December

Even though Stitch from Stash didn't last, I have to give it credit for inspiring me to check into my blog each month.  It may not have been Pulitzer prize-winning stuff and some of you were bored out of your wits reading my monthly stash spending posts, but writing still felt good.

So...here we are in December.  I'm trying to wrap my head around to these winter holidays while living in a climate that - other than having shorter days - is decidedly NOT winter.  Last year we arrived on New Year's Eve, still in winter clothes and not quite ready to shed them.  But this year we arrived much earlier and let me tell you... I don't even remember what my jeans and sweaters look like.

OK...so since I popped in here last, we visited our son in Georgia for Thanksgiving.  I had a great week there and OMG - that boy can cook a turkey that's unbelievable!  My daughter-in-law and I cooked all the side dishes and they were great, but the turkey?  Probably the best I've ever eaten.

In between shopping and getting the kitchen ready for the Big Day, I squeezed in time to visit the Georgia Museum of Art to see the exhibit of Georgia's Girlhood Embroidery.  What a delight! I've downloaded a couple of the online photos from the webpage, but seeing them in person was much, much better.

Frances Rowe - photo from Georgia Museum of Art website.

Mary Smallwood Sampler - photo from Georgia Museum of Art website

After Thanksgiving we left Georgia and drove on down to St. Petersburg Florida, our home for the next 6 months.

I'll share some of my recent stitching with you.  I know everyone everywhere is stitching wonderful Christmas and Winter pieces, but not me.  I honestly can't get into it.  So I've been stitching a BBD piece that I've had in my stash forever.  I even recharted it to read "The lake appears all golden", but times have changed and its original text is just fine now.  I have lots more stitching to do on this, but here's where I am now:

I'm working on finding a home for my other needlework in our Florida home.  So much of my stitching has been very traditional, but Florida architecture and interior decorating feels quite different than that.  So I'm trying to find a balance - tropical and beachy without being twee and still feeling kind of traditional.  I've come across a few mermaid pieces and some nautical samplers, but if anyone has any specific suggestions, I'd be happy to read them.

So that's what's up with me for the month of December. I'll be back in January, but in the meantime, I'll leave you with a sunset over Boca Ciega Bay. 

November Stitch from Stash

Oh well.  Not really.

For a number of reasons, the Stitch from Stash program is over.  I enjoyed it while it lasted, but our leader needed to take care of other things in her life so our little group is no more.  I say good for her...(and without a trace of sarcasm).    It's good to set priorities in life and realize when something you're doing simply doesn't fit your life anymore.

I was on a downhill coast to the end of the year anyway.  I had a good healthy balance in my "available to spend" line and few opportunities to whittle it away between October and December.  But without dwelling too much on dollars and cents, here's what I discovered about my spending:

1. I really and truly can control my spending on charts.  Unless my tastes change dramatically over the next year or two, I can look at a chart and control myself by realizing I have something very, very similar in my stash already.  And it's probably kitted up and has been waiting patiently for me to take a needle to it.  For about 5 years or more. 
2. If I'm going to splurge on charts, it'll probably be online.  My self-control flits away there. In a shop, I walk around with a chart in my hand for a while and then tell myself I don't need it.  Online?  It goes into my shopping cart and I'm less likely to re-evaluate and put it back.  It's too easy to just click, click, click.
3. I lose all control while I'm looking at fabric in a brick and mortar shop.  Even though I'm almost always shopping for one piece of fabric for one particular project, I'm likely to leave with at least four pieces of fabric.  It's kind of a half impulse buy and half  "I may never see this again" feeling.  Fabric is like that.  And those baskets of cut fabrics in unusual sizes?  Just dump them ALL in my shopping bag.  That never happens if I buy online though. I buy what I need and I'm done.
4. I don't go nuts on threads, but I will say that I'm not a bit frugal with threads.  I seem to buy all new threads for every project.  I've been screwed too often by overdyeds' wildly different dye lots, so often I don't even go to my stash to look for thread.  I just buy all new.  That'll eat up a budget quickly.
5. It's not just overdyeds.  I buy all new DMC, too.  There's just something about walking out of the store with a bouquet of fresh and new DMC threads that makes me happy.  

Does anyone else out there have the same shopping behaviors?  If my buying behaviors are common, do you think shop owners are aware of this?  Big box stores throw loads of money into researching customer buying patterns and into how to maximize buying by using your store's layout.  I wonder if small shop owners have access to the same kinds of studies.  

