Snow

Snow snow snow.  All day.  Wonder how much we will get by day's end.  Good day for stitching isn't it?  I looked through charts and ended up pulling a few big girls.  Why?  I don't want to stitch and yet I'm considering very large projects.  Ann Spence and Elena Tratman must have been partying together because they are gone.  No where.  I spend more time making a mess than cleaning it up and my frustration got the best of me.  How can I lose two large charts?  Although large, the charts are well done and easy to follow which makes a huge difference to me.  I also pulled Jane Ballard, first the cellophane envelope ripped, then when I pulled the chart out I was disappointed.  I do not like charts printed on a single sheet of paper the size of Rhode Island.  So thick when folded that my magnets won't hold it on the Magma.  I usually make a working copy to color and make notes, Jane will be sixteen in all.  Right now I have Jane Ballard, Sarah Harvey, Mary Elliot, Margaret Logan, and the two party girls in the running which means....... I will end up with a little one.  Depends on the number of flashes but I usually change my mind right before threads are pulled.

 

Before the printer dies a third time I got May's box finished.  Another dark red, Liberty.  Using small samplers came out so much better than the countless hours of trying to manipulate large ones.  I look back at the first ones years ago and am disappointed that they weren't nicer.  But Now that I am pleased with results, everyone is boxed out!  So this will be the last set of the squares, starting May 1.

 

 

I was asked why I keep chocolate in the house since I am addicted.  It's because I have to know I can grab a piece during a chocolate emergency, and also to teach and test my willpower.  I need to learn that I can walk away and stay away from sweets.  I have a real problem, did with cigarettes and moved on to sweets.  Our local paper had an article today that 20% of local babies so far this year were born addicted.  I saw what these innocent babies go through their first months of life and the mothers who can't care for them and it kills me inside.  If you ever watch them wail and shake, you will never forget it.

 

The treadmill died which we knew was coming.  It would abruptly stop when the breaker blew even after a short distance and slow walk.  Mark took the motor apart and it needs new brushes (which are metal blocks but called brushes) and we will order them somewhere and start it up again.  I hate exercise and especially the noise of the treadmill, but I am so out of shape that it is necessary.  I used to follow Leslie Sansone for 45 minutes while holding weights and now I am lucky if I finish 15 with assistance!

 

Have a safe and enjoyable weekend.

 

Thanks for visiting.

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One excuse

for not stitching is this.  Budman nailed me.  It's much better, been almost a week.  This is the outside of my right wrist and any wrist movement at all was very painful so I had a good excuse to not stitch.  Now that I can move it some, I need to find another excuse or search for a chart.

 

Had several emails about berry tops and I have a few more items to show you that can be adapted.  Years ago, my sister made angel pins of all types and styles, I designed the display cards which all had a little verse and name for each angel.  We had lots of jewelry supply catalogs and you can easily find these items online.  The cap I showed last post was new to me and I found that in an online search.  The items we used for wings and backings and such were called filigree findings.  They are stamped from brass or metal, the brass more expensive but the soft metal can be manipulated to a degree.  The cheaper material cannot be bent without breaking.  The brass would also break if bent too much. To give you an idea, these are brass, large, and can be gently shaped to the berry top.  Not all will work, but they are 1 3/4" which is much larger than the largest of the bead caps.  Just make sure there is a little opening in the design to allow for shaping.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone said that Faye will also be selling tops, I don't know the size or anything but I'm sure you all follow her and will get an update.  So there are options out there under names that have nothing to do with berry tops.

 

Have a great weekend!

I'll be getting more snow.  Yippee ki yay.

 

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The berry cap

Hey.  How the hell are you?  We're cold and wet in PA, have been and will continue to be. 

