Little finish

Sunflowers? Gotta love 'em. So when my friend Sue sent me this little card, I knew I had to drop everything and stitch it. Doesn't it remind you of my pysanky eggs? Obviously I switched the fabric color...I've never been fond of working on black.  That's PTP Twilight and DMC floss.

And I just dropped off two finishes to be framed last night.  Between the Micheal's framing sale and the Joann's coupon that I had in my hot little hands, I was pretty happy.  The total price was so reasonable, it was like I was back in the 1980's,! 

Don't you wish we had a time machine that could transport us back to the 80's just for needlework framing purposes?  And then I'd come directly back, because everything else about the 80's I could leave behind there.  The clothes, the hair, the music.  And especially crappy Chevy Citation I was driving back then.

Not my car.  Mine was Moronic Maroon and in much worse shape.  I totally hated that car.

Moronic Maroon.  Should that be a thread color?  Did I tell you that I get a thread monthly from Hand Dyed Fibers?  Vicki uses such unusual names for her threads.  The last batch I received were all dragon themed.  Dragon tears, dragon breath, dragon claw, dragon blood.  I love to open those packages and read all of the names.  Of course, the deep, dark sarcastic side of me loves the dark names....like BeWhined, Bitterness, Primordial Ooze, Rue the Night, and my fave - Acts of Violets.

Oh, and speaking of unusual names, we had a new stitcher at our Friday night group last night.  Here name was Rhodabell May Hogbin and she was just a delight.  She brought us her amazing collection of Shepherds Bush stockings and told us how she loved each and every stitch on each stocking.  They really were quite marvelous.

Evidently, she was quite the comedian, too, because the ladies at her end of the table were laughing like crazy at the end of the night.  Which is also very interesting because they're all so hard of hearing.  So if they were only hearing half of what she said and still laughing that hard?  Well, she must be a regular Sinbad of Stitching.

This could be interesting. 

Time to run the sweeper and wake my son, (aka Sleeping Beauty). 

Finishing Sunday

Well gang, I didn't have a porch day this weekend.  I tried to have a porch night on Friday, but the heat was unbearable, even in the shade.  It's been so hot that I've been putzing around and sitting on my butt doing nothing but staring an awful lot and when Sunday rolled around, I still wasn't in the mood to sit and stitch.  So I spent Sunday doing a little finishing and then a LOT of cleaning.  My sewing area is usually a mess to begin with, but then when I start to pull out fabrics and trims and whatnot, I can make it look like a tornado blew through. Let's just say it was a tornado of creativity...

So this La D Da piece had been sitting in my to-do pile for a little while.  It's going to be a gift for someone in my family, but I don't know who that will be yet.  There are two relatives who would like this...

It's difficult to see the trim in this photo, but it's cute and glittery.

The fabric also has a touch of glitter

A BBD design, stitched with HDF's Mountain Meadow and finished as a very simple little pillow. 

Some cool trim sent to me a long time ago from a friend in Germany.  Finally found the perfect use for it!  Backing is just light blue silk.  Man, that was a bugger to work with.  So wispy! And I'm still experimenting with ways to eliminate some of the puckers.  Silk wasn't a good choice for Sunday's experiment.

I've been playing with one of the new PS freebies and should be finishing that tonight, then I think I'll devote time to my Eileen Bennett sampler and to The Sampler that Never Ends for the rest of the week.  The month of August looks ridiculously busy for us, so I'm going to take this time to stitch and believe me, I'm going to enjoy every minute of it!

A heads up for you all

Picture This Plus is having their Internet Christmas in July sale today (July 25) and it will be on until 7AM Central Time tomorrow (July 26).  25% off!

These ladies dye some awesome fabrics.  I've been lucky enough to visit their shop in Abilene Kansas twice and kit up some amazing projects using their hand dyeds.  And what's even more amazing is that I've finished a few!    Like these:

PTP's Chime - I've shown you the finished stitching, but this unfinished photo shows the fabric better.

PTP's Heritage

PTP's Fog

And the newest PS designs that are stitched on black?  I'm working on one now and using PTP's Twilight and it's awesome.  Much nicer than black.  Just FYI, if you like Prairie Schoolers but aren't crazy about all that black. 

Just FYI about that last La D Da finish

*This* is the true color of my fabric.  (image from the PTP website) It just didn't photograph well.

It was so hot this morning,

That when I came back inside from my daily walk/run, even my eyeballs were sweating.

But who cares about all that, when I have TWO finishes to show you?  First up - BBD's Rose Garden.  I really thought this would be pincushion sized, until I actually started stitching it.  All alone, it was kind of an awkward size.  Too big to be a pincushion, too small to be a pillow.  So it needed a bit of help.  Luckily, I'm addicted to quilt fabric, also.  This checked fabric was in my stash, probably for another project, but who knows what that could have been. 

BBD's Rose Garden.  Stitched with HDF's BeWhined.  Don't know what this fabric was though.  Just a leftover scrap.