I'm getting ready to leave the lake for the winter. For the next few months I'm trading in an icy lake for a warm bay.  Dave actually left a few weeks ago and took the big stuff with him, so I'm left with the small stuff.  I know that doesn't sound like a lot, but the small stuff is some of the most significant stuff.  Like small electronics and chargers and bathroom and kitchen things...not to mention the work files I need to take.  And of course, a couple bags of stitching and quilting things! 

And I'll tell you, being alone for these weeks hasn't been all fun.  With so many evenings alone, I thought I'd get all kinds of stitching time, but I didn't.  Luckily I had a couple of stitching days with friends, otherwise I'd have been a total slug.  Mostly I worked on the Plenty and Grace sampler.  There's still SO MUCH TO DO!

I'll write again and include some pictures once I get settled down south.  That car isn't going to pack itself.

October Stitch from Stash

As always, first the numbers:

Available to Spend in October:  $96.00
Amount I spent:                         ($12.80)
Amount I earned:                        $8.00
What I can spend in November:  $91.20.....not bad!

October was a crazy and often frustrating month, so I'm happy to have any stitching to report at all, let alone a finish.  I think it was this particular design that spurred me on...when I think about my life I realize how blessed I am.  And many, many of my blessings are because I have such terrific friends.

Threadworks Primitives:  My Treasures

I'm just back from our 6th stitching friends' weekend in North East, Pennsylvania.  North East is a sweet little town and home to lots of scenic wineries, nice little restaurants and the home of the largest plant for  Welch's foods.  Trains come through the town all day, many carrying payloads of grapes.  Some years we get strong whiffs of grape-scented air.  Pretty cool.

I took this quote directly from the Welch's website:
Home to our largest manufacturing plant, the North East location has over 350 employees who produce 280 different juices, jams, and jellies that are so distinctively Welch's. This plant manufactures over 29 million cases a year by employees working across six different packaging lines. Employees also manage up to 17 million gallons of juice in 76 refrigerated tanks throughout the year to manage an average annual harvest season of 125,000 tons of grapes delivered from 724 grower-owners in the region.

So my stitching friends and I had a wonderful weekend, stitching and eating and laughing and listening to the train whistles blow.  I am really blessed!

September Stitch from Stash

First, the numbers:
Available to spend in September:        $67.00
I spent:                                                ($20.00)
I earned:                                               $24.00
                                                             $71.00
Plus October allowance                       $25.00
So I can spend this much in October!  $96.00  (this feels like a challenge...)


And here's how I earned some bucks back.  First of all, it helped that I didn't have any more children getting married over the past month.  And I went to a stitching retreat over Labor Day weekend.  The theme for my retreat should have been:

How to stitch a house in three days (between eating, laughing and sleeping a lot):

Because yes....it took me all three days to stitch that house.  And there are two more houses to build before I can call this sampler even close to complete.  PLUS more grass to stitch than what's growing on the White House lawn.

Another finish was waiting patiently in my Florida bag.  (Meaning it hadn't been unpacked since May.) While we were in Florida I stitched most of last year's PS Santa card except the words and the notes.  After stitching on tiny count all weekend my eyes needed a rest, so finishing him up was a nice break.  Now I've started another... the 1991 Santa.  I love these guys on 18ct linen.

Prairie Schooler 2014 Santa

Are you wondering what I purchased?  Well, it's not here yet, (still in the mail) so I don't have a photo, but I went nuts and bought another one of those crazy OOP Prairie Schooler charts, #42 Angels.  Here's what they look like when they're stitched (online photos of the chart cover were pretty poor quality):

Picture is from a Japanese blog that you can find here:  http://tonpigpen1.exblog.jp/i15/

One of my stitching friends is working on these and they are really vivid in person.  So I've been obsessing about this chart for a year.  And the chart is amazingly hard to find, but I guess I can see why.  These angels weren't the sort of thing people stitched in 1993.  I feel like back in 1993 everyone was all about those Lavender and Lace angels.  And in 1993 I had two pre-schoolers running around the house and no Internet for stash shopping, so I wasn't stitching much of anything.

That's all for this month.  October will be pretty quiet around here unless my Pirates are in the baseball playoffs.  (fingers crossed!!)  It's always a good month for catching up on a book or two and stitching during Sunday football games.

