This Bud's for you

Our deck guard, with a variety of watchposts.

 

Thanks for the suggestions but our services here offer no options.  They don't take electronics and even if they did, 40# is the pickup limit.  We don't even have curbside recycling like surrounding communities, and need to take our items to a center, which we do. But not one of my seven "environmentalist" neighbors will get off their lazy asses to do so.  Once a year we have a recycling event (out of town) and they weigh the items.  Very few people show.  Her old 21" TV cost $97.50, this one is 36" old style and is well over 100# (lots of lead!) so it will cost several hundred dollars to dispose off.  Ridiculous.  Best Buy will pick it up for $100 charge.  If you purchase a 50" or larger TV and have it delivered, they will remove the old one for $15.  A good deal but the 50" is more than she can afford, but so is the disposal fee.  Delivery for a smaller size would be $70 + the $15 removal.  I guess the best deal.  It's always something.  Maybe because I have Roseanne Rosannadanna's hair.

 

Wasn't that a great tip - put the Thread Heaven ball in a twist up lipstick tube?  I believe the craft store has empty tubes for making your own lip balm.  But I can also clean out an old chap stick.  Perfect!  Will still cut a slit in it for the thread to slide through, easy on off cap, handy, don't have to handle the material.  Now all I have to do is want to stitch. Tsk tsk tsk.

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Summer days

For me, too few.  August.  Already. 

Missy was enjoying the beautiful weekend, snoozing in the shade.

 

 

 I was reading Bobbie's post about using wax on her thread, seems I'm not the only one having some problems.  My DMC has been shredding so easily, whether removing just a few stitches or pulling through coarse linen, so I'm glad she mentioned this.  On the stiff 40 count I was playing with, the wax did nothing, in fact, it seemed sticky.  I could feel a drag.  On a lower count or softer linen, maybe not.  So I got the tiny box of Thread Heaven that I ..  a) forgot about b) misplaced c) had trouble holding d) all of the above, and used a different method to apply. 

Not sure of the correct way and too lazy to look it up, I removed it from the slippery cube and made a ball, sliced it deep, and put it back inside.  I embedded the thread in the cut and pulled it through easily.  With my arthritis, I had difficulty holding that little cube with my right hand and pressing a thread onto the material while the left hand pulled it over. With the thread inside the slit, no reason to hold it down so pulling it was easier.  Is this the method recommended and I once again was not paying attention?  That thread was gliding through the linen like a hot knife through butter.  Wonderful stuff for coarse linen.  I need to make an easy to hold case or something to make it easier.  My wax case is too large for this tiny stuff.

 

Carole's TV died and we have to go on a hunt for a replacement and options for disposal of the 36" old model.  Best Buy only takes to 32", she was charged $100 to recycle another.  With those fees, it's no surprise to see them discarded in wooded areas.  The old picture tubes contain pounds of toxic lead and other materials. 

She has decided to not have the gallbladder surgery and I agree.  Since nothing ever goes smoothly with her and this was the first attack, mild, she will try diet before surgery.  Hopefully, August will be event free.  And last longer than July did.

 

Have a good day!

 

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Like hitting a brick wall

I am stumped.  Technically, I did not hit into a brick wall, but did run into the glass wall at Walmart.  I took Carole for labs and she whined on the way home about needing things at Walmart, sooooo..... I stopped and ran in for her, she prefers to sit in the car.  As I was leaving with bags lining my arms and good forward momentum, I shoved the cart into the buggy area and headed straight for the door.  It wasn't a door.  The panels of glass right next to the doors look like doors, but they don't open as you approach. Who knew? 

 

Finishing Polly is like hitting a wall because I am truly stumped.  I followed the linen thread top to bottom for the fold.  Didn't work.  So I pulled a linen thread out hoping it would show the error.  Nope.  It's creased on the same thread, the pull is straight, yet I am wider at the top than the bottom.  Polly is long and thin (wouldn't that be nice?) and in order to lay flat and straight when hanging, those edges have to be perfect.  They are.  So why the hell is the top wider?   I've been doing this over and over and feel like I'm back at Walmart.  Now what?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I tried hanging it anyway but it twists as if it was on the bias. I thought maybe dampening and trying to stretch the width with the iron may make it worse so my best solution right now is to hand wash and try to block it for drying.  I've used the dryer before and that is an option too.  It's very stiff and coarse linen, the same type I used when dyeing and I know the dryer would not hurt it.   For now, I'm putting it aside.

