Santa sale info

If anyone is interested in purchasing any of the stitched pieces I am selling for a friend, please go to the For SALE tab under the header photo.  I've listed price and information and all the pieces for you to browse.  The sale will be through EMAIL only and start at 7pm EST on Sunday the 17th.  Any questions on size or backings, please don't hesitate to email (link at top right column).  Any errors you find, please let me know. 

It was hard for me not to buy them myself, and although she was an excellent stitcher, the uniformity surprised me.  It's the Aida.  How can you not have a nice stitch when the fabric prevents that tension I have trouble with?  They really do look great and compared to some of mine, I can see the big difference.  Would stitching on a higher count linen help me with that?  I believe it would. The lower the count the looser the weave the more opportunity for wonky stitches.

 

I just got a few new Land's End mock necks and even through the fleece jacket, these three holes appeared.

 

And if you look behind the brand new ruined shirt, you see the culprit.

 

Little brat.

 

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Adios Sally!

Hey!  How you doing?  Hope you're not having to deal with anything right now, but if you are, hoping you have support to get through it.  Have you ever sat quietly and recalled the difficult times in your life, some that you never thought you could handle?  But you did, and each struggle made you stronger.

I couldn't wait to post this, and while Mark is cooking sausage, bacon, peppers and onions for our scrambled egg and peppers subs, I am typing with greasy fingers.

Sally is over, done, complete, finished, concluded, ended!  I seriously doubt that she was the reason for the vengeful return of the flashes, but I am keeping fingers crossed.  I don't know where they are coming from now that things have calmed down.  So here she is.  A few changes, not many.

 

Some details....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

I bought several yards of the Dritz Flexible Boning at JoAnn's with my coupon for hanging.  Sally may end up framed because of her size, but for now, I removed one thread of linen for alignment, folded over and machine sewed a hem just enough for the boning, and slid it in.  I had to first press it with a medium hot iron over a heavy cloth to get the bend out since it is stored on a spool.  I've melted it before but was lucky this time.  If you cut it to size and leave it alone for a day or two it usually straightens itself and pressing isn't necessary.

 

 

 And that's the end of Sally Fiske.  Now I can finish listing the Santas for sale which will be under the new For SALE tab.  I think the sale will be Sunday and I will let everyone know a day before.

 

That's it for now!

 

Say good-bye to Sally.

 

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Flash in the pen

Flash in the pan is a phrase used for brief success that is not repeated.  Flash in the pen is when your hot flash radiates heat to your linen and makes your Frixion pen marks disappear.

 

 

 Working on the stem and satin to complete that vase and I'm switching stitches to meet my mood.  I can do the stem easily, but when a circle is to filled, should they follow the curves or be straight?  I did the ovals and then after outlining the bottom, filled it with satin.  No one will know the difference.  I had to re-pen the vines on the right too, and they are finished as is the complete border.  The piece is not pressed and not lying flat which is why it looks so wonky.

 I will start photographing the individual Santas for the sale and will set up a separate page and offer them some time this weekend.  I'll post the time and date.

 

 We're pretty cold here.  Nitzy is in his favorite stretched position and Missy is being a brat as usual.  My scratches are healing. 

 And we have another cat hanging around.  Beautiful fluffy longer hair, gray with white chest and nose, flea collar embedded in his neck.  We tried to get close but it's not happening, and I don't know what will occur when the brats see him on our deck. 

Tomorrow I take Carole for an Echocardiogram, the next day we take my nephew (stoned on Valium) for his claustrophobic MRI, afternoon is my DEXA scan, dentist on Thursday.  Busy week.  With one car since we took my new vehicle into the body shop this morning.  Mark pulled out for a left hand turn and didn't see the EXPLORER coming from the right.  Both are OK, cars are hospitalized.

 

Have a safe and warm week!

 

Sally will be done shortly and I can't wait.

