Hoopla!

Boy when I get something in my head it just rolls and rolls and bugs the crap out of me until I settle it.  I have so many things to do this morning and I'm searching for hoops.  First off, my trip to the attic was a safe success.  This is it - the standard quilting/embroidery stand.

 

And this is what we plan on doing to it.  I can't get it close enough to me on the sofa so we'll try what I have typed in the photo's bottom.  It may make it tipsy but I don't think so.  We'll leave a space to allow the top to move freely without binding on the bottom.

 

 

While searching online I found lots of options for the type I want - sit on it.  I saw some really nice ones but can't see how they would be secure just resting on my lap and I don't use a table.  Do not like this one because the clamp is over the hoop, and to tighten it enough to hold it from moving, the linen would be pressed.  But you have the option of using any hoop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here are the two I found (other than some international beauties), both with 10" hoops.

Lacis is online with JoAnn (coupon applies) and Nordic Needle also.  Another brand name is also used but it appears to be the same piece.  I like the way the hoop is attached but I would probably sit on it between my legs instead of the side.  Depending on how big my thighs get, the hoop may not reach my lap.  The dowel goes into the stand and can be turned to the angle you prefer before tightening.  There should be other hoop sizes available to slide into the base but I haven't found them yet.  Edit - just found them here in 12" and 14".
 

The second is handmade on Etsy from Kenhoops.  Both can be adjusted for height but Ken's gives you more stability and angles. The base is heavier and wider, works with table or sitting.  With the wing nut on the hoop, I think other sizes could be adapted and countersunk to accept the bolt.  But will the wood on the arm right beneath the hoop edge be in the way?  Nah.  Pull the stitching down toward the center.

 

MISSY!!!!

 

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I need a small!

Certainly not in clothing size, but in stitching size.  I've made enough errors in the border while continuing Ann to realize I need to calmly set her aside for a bit.  Sally Fiske was back at home plate and while working on her once again, I started wondering what I could do to help with the arthritic hands.  That's a huge piece of fabric to be rolling and holding.  I've seen a few videos and comments on blogs about using a hoop while still utilizing the sewing method of stitching.  My desire to stab and jab only surfaces for rotten people.  I have two frames...wait...did I give the big one away?  I have a very heavy wooden hoop....wait...did I give it away?  I have a very large oval hoop on a floor stand for quilting, in the attic, unless I gave it away.  Am I the only one losing her mind?  Do you doubt yourself more and more?  Can you still get up from a chair without looking for something to push off of or grab on to?  Why is everything on my body getting bigger and looser except my esophagus which is shrinking?  I'm sorry.  Got off course.

 

On Patricia's Stitching Samplers blog, her July 9 post featured a video of a stitcher using the sewing method while hooping it.  Methinks it's possible!  There's hoop for me yet.  So now I will tear the house apart looking for the fricking frames and hoops that may be long gone.  I do believe the quilt stand hoop is still in the attic because I surely would have remembered the fall when trying to bring it down.  Since Sally is such a large piece of linen, it may fit in that monster.  If I could still do my stitching method, what a blessing this would be to not have hand cramps.  And with both hands free, I could help direct the needle to the right spot from beneath.  Does blood wash out of linen?  If this doesn't work, I need a small.  Quick.  I don't even know if I have any that weren't previously stitched OR that I gave away.  I'm going up to the attic now.  Hope to be back soon and not on the injured list.

 

Have a good Monday!!

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Should it stay or should it go

Greetings stitching buds.  The sun is out today and will also be tomorrow.  Yay!  Almost half of July gone, Kraynak's is putting up the shelves for the Christmas items, Pat Catan's is a sea of orange and brown for fall,  sweaters were on racks at Macy's....I'm not going into any more stores for a while.  Not only for that reason, but they must have changed sizing again because the last two increases I was forced to buy are now even smaller.  It didn't matter how high I jumped, my ass would not go down into those pants.  I think they're using shorter zippers. Those big girl underwear that I had to buy last year?  The elastic screamed until the little threads broke. 

 

Do you always stitch from your chart or do you follow the chart photo?  I'm a visual stitcher and like to follow the photo on smaller pieces.  If I don't color the chart's graph, I waste a lot of time even though I use markers and guides.  For Ann, I had the photo in the Magma's pocket and wasn't seeing it often, but when I pulled it out last night was disappointed.  I should have been looking at it because I prefer the flower and birds in the photo to the chart.

 

 Will I remove it all and start the flower over?  Haven't decided yet and since the initials on each side don't interfere with spacing, I have time.  I like the look of a more primitive sampler so maybe it will stay.  When the bottom is completed, then I'll know what to do.  Something tells me it will stay and maybe just the birds will be redone. 

 

We are still having problems with Yellow Cat, another fight last night.  And we've seen a new very thin tortoise color, small, possibly female, hiding in the woods.  This is getting ridiculous.  In town there are loads of strays and everyone is seeing more and more in the suburbs too.  What a shame.  My brother has another groundhog he's feeding.  The goofy thing runs up the driveway whenever the screen door shuts and actually gets on Ron's shoe for food. 

 

I plan on enjoying the weather this weekend, slathered in bug spray, before the storms return.  I have dryer sheets everywhere so strong that I get a headache but mosquitoes are not deterred.  Tried everything but ended up with the spray on my clothing.  ThermaCELL is a fabulous device and truly works, great for setting out during outdoor festivities.  It takes 15 minutes to warm up (it gets hot!) before creating the 15'x15' bug barrier zone, doesn't work well if you're walking or it's windy.  They even have lanterns with lights for camping.  The only drawback is having to replace the butane cartridges and scent pads, but still worth it when bugs are this bad. Did I ever tell you that my uncle was the second person to die in MN from West Nile virus (mosquito bite)?  They didn't even know what he had until it was too late.  Did I ever tell you that I jumped into a pool in FL and pulled out a baby from the bottom that no one was watching?