So...I'll talk to you next month!

August Stitch from Stash

We always put the re-cap at the top, so here we go:

Available to spend in August:  $30.00
What I spent:                              $0.00
Amount carried to September:  $30.00
September allowance:               $25.00
Amount earned for finishes  :    $12.00
What I can spend in Sept:          $67.00


Well, what a month!  You won't believe this, but we had another wedding this month.   I have some photos and you can see them in just a minute.  But first....

I finished the fourth PS Santa from Old World Santas.  Ever since I started using Instagram, my brothers and sisters have been "claiming" my finishes, so I think these are all spoken for.  Maybe.  If they're nice to me.  (I'm joking.  It's the least I can do after asking them to traipse all over creation to attend my kids' weddings.)

Isn't this next one cute?  It's a kit from SummerHouse Stitchworkes.  The thing about it I couldn't resist was the wooden nickel.  When my kids played baseball and soccer, wooden nickels were like gold.  See, at each game one of us moms or dads would go to the concession stand and buy a stack of wooden nickels for our team.  Then at the end of the game, the kids would each get a wooden nickel (worth 50 big cents!), clutch them in their little hands and run over to buy a bag of popcorn or some Sour Patch Kids or a can of pop. Win or lose, that run to the concession stand was joyful. So you can see why I loved the wooden nickel in this kit.

And here's my last finish.  You saw that I bought this last month for Newlywed Couple #1.  I've changed the fabric though.  Black or dark grey would have looked great, but this blue matches their camper and having some glittery and opalescent accents makes it even better.  I'll finish it pretty soon...you can see that I've found some nice backing fabric and trim.  Now I just need to decide if I want to finish it flat or pillow shaped.

OK, so last weekend our son got married!  This wedding was very small and intimate, but it was just as beautiful and sweet and special as our daughter's larger wedding.

We had a gorgeous evening wedding at a small winery in Northern Georgia.  Honestly, the weather was cool and dry and ideal...not what you'd expect for an August wedding in Georgia.  So the kids had their marriage ceremony there, and then we spent a little bit of time in the winery tasting room for some wonderful wines and delicious cheese, bread and jam.  Like a small cocktail party.

Then we took a short drive to yet another winery for a delicious meal and more wine.  Then back home for wedding cake. It was a lovely, lovely wedding.

So, two weddings in two months.  Both children are happy.  And as a result, my family has two wonderful new children.  I'll tell you...I feel like I'm livin' the dream!

July 2015 Stitch from Stash report

So friends...it's time for 2015 Stitch From Stash Part B (July-December).  I don't think I had any doubts that I'd re-up for the rest of 2015.  First of all, I really like the budgeting part.  It makes me think  before I buy, and although I won't go so far as saying I'm depriving myself, I feel a certain measure of healthy control.  And then there's the fun of reporting.  Clearly I'm not blogging as much as I used to, so this has helped me back into regular writing.  Even if it's short and sweet - it's still something, right?

And here are my numbers;

Balance at June 30:  $89.00

July Allowance:       $25.00

Spent in July:           ($84.00)

Remaining cash         

carried into August   $30.00 

I've put some more stitches into Plenty and Grace...enough to confidently stitch in a place holder to start the dreaded houses.  Ugh.  I hate stitching houses.  They bore me to tears, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do and if I love samplers, I have to stitch the occasional house, so I'll just suck it up and build three houses into this sampler!

I've also kept stitching my paper PS Santas.  Love, love, love them, and I've finished another.

Last week I went on a road trip with five of my stitching pals for a fun day of shopping and lunch and girl talk.  Crafty Ewe in Broadview Heights, Ohio is our favorite shop and well worth the drive, so off we went.  I did some damage to my Stitch from Stash balance, but most of the things I bought were designs I had thought long and hard about and I only had a couple impulse buys. And if you know me, you will conclude that all of the things I bought were entirely predictable.

First of all, when your newlywed daughter is spending the summer in this:

Please don't ask and please don't laugh

You probably will buy these:

And maybe even be unable to stop yourself from starting it immediately!

If you've ever met any of my friends, near or far, you'd guess that I couldn't resist this.  They are all my treasures:

And the next two were impulse buys.  But really...when you're in the shop that's filled with gorgeous stitched models, you KNOW you're going to put an extra design in your basket.  This one, with Nat King Cole's famous lyrics, was absolutely going home with me.