I used to belong to our local garden club and occasionally they'd have a jewelry fundraiser.  The club members would clean out their jewelry boxes and hold a little flea market.  I found this pin and loved it.  It looks perfect on my grey blazer.  But until it's blazer wearing weather, it can rest on my pillow. 

And by the way, if anyone has any tips on how to stuff a pillow nicely, I'd love to know them.  The cotton sections always look nicely stuffed, but the linen section never seems to be as smooth, no matter how much I stuff in there.

And here is finish #2 - La D Da's Tis the Gift.  I absolutely adored stitching this.

La D Da's Tis the Gift.  Stitched on 28ct PTP Chime linen with recommended threads

The linen is actually much more of a buttery yellow than you can see here. Love, love, loved it.  I can't wait to have this framed.  And now I had better to get to work so I can afford all of this framing. 

Comments on Comments

Obviously I'm not alone when it comes to buying bathing suits.  And since you all can't be lucky enough to find a bathing suit laying around in a rental condominium, I thought I'd share my info about this 2011 purchase.  You know...the one that came in its original wrapper.

Actually, Deb and Dianne were right, this is a Lands End suit.  I knew that if I waited to go shopping for a suit in a real store, I'd never do it.  And I used to buy Lands End clothes from Sears and liked their style and fit, so I went to their online site for my swimsuit. 


I liked that I could buy tops and bottoms as separates.  I know I can do that in department stores.  Theoretically.  It's never actually worked for me. I can never find the proper sizes in both pieces.  So...I pulled the measuring tape out of my stitching box and used the Lands End sizing chart and wow, were my top and bottom ever different!  I measured as a 4 top and a 12 bottom.  (What the heck - I've already told you my most embarrassing swimsuit story, so I might as well tell you everything.  Yes, I am pear shaped.  No shoulders or boobs, with an oversized butt.)  I was worried about that size 4 top, though, so opened their swimsuit chat and talked with my swimwear "expert", Jason.  Mr. Jason told me to order a 6.  So that's what I did.

Also, their website has customer feedback about each suit.  Each suit is rated and discussed and customers can tell you if they think it runs big, small or true to size.  I thought that was really helpful, especially since I was still skeptical about the top size.  It steered me away from some bottoms that I was kind of liking but unsure about. 

Oh - and it didn't cost me an arm and a leg.  Both pieces with shipping and tax?  About $50.  Which was the bottom range of what I had expected to spend so that was pleasing, too!  So now I'm going to make my friend Ginny go shopping with me so that I can buy a pair of these.  Glittery Cowgirl flip flops.

Oh, it's a great day!

Well, in my last post I told you that I had gone to Ocean City, Maryland with the fam.  And when I go to the beach with them, I don't count on being able to sit in one spot and read until my eyeballs fall out - which would be quite nice, but doing things with my family can be ok, too.  (I am still campaigning for that Mother of the Year award).

So anyway, when I'm at the beach with them, I can usually count on going for walks and occasionally wading into the waves and even sometimes swimming in the waves.  And all of those things require wearing the dreaded bathing suit.

I hate, hate, hate buying bathing suits.  Consequently, I just don't.  I avoid it at all costs.  I wear suits until they are so worn out and ugly that I could actually be used as shark repellent when I wear them.  (Insert Gordon Ramsey's voice here, as he pretends to be a shark:  "What is that?  That's disgusting!") My last "new" suit?  Well, we were on vacation at Bass Lake in North Carolina several years ago, and I found it in a dresser drawer.  So I washed it and put it on.  And said, Hm.  This fits.  And wore it for 5 years.  Gross, I know, but clearly I have no pride or self-respect when it comes to bathing suits.

And that was the little number I wore to the beach last weekend.  As we were walking down the beach, I came to the realization that spending the winter in my closet had not magically rejuvenated the elastic in the legs.  So my lovely walk with my husband was more like Step-Step-Tug, Step-Step-Tug.  It completely ruined the romantic hand-holding.  And swimming was even more fun.  The waves were rough, and I took a few good tumbles, but when the day was over and I went back to the shower I realized that I had taken at least half of the beach away with me.  All stored in my crotchal region.

If only I had been this cute.

So I decided it was time to break down and buy a new suit.  I wasn't in the proper frame of mind to hit the mall.  I'm going to bet it was slim pickins there anyway, especially since the bathing suits had been hanging on the racks since...oh, about....February.  So I decided to order a suit through mail order.

(No, I didn't order it from Victoria's Secret.  I've probably been blackballed by that company for my extreme snarkiness.  Plus, I think a prerequisite of buying one of their suits is the willingness to stand around with your thumbs in your pants, looking like you can't wait to disrobe.)
 
Well, my suit arrived Thursday and Miracle of Miracles, it fits!  I even got approval from my daughter (in the form of "Oh, that's cute"), so I'm pretty doggone happy about that.  Do you want to see it?

You didn't think I'd be IN it, did you?  Silly you.

So now shore towns up and down the East Coast don't have to worry about sand replenishment each time I exit the beach.  But swimmers need to beware.  Those sharks are mighty hungry after 5 years.

