Thanks...

for the emails about my sister.  She is in the hospital, irregular beat and Afib caused a clot, it's in the lung, and hopefully there aren't others.  This hit us all in the pit of our stomachs because of my dad's slow suffocation death by the same.  At least this time, the doctors and radiologists are not idiots without a clue.  She's breathless and not allowed to move much, ablation was mentioned, shock will be tried first, after they look for more clots.  I'll post again when she is well and home.  Thank you all!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wonder clips

Hello people!   Hope you had an incident-free weekend.   Ours was a little anxious since my sister seems to be repeating her last condition.  We'll know more today.

I wanted to show you these clips that I found on Nancy Zieman's site.  My local JoAnn's doesn't carry them but their website does. 

 They are Wonder Clips made by Clover.  Great for holding fabrics when hand sewing (or machine).  They come larger, but even this small size holds the thick felted wool.  The bottoms are flat so your piece lays smooth and neat.  Now I can have small projects in my bags without worrying about getting stuck by a pin.  A very nice woman called to inform me that she had my package.  The post office delivered the 8 x 10 box with my name and address to another name and address, no where near close to mine.  I stopped at the post office and they never even scanned the box as received or delivered, so I'm grateful that she was nice enough to call me.

 

Work on the horses ... well... what can I say?  I started charting it the end of January, stitching the first of February, and it should have been completed by now.  Technically it was.  Several times. 

  Last night I starting removing the right side flowers to change the colors.  When that's done, I'm fairly sure that I will remove the large twisting center leaf for color too.  Both elements were fine, but too bright.  As the piece progressed, it was overwhelmed with the reds which is obviously not apparent on a black and white chart.  Going back to the photo showed them to be softer than the berries on the left.   To top it off, this color was what I used originally and thought it was wrong, not enough contrast.  Maybe holding off on the white outlines until the end wasn't smart.  What a difference it makes!

 

No reply from the kitchen guy yet.  I worked on these two boxes and they are ready for whatever paint finish I decide.  One will be in the foyer above this little pine chest that I had in the basement. Perfectly small and functional.  We will add a base with legs, change the knobs, add a new top, and some sort of aged paint.  Because of its small size (21" wide), proportion will dictate the changes.

 

 

 

 

 

Cold weather is returning and I once again have the visitor from hell.  I know this look well.  Good thing this chair will be reupholstered eventually because she uses the wing as a scratching post.

Hope your week is starting well, and gets better as it progresses.

Thanks for visiting!

P.S.  Francis Bliss and Lydia Hinckley Samplers from Scarlet Letter are on EBay HERE.  One is spelled wrong and the other doesn't have SL in the title so they came up in different searches.  Just in case someone is interested!

 

 

 

Carpal tunnel anyone?

Good day!  It's not snowing......yet......so it's a good day.  How's everyone doing?  Anxiously awaiting spring? 

Kathy left a comment about having carpal tunnel syndrome and since she's no-reply, I thought a post with suggestions might be a good idea.  I'm sure many of you are having the same pain and if anyone would like to share their attempt at relief, it may help others. 

My SIL, stitcher extraordinaire, had and treated it as long as she could to avoid surgery.  She took a B6 supplement and did stretching exercises (like Yoga) that she found online, all recommended by her doc.  Three days of an Advil regimen calmed inflammation flare-ups.  She wore a splint to bed to prevent more nerve pinching, and a glove when stitching.  Do you use a wrist support or glove (like Thera-Glove) that still allows stitching?    The wrist brace I needed after my cast came off was very cumbersome and uncomfortable but there are others with less bulk.  Can anyone recommend a favorite? 

 One that doesn't have a bulky thumb wrap and looks more comfortable is this one from DonJoy, Bell-Horn, and others.  All elastic with an aluminum support.  The affected nerve is really at the base of the palm which is why the stay needs to be up into the hand area.  You can find this one on Ebay here. 

 

Another that has no thumb strap and leaves the fingers completely free is the Carpal Mate.  It doesn't look like a good option for a very small hand.  Lots of places to purchase on Amazon, Ebay, and others.  I don't know if either are comfortable to wear, but they look the least confining and are not expensive.

 

That's today's Medical Matters.  And now a word from our sponsors.

Fusspotiness - quirk or issue?

Hiya.  I received a few emails questioning my fusspotiness on the horses.  It's because I have issues.  Many issues.  Some related to aging, some to hormones, some to bitchdom, some to personality.  Is issues a kinder sounding word than quirks?  Take your pick.  And before I show the horse's ass, I have a question.  Am I the only one that ends up throwing packaging across the room?  I get so angry at the boxes containing my snack bars and klondikes.  The first flap is bad enough, but the two little end flaps won't give up, they hold on for dear life, and I end up ripping those ears and the remaining flap into shreds and throwing them while grinding my teeth even shorter.  I keep the ice cream treats in the basement freezer as a worthless deterrent, and the husband will sometimes come up the stairs and ask "what happened down there?"  Am I doing something wrong or do the packaging people fear a bar may escape?

My horses are finally FINALLY close to the original.  At first, I followed Lisa's design and the more I checked the photo, the more I realized they weren't folksy enough.  The original has thinner heads, different hind quarter and rears, ears, tails, and hooves that are not defined.  The one on the left was after two tweaks and the right is now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For as much as I've studied this, I just saw another difference.  The white spot on the head is actually a spot, not an eye and the black is part of the mane.  Hmm.  Am I being too fussy?  Of course I will say no, but I am.  They are both fine and dandy stallions.  So hard to visualize it stitched when looking at a piece of paper with x's which is why the changes came after.  A huge help would have been the #%&*#!% colored pencils that are misplaced.  Now about that large center leaf.  I was really torn between using 924 and 500.  My fabric started more blue and the choice was 924, but after the walnut dip and a little more teal, the lighter blues weren't as nice and I chose the 500.  But was it the right one?  Each looks good in certain lights, and not good in others.  I seriously doubt that I will change it at this point. (sigh)  I miss my alphabets.

