The berry

Finished!  Was it easier than the very small one?  Meh.  I machine sewed the red areas and hand stitched the top closed.  The 3/4 stitches that created a cleaner edge to sew made it easier but overall, not as frustrating.

 

So where will the berry be safe?  Certainly not loose and free, not with me.  So I'm thinking of pinning it to the top edge of a sampler.

 

 

One of my favorites, Eliz Laidman from Threads of Gold, who IS loose and free but harder to misplace.

 

 

I haven't gone through the samplers to show, I'm sure you are very familiar with most.  But maybe not this one.  Purchased from Ebay as a kit, Mary Spinney from The Examplarery.  The original linen was shiny and sheer green so I changed it.  I had to go back to the original post to see what linen was used and this is what I posted.....

 

This piece is a beautiful dark olive and I could probably use R&R Sea Glass, but I tend to hoard linen that I like.  Rather than use what I have and love, I will waste an afternoon messing around trying to dye another piece.  Why am I saving it when I don't even feel like stitching any more?  The new blues I bought will be hoarded too.  Such a silly girl woman old lady.  Took a customer service survey this morning and checked off the 55-64 bracket.  That 65 birthday is very close, but they won't know so I plan on staying in the 55-64 bracket.  It's like having to go up another size in panties.  Those big big girl panties that have screaming elastic threads breaking and hanging like fringe on a 60's hippie. 

 

Obviously I was having a slump then too and just turning 65.  I guess this darker linen is one that I dyed and I really love the way it accentuates the threads.  I adore these bright blues along with the other colors and the quirkiness of Miss Mary.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestions on the beater.  It's quite heavy for a whisk and the wire used is very thick, but you're probably right.   I don't know how they cleaned it without rusting!

 

That's it folks!  Still miserable and can't eat a damn thing without needing a mouthful of water, sun is shining but my eyes can't handle the light.  Such is life!! 

 

Thanks for visiting.

 

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

What is it?

This item, whatever it is, has piqued my curiosity.  I emailed an antique dealer hoping for an answer but she's never seen one. Thick wooden handle, flexible coils, and I thought a rug beater but it's under eleven inches in length.  I tried describing it to search engines and only found long handled beaters with a large single coil.  Before my brother has a friend take it to his booth, they would like to know what to tag it!  Does anyone know? 

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

Medicare health insurance

Greetings to those of you 65 and older!  Just came from the office where we purchase our Medicare Advantage Plan.  A few tidbits just in case it's pertinent to your situation.  Normally the open enrollment period for signing into a Medicare supplement or advantage plan is October - December.  For this year (and maybe the only year) the enrollment period was extended to March 31, 2019.  We are considering changing our plans and found out that Highmark is offering a supplement that is all inclusive such as the AARP United Health Care (they are not making this offer).  No co-pays, no drug plan, more expensive than advantage plans BUT for this period only, it is open to all.  You have heart problems, cancer, diabetes, kidney problems, they will still take you at the entry rate.  Otherwise, those conditions may exclude you from acceptance or the premium will be higher.  I am in western PA (Highmark is based in Pittsburgh) and it is not available everywhere, but if you need to go to a full coverage Medicare supplement, check with a fringe benefit/insurance specialist and see if there is any other company with this offer.

Main difference between the two types of plans...

Advantage plans

co-pay for doctors
co-pay for hospital stays and ER
co-pay for lab work
co-pay for CT and MRI (over $200)
20% co-pay for chemotherapy (yep)
no co-pay for diagnostic (mammo, colon)
Some routine dental exams
Vision allowance once a year
Rx plan included in cost
Cheaper than supplement
No health history required, no age differential

My Highmark Freedom Blue PPO plan's monthly cost is $78 as is Mark's. Advantage plans are the same price for everyone without restriction for joining.  Some like Coventry are highly rated and have $0 monthly cost.

