I made a decision for your gift!

Hi everyone.  Hope this post finds you well and safe!  I don't have a lot of time to post about stitching, or even to stitch!  My contractor showed up today and I am glad to get started on these unfinished projects.  The scanner and printer are under a sheet in a pile of stuff so I am limited in what I can accomplish. 

But short and sweet - here's your gift....offer.....giveaway.  Finishing has been mentioned lately so I thought some supplies might be a good idea.  First off, an oval box with my sampler bag design as a label (it got a little too much flame with my limited movement so I may do another).    Inside the little box, you will find 3 fat 1/8's of backing fabric.  One is orange with pumpkins, another is brown with holly, and the third is mustard with moon & stars.

  

To finish it off, a new bottle of my favorite fabric glue, Liquid Stitch, a temporary fabric glue stick to hold trims and edges while stitching, and of course, Fray Check.

So the total offer is for the little fabric pieces, finishing helpers, and the box. 

 Leave a comment on this post only. 

I will draw a name on the 15th, next Saturday, at 8 pm.  Enjoy your weekend.  Thank you for visiting and talk to you soon!

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A knotty girl

Yes I am!  Hi everyone.  I admit it.  Much to the dismay of my sister in law who was an exceptional needleworker.  But it's all out in the open now.  I don't know why cross stitch instructions are so adamant about knot having knots.  Am I the only one or do you slip a few here and there?  Because I don't use a high count linen, my thread is always doubled. 

 When ending the thread, I pick up and go through one thread from the last stitch, then again to knot, then run along the back of adjacent stitches.  It secures that last stitch from becoming a little loose from lack of tension, and allows me to cut the tails closer. 

 Am I making you queasy again?  I can't see what the big deal about knot knotting is.  It doesn't make a bump on the other side, and when doing a small motif of several colors, you end up with a much thicker area when thread after thread is ended under stitches. 

So there you have it. 

Another non-traditional, reckless, wild, and defiant act.  I'm such a rebel.

I've been working on Mary and changed a few colors, mainly because I don't like thread so light it blends with the fabric.  I choose 931 instead of 161 and decided to tone it down a bit with the Pearl Gray dye.  It's just enough. 

 And didn't I just post about not keeping several skeins of the same color together?    Totally forgot and when pulling another thread, I noticed this difference in the same color.  It's not a big deal but it can be in some designs so I really need to pay attention.   

I also started my sampler bag free chart on a lighter fabric using these same colors.  Looking at the two together, I can see what I thought would be a subtle difference in 28 and 32 count.  I was wrong.  Much nicer on the 32. 

I dyed a few pieces of off white linen and got three different results.  Originally, they looked exactly the same ivory, but in the dye bath, one came out tan, one beige, and one a pinkish shade.

Today we went to Volant.  I had a signed print from a local artist of The Tavern in New Wilmington, a charming eatery that has been there for decades.  I never had it framed and decided to offer it after reading an article about the landmark.   In return, I got a dozen of their sticky buns.  Guess how many are left?

We also stopped at the antique store and I purchased this nasty wall cabinet.  It's bad isn't it?   24" x 34" of nasty.

 Made from old crates with hinges I've never seen before.  Wasn't too much money so Mark told me to buy it because we weren't going back tomorrow.  He knew if I didn't buy it, I would want it, and if I bought it, I would be sorry.  That's me.  But I can work with it - a long skinny basket from Ann  on top and a skimpy vine wreath on the door.  Ann framed her Lydia Broome and guess what?  Before seeing hers I had already disassembled my Lydia pillow and mounted it for framing.  Now I'm glad I did and will be ordering a frame from Ebay.

I'm still having a small offer for 400 followers and 200 posts but not sure what it will be yet.  And this has nothing to do with anything, but did you know that women's pants can be ordered by inseam length from Land's End?  Their clothes are good quality, and they have closeout and special deals.  Excellent customer service.

That's it.  There was more but I can't remember, so until I do, thank you for visiting!  Hope you all had a great weekend. 

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The stitchin' swing

Hi to everyone on a sad day for me.  Summer's over.  September starts the fall season for me even if the temps are still high, which they are today.  I'm taking advantage of the warmth, and my swings.  There's something about that slow steady movement that calms the nerves and relieves the stress.  It does it for babies, and carries through to elderly folks.  My mom and dad always had a backyard swing, the first being held by a stand made from shiny black pipes.  The last was a wooden stand with that same black swing, now hanging in my garage.  It calmed mom and put dad to sleep.  They would bundle up even when it was cold and enjoy the soothing motion.  I've found that it does the same for me. 

The single swing we had built for mom when she lived here, is purposely high enough for my feet to swing free.  It starts with a slow but deliberate motion and as the stress melts away, I swing as high as the kids on playgrounds. Really high.  It's so much fun, and I always end in a upbeat mood.  When I'm not reaching for the sky, I stitch here.