 

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Waiting for dinner

so I thought I would show a few pics.  First off is the change in Sally.  I kept the green in the side border, removed the yellow, added darker rust.  Switched the green and rust in the bottom ... stems and flowers? .... and it looks better.  You can't see the green very well but on unbleached, it's hard to see a lot of colors. 

Had kielbasa and cabbage soup yesterday, sort of a sweet and sour dish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The lovebirds snoozing.  Once her eyes open she is upstairs, downstairs, in the basement, everywhere!  Picked her up to take her to the garage and she tore me up again.

 

Hunting season is coming to a close and some of the herd made it through.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Take a look at what we call our majorettes.  White go-go boots.  Blast from the past, no?

 

And to top off the stuffed cabbage meal, one of my favorite quick and easy desserts.  This is the filling for the peanut butter pie and I save some fat and calories by skipping the graham crust.  Drizzle a little chocolate over and it's heaven.  Third cup peanut butter, one 8 oz cream cheese softened, 1 cup powdered sugar (confectioners), beat together.....then quickly blend in one 8 oz Cool Whip.  Done.

Company will be here shortly - made the make-ahead mashed potatoes so no last minute rushing. 

Have a nice weekend!!

 

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February

Yes I know I'm rushing things.  But I was working on a box for January and realized that February is the red month.  Never did a red box, this one is over black, distressed finish, red sampler.  Needs tweaked yet but I'm fairly sure this will be the offer for next month.  But you know by now that I can't be trusted and my decision making is like riding a Tilt-a-whirl, spinning while going in circles.

 

 

I would like to make available a few boxes each month of one design. That way I'm not overwhelmed with shipping and trying to match designs to orders.  You should be getting tired of them by now so the coming months may be different in some way, either paint color, maybe fabric, maybe lined, or I'll get frustrated and not change at all.  We'll see how this works out.

 

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Fading borders

Hey.  What's happening?  We're a little chilly here in PA, and crabs prefer warm weather.  So chilly that the Nit Boy came in to snooze with the Bud Man.

My border, after I got my rhythm, managed to end up on the right row.  Amazing.  The tiny design within it, is barely visible.  Even the bottom's green thread fades into the linen.  I am considering changing them to the rust or bright blue, maybe even the yellow.  Instead of removing the four stitch design I may just outline those with the darker color.  Have I ever done a reproduction as it was charted?  Yes!  All of my first sampler kits from the Scarlet Letter, but I was a youngster then and afraid of my own shadow.  

The going is slow because of my thumb, which cracked.  Too much detergent and lack of hand care causes my hands to turn to Velcro in the winter, a form of eczema, treated with hydrocortisone cream twice a day.  Which I didn't do and the thumb cracked.  Extremely sore and hard to heal so pulling the needle is pretty uncomfortable.  But little by little I am getting her done.

 

See how the border colors fade away?  Rust.  It needs the rust.  Hopefully the thumb will heal so I can do the stem stitches to finish Sally.  Oh.  I have to complete the stitches in the house, only one small section on the left is crossed.  Keep forgetting that. 

 

I received my Belfast Tumbleweed, a very nice sagey kind of greenish something. Still not as stiff or as dark as I like it but a very nice shade.  That's R&R Sea Glass on the right. Ordering unseen browns online doesn't work for me because too many have a reddish undertone which I do not like.  My Rook pieces should come this week and although not as dark as my original (gifted from a friend and I'm forever grateful), they should be a good shade, not like the last piece I received.  Did I have a giveaway for that?  I think I did.  So even though I haven't crawled out of the slump yet, I am ordering linen.  No new charts (and there are several I plan on selling) because this climb is more difficult than before and I have to decide if going to smalls is the best option at this time, forgoing the larger samplers.

 

I had a few questions from no-reply'rs and can't remember what they were so I guess I can't answer right now.  And as for the Pringles, I love chips with chocolate.  Pretzels and chocolate.  I even dip hot French fries into chocolate milkshakes.  My personality is that of a crustacean but my eating habits are more porcine.

 

Hope your week is going well, stay safe!

Thanks for visiting.

 

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