Porch Days

It was so nice to have a porch day yesterday.  It was one of those picture perfect days outside and it was made even better when my crazy neighbors actually went away for the whole day.  It was a day of sun and shade and breezes and hearing nothing but birds singing and sweet wind chimes.  The gods of summer were smiling on me.

Oh, but wait!  Look what joined me on the porch!

Could it be my old friend, the Sampler That Never Ends?

Yup, it decided it needed some air this weekend, too.  It also was trying to remind me that I've been seriously slacking in my goal to finish it within the year.  So I devoted myself to finishing one border.  The last red border was an easy one - it got into a rhythm right away and poof - done. 

And actually, I don't stitch in the sun these days.  I'm a shade girl now.  So here's where I spent my quality time with the STNE.

But let me back up a little.  We had a wonderful stitch night this past Friday.  I hadn't been with the Friday night girls in a month and boy oh boy, had I missed them.  We had a nice sized group, including a new face or two.  And a Panera customer who was also a stitcher walked by the meeting room door and saw what was going on and was sucked into the room right away!  The reaction of her husband and daughter was priceless.

Daughter:  "Look, Mom found a group of cross stitchers!"
Husband:  "Sigh"

Ok, I guess you had to be there.

So our little group is growing and it's very heartening.  And it can't be just the free frozen lemonades...We're having a lot of laughs.  Even stitching a little.  I took along BBD's Rose Garden and I'm OH SO CLOSE to finishing.  Maybe if I'd stop talking and eating so much...

 And I even got bold and added a date - which is surely going to doom the project.  What do you want to bet that I misplace it, only to find it after December 31?

Oh, I should back up even further and tell you that we went to Ocean City last week!  Of course, I stuffed my face with crab cakes every day.  But I also made my pilgrimage to Salty Yarns and as usual, Sally's place did not disappoint me.  So much stuff and in such an unlikely place!  On a boardwalk?  Near a big french fry store?  I know...go figure.  But her shop is a delight.  I was with my pesky family, so I didn't have time to scour each and every rack - kind of had to rely on whatever jumped out and caught my eye.  But I bought a couple things, including a Pine Mountain kit and a patriotic styled Quaker.

What is it about being in a great shop that alters my perception of time?  I swear, I was only in there maybe 30 minutes, but Dave insisted it had been over an hour.  I think we stitchers need to develop our own time format.  So when we tell our families that we'll be in a shop for a few minutes, they should automatically know to multiply that by at least 7.    Like when we talk about dog years.  It'd be only natural.

Busy week ahead - hopefully the days will go fast so that the nights can be for stitching.  But right now I'm going to go find Rose Garden and pin it to my shirt so I don't lose it.


Till next time!

Some lovely, lovely blog friends

This week has started much better than last week. Everyone who was on my nerves last week is officially off my nerves this week.

As much as I don't like to admit it, sometimes when I'm faced with big entertaining - like 50 or more people, which is big for me - I start to get a little persnickety.  And a little compulsive.  And difficult to live with.  All right.  Downright impossible to live with.  It's a good thing I have an understanding family and nice friends.  Especially my husband, who agreed to help me host the neighborhood party last Friday, knowing that he'd be working an 11 hour day and returning to a house full of people.  And getting up to go back to work Saturday morning.  He's a great guy.

All in all, it was a good kick-off to a holiday weekend.  Then Saturday morning I met with my friend Linda at the Oakmont Bakery, where we had some lunch and talk and stitching.  I had never been there on a Saturday before and we were amazed by the crowds of people ordering rolls and baked goods and by the amazing cakes walking out the door.  It was really something to see.  I wish I could have taken some pictures to show you, but there were so many people in front of the bakery counters that I would only have been able to show you the backs of people's legs.  So after a week of kind of stressing out (and completely denying that I was stressed), a morning of friendly stitching was just the ticket and Linda is a terrific stitching companion. 

Enjoyed a relaxing day on the deck on Sunday, then all of the fun July 4 happenings here at our lake.  And I would have been sad to get back to normal yesterday, except that these beauties were waiting at my post office. Look at this sweet monogrammed pincushion!

From the wonderful and kind Denise, who did a quick BBD chart switcharoo with me.  I sent her Basket of Memories and she sent me Rose Garden.  Miss Blazing Needles over there in Ohio stitched and finished her pincushion in record time, but I'm still stitching away on Rose Garden.  Almost finished though...But anyway, when Denise returned Basket of Memories, she also tucked this sweet pincushion into the package.  I just love it.  Love my monogram.  Love the silver button and the trim, love the thought that went behind it.  I've already thanked her privately, but now I'll do it publicly.  Thank you Denise!  It's awesome.

And generous Joanie read my post about our visit to HDF, where I talked about my love affair with those particular silk threads.  Well, this was the result.  She sent me a big squishy envelope of these wonderful silks.  It was like opening a rainbow.  At Christmas.  But in July.  Thank you, Joanie!  I enjoyed fondling them and sorting them and photographing them, and now I'll enjoy stitching with them!

I am one very blessed blogger.