I have hanging hooks that I use to hold necessities, and the handle installed for mom to lift herself off the swing will always be in place to hang my scissors.  The big swing is another stitching spot and offers more room, but my favorite is mom's.  So today is when I realize there won't be many more stitching afternoons in my favorite spots. 

My wrist is getting no better and I believe there is a crack, a tendon/ligament tear, or something related that they missed.  I have a new very restrictive brace and holding the fabric is still painful. But I started a sampler that I came across by accident.  Mary Oldfield from SANQ #41.  You can see a finished example from Tempus Fugit here, the fabulous blog!  Mary happened to be in with the santa charts and since I can't hold too wide of a fabric, thought she would be a good choice to start.  And I did.  On three different linens, deciding on the medium shade, and also because the linen piece was narrower and easier to hold.  See that?  A decision!  But that's the only one. I would love to hire a decision maker, but so far haven't found that heading in the Yellow Pages. And when I do, I hope there's only one cause I don't want to be confronted with a hiring decision.  If you're wondering why it's every other letter, I haven't decided on the other floss shade I want to use for this linen color.  I have two other much smaller samplers lined up and may switch to them if I can't handle this amount of fabric.

 I'm going back outside to sit with Bud and stitch more.  I'll leave you with a photo of him in his favorite box.

 My doe is still coming for bread several times a day and her fawns are losing their spots.  She came one night about midnight and scared the heck out of me when I saw a figure moving outside the window!

I hope if any one of you or your loved ones are affected by the flooding, that you find relief and help quickly.  Thank you again for visiting with me, and welcome to new followers.  I hope there's enough to keep all of you interested, entertained, or inspired.  I gain inspiration and the most wonderful finishing ideas, help and instruction, information and new products, or just awesome photos from visiting yours.  And, of course, stash enabling.  So to all of you stitching bloggers, thank you.  Stay safe, enjoy the holiday weekend, talk to you soon.

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Eunice's frame and sticky pins

Hello!  My frame for Eunice came in on time.  I had the sampler here and took it to Hobby Lobby to have them assemble the work.  This is my first piece of Museum glass and the clarity is amazing!  But.  It has the same glare as the other glass at certain angles. 

I hung her where it is the worst to see if there would be any difference.  No. Worth almost 3x the cost of regular glass?  There is a huge difference in your work's appearance, but not in reflections so for me, no.  The cost for this glass in Lucy's frame would be $124.  Mark said for everything Lucy put me through, I should get it!  I'm not.

This 2" wide pumpkin colored frame was not first choice since I always go for a dark wood, but the more I thought about it ......  so I changed the order.  I question and doubt everything, wondering if it's another quirk of menopause or was I always like this.  I can't remember.  So for those of you interested in how they did, the frame is perfect.  As for mounting the work itself, I can't comment since I did my own.   Staples were used and he didn't shoot them into the linen.  I noticed a tiny piece of something on the light linen that should have been blown off and as soon as we got in the car, Mark said, "you're taking it apart aren't you", to which I replied with a look he clearly understands after 42 years.  Museum glass is very tricky and the interior side's coating can scratch, or leave fingerprints so I won't touch it.  The price for the  9" x 9 1/2" frame and Museum glass was $69 -   $45.90 frame, $4.50 for spacers, $3 for acid free back board, $15 for Museum glass with coupon or $5 for regular.  I also bought a large piece of acid free foam board with 40% off.  A similar frame for a smaller 5 x 7 piece at my local shop will be close to that.  I found several online framers that are reasonable and may take a chance ordering a few that way.      

I've read articles on using stainless steel pins for mounting and how the magnets we use to find dropped pins, do not work on stainless.  Well, looky here.    Every pin in this new box jumped on to the magnet, which is a strong one, but they also stuck to a fridge magnet.  Yes there is a magnetic stainless which I thought was only used in specific industrial applications.  My few older pins are not magnetic, neither are the ones in men's new dress shirt collars, and why would framers mention the lack of magnetic properties?   It states stainless on the package and  I wrote to them but haven't heard back. 

I'm sure you're all familiar with the greatest curtain catalog, Country Curtains, and when I received my latest issue I found sheers in a gingham check (which mom would have loved) and these Parisian Note panels and valances.  Neat!  Not for me, but neat!  They have the nicest selection and quality materials.

I mentioned that I should be offering a thank you gift for reaching 400 followers and haven't made a decision on that yet but will soon.  There's that word again - decision.  You have no idea how many days I've wasted on the $#%@ kitchen.  I need a pill!!!  That's it.  I can't believe it's Labor Day.  NOOO!!!!  I don't want summer to end but I can see the dying flowers and leaves cluttering the yard.  
Cool nights.  Darkness coming earlier each week.  Say it ain't so.

Thanks for visiting.  Enjoy the week - talk to you soon!

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Freedom

Happy Saturday.  It's almost over so have a happy Sunday. 

First off, Kellie from Indiana (no blog) will be receiving the charts.   If you'll notice, the first one opened says "Splenda".  I jotted it down as a reminder and must have thought it looked like a name.  Kellie, email me with your address and I'll get them in the mail to you Monday.  Thank you to all who participated!