And I'm a sucker for the sale bin.

 (Thank you, Mary-"You Should Buy That"-VanTyne) 

So .we had shopping, then lunch, then our traditional visit to an Michael-Angelo's Baker.  We mulled around and mulled around, and just before we were ready to leave, the baker came out with this utterly amazing cake:

Is that the most incredible cake ever, or what?  Its detail was amazing, it was entirely edible, and even more gorgeous in person.  I only wish we could have been there when it was presented to the person celebrating her birthday.  Don't you think she would have said what we all were thinking:  "I don't want to cut it!"

Now I'll leave you with a couple more wedding photos:

Getting ready

Dave, Colleen, me

Our son John and our future daughter-in-law, Stefie.

So many happy faces cheering while the new Miller Family is introduced for the first time!

My daughter's wedding

I can't believe it's over.

The setting was lovely.

My daughter was gorgeous.

Everyone had a good time.

Especially these two:

It was a beautiful day and I know they'll have many more in their lifetime to come.

Lee's June Stitch from Stash report

While you're reading this, I'm in Colorado and right in the middle of last minute wedding preparations. It's kinda crazy...

But I can squeeze in a quick Stitch from Stash post. It may be the only easy thing I do today!

I had $64 left from May and $25 for June's allowance to spend in June. 

I spent $0.00

I had a finish but I'll cash that in next month. 

So...not bad! Easy-peasy. 

Next time-wedding pics!

Lee's May Stitch from Stash report

I'm calling May another success as far as keeping within my budget. It would be a great success if I was actually stitching more, but I'll take my victories where I can get them. So here are the numbers:

$74.92 accumulated as of May 1
(21.40) Pin money kit. It was just too cute!
(13.61) Used Jeanette Douglas design with grapes. I'm a sucker for grapes.
$0.00 credit for finishing.
$25.00 May allowance

$64.91 carried to June

So...we arrived home safe and sound at the end of April.  It's been wonderful to be home again. And to arrive home in the midst of the most gorgeous time of year in Pennsylvania? Well, that's just perfect. There is nothing quite so nice as May and June in the mountains. I know some of you are autumn lovers, but for me it can't compare to Spring with it's longer days and brilliant greens.

But - once the leaves turn and the days become shorter and the skies turn Pennsylvania gray, I'll be happy to pack the car and head back to the Florida sunshine!

April Stitch From Stash report

$49.92     Starting balance
$  0.00     Purchases Mar 21-April 21          
$  0.00     Credit for finishes (pitiful, I know)
$25.00     May allowance
$74.92     Available to spend in May

Well, how about that??  A zero purchase month! But also a zero credit month, so I don't exactly know how to evaluate that.   I even had a birthday thrown in there with a generous gift certificate from the World's Greatest Husband, but I still held back from buying anything.

Does that mean I have reached Stash Critical Mass?

Nahhhh,  I have a one-day stitching retreat coming up soon and one of my favorite shops will be there, so I'm sure that every penny of my allowance will be disappear fast as a bolt of lightening.

Well, we have just one more week till we head home.  Florida certainly has been interesting, with its population that swells and deflates over the winter and all of the characters that come and go as a result.  My favorites are the very past middle aged men and their trophy wives.

Yesterday I was at the beach and watching this older gentleman put suntan lotion on his trophy wife's butt cheeks. She was wearing one of those those bathing suit bottoms that are not quite bottoms and not quite thongs?  It was part hilarious, part gross.  I looked at Dave and mouthed "trophy wife".  He smiled.

The beach was super windy yesterday, and it was impossible to lay down because you'd get blasted with sand.  But Trophy Wife wanted the beach chair, so Husband gave her the beach chair and laid on the towel and despite being battered by sand, he immediately fell asleep for over an hour.  I was astounded.  Later, as they were packing up to leave, I told Dave, "Wow, I can't believe he slept for that whole time."

Dave said, "That's because he was tired.  What he used to do all night now takes him all night to do."
I know that's a song lyric...I just have to find the song.  I mean...if I can find the time, since I'm so busy being a neb-nose at the beach.

