Martha

Martha Hards, a small marking sampler from Needlework Press was chosen from a pile of twenty.  I really want to do Ann Spence and Mary Elliott, both LARGE, and I am afraid the stitching desire may be gone before I ever get to them.  Maybe after this small project I will attempt one of them.

 

For Martha, I chose copper penny hand dyed, greenish bluish bronzy linen.  It's a monochrome sampler of blue on natural but I wanted something different. 

The only shop I have, a half hour from here, may have wool thread and I thought a rust wool would be a great option on this fabric but I need to start right now so I'm using DMC in 300.  The owner of the shop stitched the bag on the cover of SANQ (the one I modeled my sampler sack after) on osnaburg with wool threads.  It is fabulous.

 

Not sure if you can see the difference in my photo, but the right side top border and the F is using one thread and the rest is with two.  Not sure which I like best.  That's bad because any choice - chart, fabric, thread - paralyzes me and even after those are decided, I find something else to stall the process.  Then of course, I wonder if a dark blue would be better ALWAYS questioning my decisions and that drives me nuts. 

 

We missed the snow storm, just south of us.  Good thing because if I was any more crabby my shell would burst.  Hope those of you experiencing it stay safe.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Synchronizing

...and the gold medal winners in the Brat Olympics, Feline Division,

Synchronized Snoozing catagory....

 

Carole's tests were within normal limits, kidneys are still doing good with double doses of Lasix daily for over a year.  She's lucky.

And I finished six boxes for the February sale.

 

Rough finish over black, black interiors.

 

I'm working on January's half dozen, bassackwards as usual.  And speaking of "bass", mine does not fit into my new skinny jeans.  Never got to wear them before skinny became skin on bologna.  There's a fine line in that style, no wiggle room, and spandex only goes so far.

 

Starting to snow again.  Just came back from Carole's errands and shopping.  Our usual winter task since she can't get down and back up her luge track on a steep hill driveway.  Mark's 4 wheel drive can most times, but on ice, we have to park on the road and walk that hill.

Stay safe!  Enjoy the week.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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It's all over but the mailing

 WOW that was intense!  Thank you all, you got bargains!  That doesn't happen too often for stitchers.  Hope you are as pleased with your purchases as I am, I think you will be. Good thing I had them in individual bags marked with their number.  Good thing the number was embedded in the photo because I messed up and was off one bag number after 22.  Twilight zone moment until I realized my mistake and all was corrected.  It was hard letting them go.  So will my next project be a PS Santa?  We'll see because putz here gave away many of them.  I need to check my stash.  I had a few favorites of that group and some weren't Schoolers.  Question is, what do I stitch them on?  I really like the neat look of Aida, gave that away too.  I may have a small piece of 18 left.  Margaret (A Sampler of Stitches) gifted me with a P.S. on Davos and maybe I should continue with that.  I need to choose something soon.

 

Just wanted to say thanks and the seller is pleased that they went to homes of needleworkers.  He had two large boxes of other pieces, not all Christmas, and they sold at the estate sale.  There were so many others and downsizing was necessary.  I believe these were the last she stitched and were never displayed.

 

It's very cold here, good day to go through the stash again.

Stay warm!

Thanks again.

 

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Reminder

Hello hello.  Just a reminder about the sale at 7 this evening. 

 

Haven't chosen a new project after looking through many charts.  I would like to finish Mary Kitpin but the border and a little over one stitching seems like a mountain climb that I've not trained for.  I need as simple as can be, straight lines and alphabet or my slump will slip further.  Now that I've mentioned a mountain climb it reminded me of what we learned at the echocardiogram.  My sister had a very nice technician for many years who did not administer the test last week but we saw him in the unit. She told the new tech how nice the man was and how she enjoyed speaking with him.  He told her that this man's wife has been ill for the last 30 years and just this past August, they lost their son in a climbing accident in Utah.  He was only 40 and fell 1800 feet to his death when training for a Mount Rainier climb.  Tragedies happen to good people every day and we never know who will be the next victim.

 

We're having a blizzard right now so I'm crabbed out.  The deer don't seem to mind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the brat pack, one of which put holes in my sweatshirt yesterday, are snoozing.  We had another upsetting incident.  The cats were in the house, and the yellow and gray (tight collar) must have been in the garage looking for ours.  There is blood and fur everywhere and especially in a corner where items were knocked over.  I don't know what to do about this and didn't even hear the fight. 

 Dinner is ready - Steeler's half time. 

 

Enjoy your evening.

 

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Slump shopping

Greetings all.  Another weekend, January is flying by.  Spring items are already coming in to the craft store.  For the first time ever, we have a large flock of robins.  I was seeing one or two in the yard when we had the warm December, but the other day my crab apple tree was loaded with them.  No worms to be found, very cold temps, I don't know why they are still here.

I ordered just a few items last week even though I am still somewhat slumpy.  No charts and no desire for new charts.  But I can't pass up my favorite linen and thread color.  Uniform blue from GAST and these skeins are perfect, gray blue, no purple.  Two pieces of Rook, not as dark as my original but very nice, coarse feel just like I prefer.  Nothing like that unusual piece I gave away.  Also got a piece of Abecedarian which isn't in the photo, because after being in the house for a few hours, it's lost misplaced.  Decided to do 35 count since I am loaded with 28 and 30.  And my first mini pom pom trim!  They are SWEET.

I checked Facebook today and what do I see?  A video of a dog lying in the street after being run over and another dog covering his body and not leaving him.  Not one fricking car or bike stopped.  There are a lot of cute photos and videos to click but I always seem to open the link at the wrong time.

I had several emails about hanging samplers without frames.  Originally I used horsehair braid to insert into the top hem and it's fine for small light pieces.  But after finding this much stronger flexible boning, I feel it's the better choice for larger projects.  It prevents the linen from stretching and sagging from it's own weight when tacked to a wall.  Many photos of old needlework pinned on the corners, sagging in the center, appeal to me.  But.  What if I decide to frame later on?  Not sure if that stretched linen would go back to shape, even if washed.

Finishing the edges of an unframed sampler is easy with a Dritz sewing gauge or my vintage Gajit.  Just set the gauge and line it up with the stitching, folding under the edge while finger pressing followed by the iron.  Coarse linen presses so crisp I didn't need to run a line of stitching for a hem.  I never fold it too close to the design's edge making sure the pressed edge wouldn't show if ever mounted for framing. 

I left the mantel and wall bare after Christmas décor was removed and thought it was the perfect place right now for Sally.  I saw these large black plates somewhere and loved the look, bought four, now I don't want them.  That's me.

 

If you plan on buying any Santas Sunday, please state in your email request if you are using Paypal or check since the price is different.

 

 

Enjoy your weekend, stay safe, eat cake.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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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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