A heart of gourd

Hope your weekend was good. 

 

 

Time is coming close to two years that Patti died.  She loved gourds.  I mean LOVED gourds.  But her husband and daughter hated the dirty looking shells of various shapes.  She used a transfer paper to print this on a sack, glue was still visible.  I decided to sew it into a heart and give it to her daughter, if she would like it.  This "gourd" will be more acceptable than the real thing and be a sweet reminder of their gourd war.  (Those are cheddar/sour cream chips.)

A few emails were received asking about the thick wool I used on the pouch.  This is the type, found at Hobby Lobby and Michael's.  Once the front is lined with the muslin, attaching to the wool back is very easy.  Some are very thick and sturdy, others are thick but stretchy.  Next time, I will machine sew around the four sides to stabilize before sewing to the front.

 

  I have too much, probably not as much as most crafters, but still too much for me.  The first time I pitched and donated was a little painful, but this time it's worse.  Needs to be done.  Fabric everywhere that I haven't touched in years.  Why am I keeping it?  I know the day will come when I am searching for a little piece of something I threw out, but clinging to that possibility is not worth the excess baggage my rooms are carrying.  I'm sure I will improvise or find a substitute without having a meltdown about letting it go.  Well, fairly sure.

Yardage of wool blends that were going to be blazers and pants have got to go.  I have no intention of making my clothes again and certainly not a lined blazer.  Just the thought has my stomach convulsing.  Of course there could be another use. But no longer will I hold on to items that may one day be part of a project that would cause me to rip my hair out and more likely than not, never come to be.  It's like keeping all those blazers that are too small because ONE DAY, I will be thinner.  I already have storage boxes filled with too small pants and jeans that have been waiting for that taped lid to open and free them.  Light!  Sounds!  Movement!  Only on a rack at the Salvation Army pants people.  I've been waiting longer than they have for that day that is not coming.  It wasn't easy to find items in tall sizes that fit well which is another reason I have trouble letting go.  But I am.  

 

One of the fabrics that I have no use for is a men's suiting silk that my aunt gave me decades ago.  Her husband had planned on a custom suit and I don't even have a tailor shop within a gas tank from here to ask about it.   My home ec teacher cousin said years ago that it is very expensive but what do I know? 

 

It has yellow markings in the selvage with lots of various sized slubs.  This I will hold on to for a while until I find someone that may have an answer for me.  The teacher is my cousin in MN suffering from advanced FT dementia.  Found out last week that my local cousin is now on meds and she is only 68.  Scary.

 

Tomorrow I am going to check for heart boxes, hoping to find at least two.  The last time we went there was a very bad accident on that route and I vowed I would stay off highways.  I just can't get that doc's words about becoming a paraplegic out of my mind when traveling.

 

February is passing quickly.  This better slow down once summer nears.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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Rosanna bag

Finished.  What should I have done different?  Used the dark green wool for the back instead of brown.  Why didn't I?  Good question.  No answer.

 

 

 

Made cording from the same 934 green in the border and blanket stitch.

 

Lined the front with muslin, stitched the top back of the wool with Alpaca.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adorable, no?

 

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Floss

 

BOTH BOXES ARE SPOKEN FOR

These do not include the most recent 3800's, maybe a few.  I should have checked the higher numbers to give you an idea but it's already packed.   Each offer contains two bags as shown above.

 

Box #1

total of 246 various colors
many double and more brings total skeins to over 270
most are full skeins, some are used
scrappy scribbled note paper listing color numbers for reference

Shipping in Priority Mail Tyvek envelope for $12.00
No charge for the floss.
Email me if you are interested, let me know if Paypal or check

Box #2

total of 258 various colors
many double and more brings total skeins to over 270
most are full skeins, some are used
scrappy scribbled note paper listing color numbers for reference

Shipping in Priority Mail Tyvek envelope for $12.00
No charge for the floss.
Email me if you are interested, let me know if Paypal or check

Note - I would have to double check, but I think international shipping would be around $25.00 - but I can't guarantee that until the post office verifies my calculation.