 

I should be looking for a new project, but I'm not.  Don't want to!

 

 

 

A few years ago I showed Ann's wallets in a post and another of her Ann Wade needleworker's pocketbook finish.  I will be showing more of her work, wallets and pinballs very soon.  Did you know there is an Ann Wade sampler coffee mug? Buy it here.

 

Have a great weekend.

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The big little gift

Krissy B. told me that she and her hubby were sending me a little gift.  I expected little.  Not so.  

I was stunned to open the envelope and see my very first hooked piece.  I've seen small items imported from China in a shop, but this is real.  Honest to goodness real hookin' from a blog buddy with a big heart!  I was blown away. 

But there was more.  The wonderful scent of lavender coming from the sweetest mini stitch ever.  After a week of frustration and stress dealing with family demands again, I just breathed in the lavender and held my gift, it melted away.  The right time, the right day, the perfect gifts.  Kris said I own the only piece of 40 count she will ever stitch. I've never seen this design and have to have it.  It is so tiny and so precious, I just love it. Pineberry Lane's Tokens of Affection.

 

 

 

 

 

Her husband included a gift for mine, too.  Since they both fish and make their own jigs, he shared his creations.  My husband's are solid color so he was happy to see these.  Aren't they cool?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you so very much Kris and Mark.  I am just so thrilled with these pieces and grateful that you both have shared your handwork with us.  Wowee!  Thank you thank you thank you.

 

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Halfway to frame

There are a few pieces I have stitched that I am not attached to.  Several are favorites, some are meh, some are I don't care.  Since my plan (and has been for a few years) is to streamline and change my home to sparse and efficient, I just can't visualize all these pieces on the walls.  But we'll see. 

 

What I'm debating right now is the display method.  I have older pieces framed and plan to remove the glass. 

This was back in 2012 when I removed the dust covers and opened the frames to clean the glass.  The stitches no longer looked sharp, clear, and cleaning the inside of the glass made a huge difference in them.  It's time again for a cleaning and this time I will leave the glass off.  Not sure what caused this but they certainly were dirty after 20 years. With a sealed backing of paper, maybe the heat and household air does filter through, I don't know.

 

The other more recent pieces are bottom fringed and just hanging on the wall.  I don't know if I will ever frame them.  For now, I'm thinking of a middle ground.  As the small sampler in this group is shown on a wannabe hornbook, mounting these larger samplers on a board with a shaped top may be an option.  Nicer than nothing, not as formal as a frame, much less expensive.  I do like samplers hemstitched and mounted to a background mat, not stretched over it, and that will be my choice for Lucy Redd, Sally Fiske, Eliza Pumroy and any of the big girls.  I just prefer the more aged primitive pieces to have a little texture (wrinkle) and not be perfectly smooth and neat.  I'll only be out a few bucks for trying this because who knows?  I may still prefer the simplicity of a sampler hanging on a cupboard's side or door, free and naked as a bird. 

 

  But as you know, I have a PhD in procrastination so this may take a while.

 

Have a good day!

 

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Ready for fringe

All done.  I finished the way I usually do, with an unknown error.  For some reason, the zig is zagging a few stitches shy of the chart.  Which means, the flower and house bottom section is off but I can't find it.  Doesn't matter at all and even if I found it there would be no need to correct it.  I will hem stitch the sides and fringe the bottom, using the narrow boning in the top hem for hanging.  But if I am in a pitty poor mood, queen of the crabs and asses, I will machine hem the sides.  I guess I will machine hem the sides.   I refuse to give up my crown.

 

I absolutely love this Polly Cole and especially the bottom area that Lori designed and added.  I'll note my color changes when I post the finish photo.

 

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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