Supplemental plans

no co-pays for anything
100% hospital coverage
100% chemotherapy coverage
No dental
No vision
Rx plan is separate
High cost, but complete medical coverage
Health history required, price based on age

My monthly fee at 67 would be $134, Mark at 70 would be $151, Rx plans $34 per month.  I am considering this move because I don't know where my diagnosis will lead and I will be accepted now.  Every year I will have the option to go back to the advantage plan if I choose.  Coventry plan is widely accepted and highly rated, what I would save in monthly cost would go towards drugs, which in either plan would still be high.  I would hit the "donut hole" in 6 months.  So I have a decision to make very soon and you know how poorly I do with that task.  Switching to a full supplement is like having car or house insurance.  You have to pay whether the coverage is used or not, but have the peace of mind knowing you're covered fully.  Who knows if a hospital stay or diagnosis is in the future?  Then again, the money saved in policy cost every month can be set aside and used for the extra expense incurred in advantage plans.  It's a dilemma I tell 'ya!

If you need to change to a cheaper, better, or more inclusive advantage plan or supplement, you still have until the end of March to do so.  Many of our friends did not know about the extended enrollment period so thought I would mention it.  And I did.

 

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

That's better

Who doesn't want bigger berries?

 

 

What a difference from 32 count to 25!  Was considering an ornament finish but decided to follow its shape since it needs a top to the berry. I had a problem with the very small ones when trying to sew the outline.  This one, I filled in the edges of decreasing rows with a 3/4 stitch.  Now it has a more uniform edge to follow.

 

Magazines are posted.  I know you must have them or the DVD and they are always on Ebay but thought I would offer before recycling.

 

Have a great St. Patrick's Day!

I plan to eat only the green M&Ms.

Corned beef tomorrow but with the peaches.  OMG.  So good!!

http://marlanco.blogspot.com/2011/11/corned-beef-peaches.html

No wonder my berry is so big.

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

Magazines

A few SANQ will be listed on the For SALE tab tomorrow.  With postage and Paypal fees, probably $6 each total.  Maybe $5.  Depends on how well my brain works when I post it.

 

SUMMER 2013

 

 ****************************

 

FALL 2014 and WINTER 2014

 

Frances Swartz part 1 and part 2 in these two issues.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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

 

 SPRING 2015 and SUMMER 2015

 

Summer issue (1816 Vierlande) contains part 1, part 2 is in the Fall 2015

 

 

   

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

FALL 2015 

  A nice sampler included in this issue and part 2 of 1816 Vierlande.

 

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

Revisit part 3

These two should have been on the under 6" post but it was fairly photo heavy.

Stacy Nash Handwork Club 1820 Redwork Pinkeep, and Stacy Nash girl's club Peacock Peacock.

 

 

 

More of Stacy Nash, County Sampler Love is All Pinkeep.  This one shown was a giveaway won by Julie, the second one I stitched in the same linen but the backing fabric is different.  I think.  And Sheepish Design Rosanna Pinkham finished with a felted wool pouch and blanket stitching.

Threads of Gold Anna Eliza Abe sampler.  The pink house's stitching looked uneven and wonky in the original so I stitched blocks going horizontal and vertical trying to recreate the look.  Lightly aged using Ranger Archival ink pad in coffee and a very soft brush.  One of my absolute favorites, R&R's Dorothy Allen.  The photo on the chart features very light linen and light threads, completely different look with the dark Sea Glass linen.  I have many charts that are not appealing at all from their attached photos, you sometimes have to look beyond.  Glad I did.

 

Another Stacy Nash, Malabar Farm Pinkeep and Scarlet Letter's Frances Bliss, offered along with Lydia Hinckley in one chart.  I didn't change six to sex, it was Frances!

 

R&R 1739 is another that doesn't catch your eye from the original's photo on the chart.  Love love love it.  May stitch again to sell.  The hanger is a strip of odd green wool that matches the DMC thread.  The other is my latest completion that I copied from a photo on eBay, no chart.  Can't get the colors to show well in photos.

 

 

That's it for smaller samplers.  So many others were stitched and no longer here, these are staying with me.  I do love the simplicity of marking samplers like Bliss, Hinkley, Allen, Robina.  If you love samplers but don't want to attempt a larger piece with motifs and elaborate borders, there are quite a few small projects out there.  Most featured here are OOP and some are really old, but there's always new ones offered.  Searching online without a local shop is really time consuming!  The first shops here carried Merrily Beams and those were the only samplers I ever saw before finding an ad in a magazine for The Scarlet Letter.  Later, two in Ohio were fabulous shops of linens and reproductions, that eventually closed.

 

I think I'm done!!

 I doubt I will do a post of the larger ones.

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