Coming soon to a blog near you

A blogging anniversary giveaway.  What will it be?

 

Probably one of these, have not decided which.

Velvet heart, primitive journal, simple sampler tuck, knob hanger.

The last one is my own design, similar motifs taken from another design so I don't know if it's proper to chart it.  If I want to stitch again on lighter linen, I need to!

With all the charted motif books and alphabet books available, the more I think about it, this would not be an infringement.  Not only are they modified, the entire design is different. 

 

Saw this on FB, almost choked on my coffee.

 

************************

Revisiting

Hello hello!  The snow is melting and I went an entire day without a piece of candy.  I did have several (more than several) cookies but no Doves, no M&Ms.  That's huge.  I weighed myself and could not believe what I saw.  Never ever have I been this heavy and I am very close to changing the first number of those three digits.  On the edge.  I am so ticked at myself.  It took me months to get down to a comfortable weight and I am now 40 pounds larger in less than a year.  Bending over, exercise, steps, bending over, cramped in a back seat, bending over, are more difficult and causing me discomfort.  How did I let this happen? 

 

Anyway, several readers have commented or emailed about following my finishing posts.  I just wanted to clarify that I had several, and changed the methods as I learned.  I do not use the very heavy fusible now although it did make a really nice firm finish, switched to a lighter Pellon P44F.  No longer do I fuse before sewing seams, or cut the interfacing to fit inside the seams.  I still pull out a linen thread to follow, or mark with a Frixion pen.  Stitch the seams first, and THEN square it and fuse the facing.  Press the seams open from front and also back before trimming and turning whether using the open end or the envelope method.  This post was my last one on finishing.

 

https://samplers-and-santas.blogspot.com/2017/06/what-took-so-long.html

 

Fusing after seaming is so much easier!  And with the lighter Pellon, you can extend to the fabric edge so when trimming, it gives stability to the seam and also prevents fraying.  I usually do the backing fabric too and that can be fused before seaming.

 

Any of the methods are fine, used them all, but once my eyes opened and the brain engaged, I realized I was making it harder for myself.   But thinking back, that heavy fusible really made a crisp finish ornament.  Hmmm.  Damn.

 

****************************

Purging ...

is something I should do with my diet.  Cookies, Dove chocolate, M&M peanuts, Cheetos, chocolate covered pretzels, Rotel dip with Tostitos, Breyers Carb Smart ice cream with peanuts, and right now …. scalloped potatoes with smoked pork chops.  Because of all this, my entry closet purge is painful.  These pea coats that I never wore have me wondering how long ago it was that I was that thin.  So I have a choice.  Donate these wool lovelies that were never worn (along with several others) or try to accommodate them to my new normal.  I always purchased at seasonal clearance and by the time that season rolled around again, they no longer fit.  So I kept them thinking I would lose.  And every year that passed they became tighter.

 

This is how they were meant to be.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is how they must be in order to fit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is how I may correct that large discrepancy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gray Calvin Klein is not tall sized and I love the charcoal gray, the brown is a little longer.  The pockets are spaced properly when turning it into a single breasted big girl which surprised me.  Do I want to bother?  I altered the photos for a preview, they are still double breasted.  Not sure what I will do, but right now, as the scalloped potatoes fill my bucket, I think I will not bother.

 

I am ridding myself of fabrics too.  I rarely use this homespun and certainly don't need this amount to back a few smalls.  I tried the method of draping over hanging file dividers but I would need too many bins.  Decided to just roll and store in totes, yards of other items have no where to go.  I'm sending to the church, maybe someone sews.  I'm sure the Amish do not want an off white wool blend!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

In case you're wondering about the parlor turned inventory room, here's the second floor inventory room.

 

Such a lovely mess.  I plan to pack in totes and haul to the attic. This large tote holds pewter and the top is covered with a few framed but mostly unframed samplers.  Yes I know some of you just gasped but they can be pressed!

 

 

 

My stomach hurts from the potatoes.  I just planned to test them for doneness and ended up eating too many.  Story of my rear end.

 

Have a great weekend!

 

Thanks for the visit!

 

*********************

Another one bites the dust

For years, our only local craft store provided supplies for our valley, with choices for just about any and all crafts and art.  They expanded several years ago into an adjoining space and added framing, fabrics, bridal, home decorating and furniture, while increasing their paint and artist department.  Their prices were always low, no coupons needed, comparable to Michael's and Hobby Lobby when a coupon is used.  Everyone is very upset to see these headlines.  We have a small Jo-Ann's, not the super store, and it is very limited.  Glues, beads, craft paint, standard yarns, and sewing supplies.

 

 

I knew something would happen when Michael's purchased the Catan stores a few years ago.  They are closing all 36 stores and reopening a maximum of 12 as Michael's.  Damn.  Could go two ways.  Either corporate will realize we are lacking such a store (or anything close) in this area and it will be beneficial to them, or they will see that all the other local stores are closed and there is not much to draw people in.  They did a really good business here, and I hope the decision is made to continue in this location but with a Michael's about 40 minutes away and only keeping 12 Catan stores, I don't see much hope. We'll know late summer. 