Now for the glass debate.  I feel defiant!  Reckless!  Like a bra burner!  But I really like the way it looks.   .....   No.  Not without the bra, without the glass.  I took a few shots to show you how the experiment is going.  Of course you all know the difference in the appearance, but I wanted you to see how hidden my pieces were in my setting.

This is how I see them and if you look closely, you'll see that the glass is off one.  Here we go with it removed from this grouping.  I can't believe how the white goose stands out!  As I look at the wall now at dusk with lighting, fabulous.

 Now for two different samplers before and after.  Nice!  I never liked the frame on the bottom one and may change it to a small pillow.   My sister in law stitched it for me and had her framer pick the frame and mount it.  Not a good choice at all.

Now take a look at the inside of this one.

No back board and the metal clips right up against the linen.  Here's another of mine from the same folks.

Again no back board.  The taped piece was 25 years ago, and the one without the tape is newer and after the class action lawsuit was brought to them from a customer that found out they taped his work.  He contacted as many stitchers as possible to bring the lawsuit (I wasn't notified) and the judgment was to reframe and remount all the taped pieces.  Now the really bad one. 

This was taped, mounted on double boards, styrofoam back board, and shot with staples THROUGH my work.  The linen thread is broken in quite a few places and this was framed right to the border.  So I guess unless you know your framer well and trust them, you don't know what you'll find when you open the back.  I may work on the larger pieces in the dining room tomorrow but I need to finalize the kitchen (yes, the damn kitchen) drawings. I have the small wall on paper but I'm still having a hard time.  Moving the doorway is the sticking point in this tiny kitchen that you would think could only be laid out a few ways but NOOOooooo.  I had to come up with seven different layouts.   

I'll leave you with a picture of Bud, Nitwit's father.  I put a few boxes outside to see if they would get in and he picked the smallest.  He's in there all day, every day.  Unless Missy gets in first, then he pouts in the bigger box. 

Enjoy your weekend.  Stay safe.  Thank you for visiting.  I may have a surprise for you this coming week!

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A sweet surprise

Hello all.  I received a package in the mail from a reader wanting to help me remove my errors without using duct tape!  She sent this darling little two pocket pouch with these perfect little tweezers, and this fabulous laying tool.   It's so smooth that I kept holding it and rubbing it like a worry stone!  Remember those?

Without a local shop, as many of us, I never saw these tools and she was gracious enough to write a little note with beautiful handwriting (yes!) about these tools being so helpful.  Thank you again Carole!  We meet some wonderful people blogging, don't we?   

I finally came up with some relief for my wrist.  See this swollen bump?  This entire side is killing me and radiates up the arm.  The brace they keep giving me immobilizes the thumb which is not helping one bit.  I need to stabilize the opposite side.  Long story short, I did my own thing and turned the brace around.  It worked.  I can't move the wrist to the left and that stopped the pain.  My thumb is now free and can bend to hold a piece of linen, and although wearing it backwards is not comfortable at all, it certainly helps.

  Now for another decision that I'm pondering.  Glass?  No glass?  My latest frame will come in with museum glass but after seeing another display of the product, it will still reflect my windows.  I had a talk with the local framer and we discussed the glass debate.  Many of her customers frame without, and the majority of the antique pieces she got in, never had glass.

 

I'm tired of seeing the curtains and windows instead of the samplers.  (And that old chandelier I need to sell.) That's Fanny taped over the reflection as a little test.  Then I removed the glass from a framed piece and really liked it.  Such a different mood and look!  Texture, no reflections, clarity.  I'm thinking.... what the heck?  I'll keep the glass, marking and wrapping each individually, and have the option of returning it to the frame if I change my mind.   I have many pieces that are cupboard tucks, little pillows, sewing bags, box lids.....I wasn't worried about them, and they would certainly get more dust than a vertical piece.  I can't picture Margaret's or Glenna's samplers without glass, and after all these years, I'm a little uncomfortable thinking that mine will look unfinished.  But I'll try it.  The framer recommends the canned air dusters be used every couple months and no direct sun, which wouldn't be a problem.  She also told me that the film collecting on the inside of the glass is actually off-gases from the styrofoam, certain mats, types of threads, even the unsealed wood edges. 

 I asked her for a discontinued frame sample that I could use to check my mounting margins.  Wasn't that a long overdue good idea?  What a great help this will be.  Next visit I will ask for a straight piece she has no use for to help with long edges.

One more thing.  I happened to notice my followers have reached 400.  May not stay at that number because I lose a few every once in a while.  But thank you.  Really.  Thank you!   I have a lot of decisions to make this weekend.  One of them will be whether I should have another thank you offer.  Of what?  Hmmm.

I'll be back tomorrow after drawing a name for the charts.  I see that some of you are interested in one design but I originally stated that they are one offer so I'm sorry I can't separate them.

Thank you to all followers, new and old, and for everyone taking the time to visit.  I can't tell you how much I appreciate your interest.

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