 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Cloudy with a chance of rain

Really?  Here we go again!  Are you overheated and dried up or waterlogged and chilly?  Is there anyone in between?

This little fence sitter looks like she's guarding the yard...

 

 

 but obviously not.  Finally had some blooms on the geraniums and the sweet potato vines (which love water) were enormous.  Hmph.  Is that how you spell that sound you make while blowing air out like a snorting deer?  Since I was feeding the 4 mama deer all afternoon in the backyard, this must have been the fawns sneaking around the front.  The little buggers are running and playing all over the place.  Must have been in the garage too because the corn is everywhere, and these flowers were at the garage door. 

 

 

My stitching has been frustrating.  I am a stitcher of letters.  Flowers and motifs that require constant chart checking make me nuts.  I am a sloppy stitcher, carry over threads too far, and go up down and sideways.   Therefore, the corners of the crosses are pulled one way or another depending on the wrong turn my needle is taking.  Adding another color is a crap shoot because it may split that stretched corner thread, go beneath it, over it, any way it can to get into that little hole.  Do I care?  No.  So sad.  I know I should but I don't.  Such  a relief that I don't like the fancy elegant samplers because they wouldn't be when I was done with them.  Just because I like reproduction or primitive style that is missing stitches, misaligned, misspaced, misbalanced, mismatched, misspelled, doesn't mean my stitches should be misshaped.  I made an effort this time to prevent that.  Didn't last very long but still doesn't look too bad. 

If I would have studied the chart before starting, I would have seen that the lightest color is in the large flower, not the one in the border flowers.  All that time wasted on changing to the 758 and it's not even in the flower.  Thought for sure it would be since it was with the red in the border. 

 

A few other things - I still can't figure out messaging and answering on Facebook.

 

If you ever want to search a blog to find a particular finish, recipe, or tip, use the search box at the top left of any Blogger blog.  It's word specific but still quicker for me to use.

 

And.... I didn't stitch that wallet.  Our favorite wallet gal Ann did. 

 

Remember the It Stays roll-on that glues your sling backs and keeps your straps in place?  I bought a new bottle and loaned it to Carole since her split neck blouse kept drooping.  Worked great but she can't remember where she put it.  Don't you hate when that happens?

 

Hope your week is going well. 

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Onion sauce correction

I thought there was missing something!  Obviously there are two sauces, one is sweet onion and that's what I made.  Can't vouch for the other but it sounds good too.  I updated the recipe on the other post.  Instead of looking for my recipe note, I went to Food Network's site and thought it would be the same.  I plan on trying the original too - not sweet - more spice - but you know I prefer sweet!

Sweet Onion Sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced (or coarsely chopped)
2 Tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Add honey, chili powder and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water, the ketchup, hot sauce, salt and black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened and the onions are very soft. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature before serving.



Original Onion Sauce (Bobby Flay)
 

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced

2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup ketchup

1/4 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Stir in the chili powder and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute. Add 1 cup water, the ketchup, hot sauce, salt and black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened and the onions are very soft, adding more water if needed, about 25 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature before serving.

Color choice

Hello everyone.  How was your holiday weekend?  We had a nice time at Carole's and I made both pie and cake.  Couldn't get the elderberries out of my mind so out of the freezer they came and damn that pie was good.  So was the cake.  And I tried a new recipe for a hot dog topping that we loved.  I found it in Food Network's magazine.

 



 



Sweet Onion Sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 large onions, halved and thinly sliced
2 Tablespoons honey

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup ketchup

1/2 teaspoon hot sauce

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium/low heat. Add the onions and cook until soft, about 15 minutes. Add honey, chili powder and cinnamon and cook for 1 minute. Add 1/2 cup water, the ketchup, hot sauce, salt and black pepper and bring to a simmer. Cook until thickened and the onions are very soft. Transfer to a bowl and let cool to room temperature before serving.

 

Next time I will coarsely chop the onion instead of slicing.  To me, just easier to eat.  There is a grilled pepper relish that goes with it but the potato salad, baked beans, pie, and cupcakes were selfishly demanding all my time.  We were also using the cordless power drill with its very heavy battery pack, which was knocked off the counter, chipped the soapstone, landed in front of my left foot and then fell onto the right.  The one that is still painful and swollen.  And hard to believe, but the tiny little screws that hold the cupboard hinge, actually made marks when they fell 15" and landed on the soapstone.  They are as light as a potato chip!

 

So here's the color choice.  I followed the chart (316 used with the red) and didn't care for it, so the first change was to a similar shade, 3727.  Still not happy with it, so now it's either 754 or 758.  I preferred the 754 until I put the white paper behind it and now I see it's too light.  So if I wouldn't have posted this and added the white for the photo, I would not have seen that.  But I will probably line it with muslin, not white, so now I'm confused.  I better do 758 just to be sure.

 

We've had three days of sun.  I sure hope it continues.  Our June was a total washout.  Budman is enjoying the weather on his throne.  I had to move the potted flowers around because the deer were eating them.  The Vicks and mothballs aren't working now, maybe because of all the rain.

Hope your week gets off to a good start!

 

Thanks for visiting. 

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