 

My husband went for his six month dental cleaning and a front tooth veneer broke into two pieces and came off.  He ended up with close to a $1000 charge which was not what he expected.  Me either!  Isn't it terrible what it costs to maintain your mouth?  I mentioned a while back about Costco members having the option to join a dental plan for very little cost, but there are very few dentists locally that accept the plan, or any other individual plan.  My cousin joined and got 5 back teeth pulled, a partial bridge, plus follow up, xray and initial exam for $150 total.  TOTAL.  I paid $675 for Carole's partial with no other work and it was lower end!!  Her tooth that recently broke off at the gum line was filled two months prior for $185, and it will cost $325 for the extraction.

Around every corner ….. there he is ….. staring at me.

***************************
 

Thinking of Santa

Hello all.  I have a mess of excess in my tiny parlor, now the inventory room, and that is where the totes filled with Christmas stitchery still reside.  Along with that massive wooden bowl that does not fit most places.

 

 I finally packed them neatly and decided that the older Aida ornaments are some I would like to stitch again on a high count linen.   Did I sell the Prairie Schooler charts?  Yepper I did.  But I kept a few that were my favorites (duplicates from my SIL) and hope I have what I need.

 

 

I visited Meg's blog post from last year http://livetostitch.blogspot.com/2018/02/hello-february.html to read about her treasured gift for her birthday and saw this....

 I caught up with current posts and she has great ideas and sources for goodies.

Meg I hope you don't mind my sharing your photo.  He is one of the large Santas in the Leisure Art hardcover series.  I of course, gave all of mine away, but I could never stitch something like this.  Samplers are so much easier than the color changes and fine details of such projects.  My Santas are small and simple, the Postman that you see at Christmas was a gift from my SIL.

She also mentioned using Mary Ellen's Best Press to remove severe creases in her new linen.  I use my 50% off coupons at JoAnn's and have several bottles on hand.  Most of my linens are rolled but a few still have creases from the shop so I will attempt removal with the spray.

 

Still cold today and 50 next week.  Yippee!  Those damn brats are so bored inside and were crying at the door to go out at 11:30pm.  Thinking they will not use the litter box (and they are spending nights inside) I opened the door.  They started running up trees, attacking each other, blitzing around the snow drifts, and had a heck of a good time.  Guess they just needed to expel some energy and then return to their warm room for the night.  I have a huge litter box in their garage condo complex and a regular size in the house.  Because all three were inside, I brought the large one in and laid carpets and cardboard around it because they dig as if they are hiding a body.  This morning, I awoke to litter all over the floor.  They squeezed beside the chair and used the little one instead of their usual large one!  Why?  WHY???  When I removed the small one (rarely ever used) I put their large (always used) one in its place.  Yet they went on a search for the little one and found it.  They drive me nuts. Nitzy sits and stares at me all day.  He is so goofy.

 

I diced a huge bag of carrots and celery and onion and bagged/froze them for future soups.  That prep is always time consuming so this will make it easy to grab the College Inn and a bag from the freezer for a quick start.  Today is Pioneer Woman's cauliflower soup which I adore.  I use a lot more carrots and onion than is called for.  It reminds me of my mom's creamed chicken made with broth and cream and lots of carrots.  SO love that dish. 

 

This cat is freaking me out so I'm going back upstairs to finish the purge.  And I'm closing the door.

Hope all is well with you folks.

Thanks for visiting.

 

***************************

Purge finds

Hi.  I'm almost afraid to ask how cold it is in your state.  We are in the deep freeze but the temps experienced are not as bad as other states.  I hope there are enough shelters for those in need and you know how I ache for the animals.

 

During the craft room closet purge, I found a few things that tickled me.  I love tiny tools and I kept my dad's smalls, came across a brass checkered handle screwdriver that I kept just because it was different.  To my surprise, the end unscrewed and out came several others, each smaller in size. The last one is the tiniest ever!  I was so excited! 

 

I also found two more fans.  The first is very thin decorative wood ribs. 

 

The fine material's design is pronounced white on one side, and metallic on the other.  

 

 

 

 

It's much larger than the second one I found, similar to one I keep in my purse.  I should check, maybe it's the same!  These folding fans are so handy and really do a wonderful job during a flash.  So much better than those large flopping menus and brochures and credit applications I'm always removing from the nearest counter.  This one will stay in the family room by my chair.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My sister dated a military man stationed overseas when I was a little girl (over 55 years ago!) and he brought back many gifts from there, I think these were a few.

 

Not very interesting to you but I lead a boring life and it doesn't take much.  And when I find something that makes me smile, I like to share with my blog buds!!

 

Stay safe.

 

*********************