 

I finally lost 3#.  It's a start.  The most important thing is - I didn't gain which I have been doing for some time.  There isn't ONE pair of spring pants or capris that fit me except for the stretchy Karen Scott that I showed a few posts back.  I must do something and am truly trying.  As for the chocolate, my heartburn has decreased with the reduction.  But the other day, there it was.  The basement door was open and the light was on.  My husband always leaves lights on wherever he's been but I ignored that fact.  To me, it was a sign, beckoning me to go down those stairs.  Door open, a guiding light to prevent another fall, it was fate.  I saw the light.  That light leads to where I keep the chocolate.  I thought making a trip up and down the stairs would deter me but over the years, I just wore out the carpeting.  It was a sign.  I went, I ate, I enjoyed, I took a Tums.

 

Now for the berry top.  Seems many of you have been looking for a metal top for fabric strawberries. 

Here's mine.  Very sturdy, no bending at all, lots of photos to give you an idea of size. 

I pinned it to the top of a wool berry that was finished with the calyx (or leaves) top so it looks a little odd but is about the right size.  They are not in stock but she will email me when she gets replenished, and I will post the source at that time.  I would still like to see a larger size.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I like the heft and the design.   This berry is a little over 3" long and thin.  The bell caps and bead caps I've seen are way too small, even for this size berry. 

 

So if anyone is interested, I will post as soon as they are available and you can order from her.

 

I still prefer topping my berries with chocolate.

 

 

Have a good one!!

 

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Winner

Hi folks.  Random's number belonged to rosek1870 and I'll be contacting her shortly.  Thanks to all that entered.

 

No new project chosen, not sure if I will.  I think I'm done, but I will look through the stash and see if there is something that excites me enough to search for linen and thread.

 

Tomorrow morning I will open the Sampler Box page to sell Hannah.  She printed really nice as did the small sampler I chose for May.  June will be odds and ends and that may be it for boxes too.  Just in a slump about everything right now which could change on a dime.  Damn flashes are back again and they are vengeful.  I've been trying to watch what I eat and have reduced chocolate drastically.  Crabby as hell.  Tried to jump out of the car today and once again forgot to release the seat belt, Bud gave me really nasty scratches on my wrist, another store's cement post incident (this one was covered with mirrors and I thought I ran into someone so apologized to myself in public after walking into it), fell going UP the stairs, treadmill stopped suddenly and snapped my neck, I am back to running chores for my sister, and I need a haircut.  And it snowed.  And that doesn't amount to a gnat's ass because people are suffering heartache and illness.  So shut my piehole with a PIECE OF FRICKING CHOCOLATE!!

 

Here's the box, just a few, offered tomorrow.

 

Again, thanks for participating and visiting.

 

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April Fool .....

me.  How embarrassing.  I planned to offer a box with Lisa Roswell's design on the five year anniversary of her tragic death.  Well it isn't April 1, it was March 1.  I don't know if my memory or my confusion of dates is worse.  I did not know her but knew of her, and from the lovely tributes and comments of stitchers who did know her, she must have been a great gal. 

 

 

So one month late, egg on my face, here is the box with her Two Horses design printed on the label.  If you want to enter the giveaway for this 4" round mache box, please leave your email/initials in the comments.  Random will do its job Monday evening the 4th at 8pm EST. 

 

 

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Phases of Hannah

Phase one was following the chart including missing stitches.

 

Phase two was filling in the motif stitches and changing the center heart to a dinky motif.

 

Final phase filled in the missing N and O, changed the top shape of the motifs, filled in the sides with pink, added to the center dinky.

Never be afraid to change what doesn't work ... or you don't like ... or stitches you hate ... or to colors that you prefer ... or from light linen to dark.

 

If the printer works, this will be the April box top ending before the over one.

 

I decided to not add Hannah's name since it's no longer what Hannah intended, and I plan on a small pillow for cupboard knob hanging and don't want it any larger.

 

I received an email from Barbara R with her method of over one.  I asked to share it with you and she has agreed to send photos of it, her WIP, and hopefully a few other pieces of her work.  She will be back next week so hopefully by next weekend I will have a post that may offer some help to those of us that dread and reject projects because of over one stitching.

 

Thanks for visiting ~ hope your week ends well.

 

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