I was so glad to read your comments about your benders!  I thought I was the only mad yanker.  Whew!  You really made me feel better. These new needles are bending more easily than my old favorites so I need to make notes for future projects.  If it looks like a battle may ensue, I will know which needle will win the war and which will surrender.

The sun is out and the fierce wind is giving my cathedral bell wind chimes a workout.  I love it.

The brats are out and about enjoying some fresh air but next week's forecast may bring them back in.  My brother happened to stop by when they were napping and since he is always taking care of strays and his own, I asked him to help with delivering worm pills.  Missy tore me up pretty bad but we got it down.  Nitzy went berserk and we failed.  I need a new pill popper after that.  They don't seem to have much to grab at the scruff so he used other techniques.  Eventually, I'll get Nit.  Squeak and Bud are butting and rubbing heads so I think they're finally accepting each other.  Missy swats him whenever possible, and although he pulls away I still pet him.
Back to the races!

Enjoy your weekend ~ thanks for visiting.

My bender

Greetings!  I'm starting with an apology.  My frustrations with the current stitching project, the lack of help with the house projects, a few family issues, and my failure to control my diet, has me in a snit.  I haven't been commenting, only catching a few blogs now and then, and I'm sorry.  I feel like I'm on the bench in the locker room instead of being in the game.  We all have these periods of disconnect and I'm hoping it ends soon.  My fear was that I will take a break from stitching which has led me to stop before, but that won't happen I'm sure.  I'm on the home stretch with the design after removing the horse's ass once again.  And the big flower.  I thought it would be a cinch to chart these simple flowers and such from a blurred photo of a folded piece.  Why yes, I am a naive twit.  Color changes and simple placements can look good on paper, but not on teal linen.  All the white floral and leaf outlines will be done last.  The top center area has spotted flowers?, strawberries? and a leaf with shading.  That leaf may be another color frogging marathon and I'll start that area after the horses are redone and the big teal leaf is finished.  The other MAJOR issue I've been having is the actual stitching.  The new needle's point is not sharp, yet I am splitting the linen thread one in every five stitches so the floss is not in the "hole", it's off and noticeable.  Sometimes I don't see it until the next row which leads to more frogging.  Lucy Redd tested my patience but wasn't even close in frustration and frogging.  I've never had a problem with splitting threads like this.  Could it be the new needle even though it's not sharp? 

 Whatever, here is the result.  And if I would ever consider a stitching related business, the name would be The Bent Needle.  Appropriate.  This isn't the first time, I've done it often.  I yank so hard when I try to backtrack a stitch instead of removing the needle and gently pulling out the misplaced floss, that this is the result.  

 

 

 

Always in a hurry, I  end up catching or splitting something on the backside, get frustrated, and yank until I distort the linen and bend the needle.  Whew.  That's hard to admit.  But it happens.  Never have the linen threads been damaged or broken, but I do have to give the fabric a snap to realign. This is another one that I keep just to remind myself to be more patient.  Doesn't work though.  Here's so far, done over so many times that I'm surprised the linen color has held.

 

 

 I think hope the next few days of working on this will be the end, and all the white outlines will be an easy relaxing finish.  Good.  I don't want to enter into a new project with this bad attitude.

I'll leave you with a cat puzzle. Took me a while to figure out whose paws were where.

We've had a few days of warmer weather and the snow is melting, along with rains, lightning and thunder. It won't last though. More bad news coming for next week.

Enjoy your weekend.

 

Thanks for visiting.

Two horse finish

Hello people.  Hope all is well.  We got hit again last night with ice, winds, and snow.  My painting hit a snag because my original custom mix was never put in the computer, so I had to scramble to find the original swatch.  Since she made two adjustments after the first mix and never added them to the label, we had to start over.  This time, the computer read it completely different and it's green.  Green.  The paint department regulars have been off and will continue to be, they apologized, but have fill ins from other departments and they are not familiar with formulas.  I decided to paint the wall beneath the chair rail and don't have enough left so I'm not happy.  What else is new?  The kitchen guy won't return my calls.  Is this ridiculous?  I am so tired of this.

Anyway, under the pile of fabrics I was rolling, I found the Two Horse finish that I took off my box. 

I would prefer hanging this piece and since this coarse wool reminds me of horsehair, that's what I plan on using.  Leather laces will be the hanger.  I get these rolls of various colors at Hobby Lobby or Michael's.  Even though it's thick, it stretches easily and I doubt if I could use a fusible stabilizer so I may get a black sew in piece. 

 

 

   

 I cut it into two pieces to fit the stitchery and allowed an inch border.  Should I leave it open as a pocket, or sew around all four sides?   If I leave the top open as a pocket, I think it still needs a decorative stitch so either way, a contrasting blanket stitch will be sewn on all sides. 

 

 

 

 Decisions decisions.  But I do like the rough wool showing rather than the usual pillow/pinkeep finishing.  Normally, I don't like fabric borders. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last night, I worked for hours on one lousy flower outline on my attempt of the original.  I'm going to keep at it as much as I can because the frustration is tempting me to quit.  I've come too far for that and don't want to set it aside.  

 

Enjoy your week!

Thanks for visiting.