well.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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It's starting

 

The snowstorm has begun. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When will it be finished?

 

 

 

  Not until sometime Monday, long after this finish which will be today.

Several emails about the cabbage and sausage soup so I posted it to the recipe blog here.

 

I can't get reservations at the ridiculously expensive (to me) hotel attached to Cleveland Clinic by a walkway for the end of February-they're booked.  I won't have a car.  Not only am I a wimp in traffic, if I got lost here looking for the Ford dealer can you imagine where I will end up if driving in downtown Cleveland!   Buffalo?  Chicago?

 

Stay safe. 

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My messy house!

Now I have two.  One in thread and one in person.  Wait.  Better make it three - add my sister's. 

 

I know many of you will cringe at this, but I did not want a perfect pink sampler.  I love the original, its messy house, and its stains.  Most of my reproductions are done as charted, stretched, framed.  The most recent have color changes, some design changes, a crunch for wrinkles, deliberate staining, hanging from horsehair braid.  Have I become a purist?  Are you kidding?  I don't care about authenticity or proper period style,  I like early and simple. 

I can always wash out the coffee or walnut to some degree, use a steam iron, mount, and frame.  But not now.  My last ten samplers would still be in a drawer waiting for a framer instead of on my wall.  The staining on Abe will be light, just enough to tinge the pink a shade or two darker.

 

I used more tension in some rows and very loose stitches in others.  I went over some areas, sliding the needle beneath a number of stitches and lifted.  I had to remove some tails beneath.

 

The original's linen color was similar to a piece I have, but I didn't like it.  Now I'm sorry my fabric isn't a little warmer. 

  Remember when I was bitching about the linen creases?  My yardage is from years ago and when I opened it to (AUGH!) cut a piece off, every crease in the unbleached fabric is light and permanent.  The dark unbleached is the easiest to touch up with the ink pad and a thin brush on the light lines, but I have washed, wet, steamed....no change in the crease.  It was stored in a roll but it was too long folded before that.  

 

Yesterday we had a little sun but cold temps.  I made the brats go outside for a while and Bud took his sentry post and rotated that head for an hour looking for Yellow Cat.  They have completely destroyed the five toy mice I bought them.

 

Freezing rain right now so I am stuck at home again.  Good day to make soup.  The one with Italian sausage, basil, cabbage, zucchini, white beans, tomatoes and carrots.  I shouldn't take me longer than an hour to find the recipe.

 

Not sure if I will be exercising today.  The piece of cartilage that broke off in my left knee from the fall, has moved to a bad spot and I can't even go up steps again.  Do not want surgery and will wait until it moves to a better spot!

 

Have a fabulous day.

 Thanks for visiting.

 

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Messy stitches

Hiya.  Hope you are safe and warm!  We got our share but not as much as the east.  Mark has 4 wheel drive so we waited for him to take us to the lab and run a few errands.  The main roads were fine but not the side streets.

 I found my error on Abe and now I am trying to replicate the antique with messy stitches.  It appears she went left to right in some areas and top to bottom in others.  Many are tight thin rows and others are loose.  The linen and its age are probably why it looks this way and I doubt if I can mimic its appearance.

 

 But I'm giving it a go.  Stitching in two different directions and changing my tension might work or it may end up looking ....well.... crappy.  Think it will work?   I'll find out soon enough.  But what a darling sampler.

 

The boys are double decking for warmth.  Squeak showed up again this morning, only the second time in a month.  I can see his tracks in the snow and think he is staying at a foreclosed mess on the street.  They are poisoning the coons and opossums to get rid of them but Squeak looks good.  They are all still afraid of Yellow Cat.

 

 

 

I shoveled by hand yesterday instead of using the blower and managed 20 minutes of the 30 minute Leslie DVD today.  Took me a while to recover and I won't push it, but I'll get there eventually.  Cardiologist on Monday - wait till he sees I've gained 30# since the last visit.

 

Stay safe!

Thanks for visiting.

 

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The heart box

Hey.  How you doing?  I was wrong when I thought we were going to miss the snowstorm.  Not as bad as other areas for sure, but still enough to create a problem.   If you're in it, stay safe and warm.  When I was young, we didn't have school closings unless we got two feet of snow.  In my area today, two inches and the doors are shut.  We didn't have buses either.

 

Remember my wooden heart box that I showed a while back?  Those quilt pattern designs would work very well on this, but I've decided to not attach a stitched piece to the top.  I don't mind using stitched pincushions but I think this will get more than the usual number of pin holes. 

After a lot of wasted time choosing, this is the fabric I decided on.  Well, two actually.  The same pattern, one a mid tone and the other a light neutral.  I want to attach the berries (treasures from a wonderful stitcher) and looked for an uncomplicated fabric. 

I'm having trouble with Abe.  I have counted and counted and the stitch numbers are correct, yet the house is over a little on the right compared to the chart.  The numbers are the same!  I want to make sure it's correct so the window placement fits properly.

 Carole heard from the Clinic and her surgery date is not until 2/25.  The surgeon has changed also from the TAVR procedure guy to the open heart cardiothoracic woman.  All appointments scheduled have been canceled since she saw this surgeon while there.  So unless the CHF takes over again, we are clear until the 25th.  Now I can schedule my procedures around her. 

 These cats are still in here and driving me nuts.  They play, but get antsy and jump the barrier.  All I see is a tail whizzing by.  I catnipped them to calm them down and well.... you get the idea.

Thanks for visiting.

Stay safe.

 

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