 

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An all day job

Floss.  I have a nice floss box, stuffed.  I have a bag of each color in a cupboard.  No longer do I want to keep these boxes of extras.  I will never use it all and am tired of storing it.  So I am emptying each envelope, some are full skeins, some are used, many are multiples, some colors are missing.  But I am sorting into two piles, putting in a bag, and will check shipping costs for them.  I hope this task doesn't take an entire day because my patience (unlike my behind) is very thin.

The Mr. Big Santa?  His fill is weighty to stand upright, over 7#.  The extra large box (higher cost) was over a pound not including the boxing fill.  Shipping to mid west was $45 and if the box was any larger it would jump to $63 from my zip code, so he is staying in PA.  The floss would fit in a regular sized box and I will check on those costs before determining their fate.

 

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Pears winner

Oh my.  I can't tell you how it pained me to not be able to have a box for all of your friends and relatives experiencing difficult times.  I'm keeping the entries, just in case.  Seriously.  Through comments and also quite a few emails, I was asked to consider Patti and her mom (recently lost father and husband).  She must be a special person to have so many stitchers wanting this for her.  Patti's blog Winding Vine Wanderings is a delight and her faith is strong.  That faith worked for her (and her fans) because believe it or not, the number next to her name came up as the winner on Random.  So I hope this lovely lady and her mom enjoy their retreat and their boxes.  I want to thank everyone for the emails asking me to not stop the boxes, for entering this giveaway, and for all the kind comments.

On to stitching.

My first blanket stitch edge.  I watched several online videos for instructions on starting and ending this stitch, but none of them talked about threads.  I didn't know if floss, perle, wool, or what would be appropriate.  I went with DMC 3 strands.

The applique I see on sites is usually done with a contrasting thread, but with the dark brown backing and linen I wasn't sure if I would like that option.  How could I tell?  I didn't want to pull the thick threads out of the high count linen and leave a little hole so I had to know before I started.  Enter...Paint program!

It didn't look bad at all with the lighter thread, but I chose the dark green from the border because it outlined the pouch better.   Either would have worked and as usual, I'm questioning my decision.  Nah, it's good.  Good enough.  Good to go.  Good as gold.  As good as it could.

 

Snow snow snow here.  But this weekend and next week's beginning will be 50's, even 60!    Mark's finger will be well enough to golf and isn't causing him too much pain.

 

Enjoy your weekend!.

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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1739

Happy day everyone. 

 

Started the 1739 sampler from R&R Reproductions and it's going to be great.  Very hard to make out details in the chart photo and I haven't found one photo of a finish online.  Guess mine will be the first.  The border looks blue but the charted color is green.  I've changed most to a shade or two darker.  Another one from my collection of their series of samplers from decades ago.  This one, from 1995. 

It's really primitive, uneven letters, a different alphabet style, simple but various stitches.  I did the outline first to help me line up the rows and also see the finished size.  Another possible pouch, it is less than 5 1/2" wide on this 35 count beige.  Yep.  Beige.  I never use lighter linen but this is a khaki sort of beige and for once, I pictured the piece on a lighter ground.  That's very unusual for me and I'm happy with it already.  The lighter threads would be easy to work on a dark ground but I just don't think it would do this wonky design justice.  Never did I imagine I would work on a higher count like this either but I am starting to really enjoy it.  The chart is 100 stitches wide so ÷ by 17.5 for 35 count it equals 5.71 yet after stitching, it is only 5.38.  I guess I'll find out soon enough if I counted wrong.

 

Spent the afternoon yesterday in Urgent Care because Mark was cutting drywall with the box cutter blade and ....         He opted for glue instead of stitches since he plans on golfing this weekend.  50's.  Yahoo.  Met his friend's wife there with her dad, and she is miserable.  She needs a hip replacement (two actually) but her ACA insurance rate rose to over $1000 a month and her deductible is $7000.  That's like another $583 per month.  She has to work to afford the monthly bill but can barely walk.  She just can't afford to have the surgery.  Remember my financially independent friend that paid only $100 a month with NO deductible by limiting her investment income?  She got a check in December for $640 from the insurance company for not spending too much on health care! 

 

Be back for the giveaway.

 

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