Lee's March Stitch from Stash Report

First - the numbers:

 $13.60 carried forward from February
 $25.00 March allowance
($13.91) Crafty Framer shop (second visit - only purchased charts)

($11.77) Crafty Framer shop (first visit - charts and scissors)
$12.00 Credit for stitched area 44 X 199 of large sampler (equal to one page)
$24.92 balance at end of March
$25.00 April allowance - - - meaning whaaaaaat?
$49.92 Available to spend between now and April check-in!!

Second - the pictures:

The alphabets are done on my large sampler.  (The alphabet section is what generated my $12 credit.)  Next comes a nice row of flowers, birds and baskets - really fun!  Then the bottom half of the sampler has three houses and grass.  Lots and lots of grass.

And do you see my sweet scroll rod covers?  Like a dope, I left my covers at home, some 1,000 miles away.  So I had to make myself a new set, without the convenience of my sewing machine, which is also 1,000 miles away.  The nice lady at JoAnn's cut the fabric to size for me, because my sewing scissors are....well, you know....far away.  And then I hand stitched them.  It was actually very relaxing.

And here are my stash purchases.  Just like last month, I found another nice shop.  This one is in Largo, called The Crafty Framer.  And wow....does this shop ever cram a lot of stuff into a small space!  You have to be ready for a real rummage, or else you'll miss things.  I'll bet I spent an hour in there the first day with my friend Nancy, and a good two hours the second day with my friend Pam.  

So when I shopped the first time,  I found this nice chart in a half-price sale bin. Who doesn't love a Welcome chart?   And who can resist pretty $5 scissors?

.

And I purchased the classic alphabet sampler for a ridiculous $1.97.  Really.

I met Pam (Stitching Between the Lines)  there a couple weeks later, when I bought that Picket Fence design (above) because it has an adorable garden alphabet, and these two Handblessings charts.  I can't wait to get back to my stash and use some of my overdyed silks on these little bunnies.

And what's a good rummage without finding a couple great Prairie Schooler charts?  I was familiar with Christmas Day, but had never seen Still Life before.  That's another one I can't wait to try.  I have some awesome dark linen and I'd dig it out right now for some of those cool fruit baskets, but as you can guess.....it's 1,000 miles away.  Oh...and another thing I should tell you is that Christmas Day was a whopping $3 and the kind shop owner threw in Still Life for free.

I understand that The Crafty Framer will be moving to a new and much larger space on May 1, so if you think you're going to visit, it's probably a good idea to phone and get directions to the new shop.  With this new space, the owner intends to start a regular stitch night in the future.  I'd be really happy if she did that.  I'm so lucky that I've had two stitching friends to check in with while I've been here, and adding a shop sponsored stitching night would be a nice thing, too.  As I've said many times before, there's just something about the camaraderie of stitching ladies!

Oh! I do have one little finish to show you.  Remember the PS chart I found at Silk Road Needle Arts?  I finished one of the Santas.  He's on perforated paper.

So that's about it from here.  In some ways, I'm counting the days till I get home, mostly because I'm so anxious to see all my friends and catch up with them and their projects.  And being able to sleep in my own bed, cook in my own kitchen and drive my own car all will be such pleasures.  In other ways, I'll be a little sad to leave here, too.  I feel as if we're setting down roots, getting to know the area and feeling more comfortable.  I really need to live in the moment a whole lot more.  To stop comparing one place to another and just enjoy wherever I am.  So for these remaining days, I'll be enjoying this.

See you next month, friends!

Lee's February Stitch from Stash report

It's time for another Stitch from Stash report. How do these months fly by so quickly?

So first of all, I started with a bank of $20.50 left over from January.

And then I went shopping....

The good news is, I found a needlework shop very close to our winter home this year!  Or maybe that's the bad news.  As it happens, this fellow (shop owner is a man - kind of unusual, isn't it?) is more known for needlepoint canvases, so he has rooms and rooms of those and an excellent selection of threads, but his cross stitch inventory is rather dated.  Still - When I see a bunch of old stuff, I know that can mean that there are some Prairie Schooler gems hidden away, and ta-da!  Look what I found! Book #80, Old World Santas, which people have bought on ebay for anywhere from $37.99 to $8.50.  I paid the sticker price of $6.00. Hey Mel....is there any way I can get a $32.00 credit for being in the right place at the right time??  Come on, give a girl a break!

Chart + perforated paper + threads = $17.70

He also had this chart and I've been eyeing it up on Sampler World and Sampler Lovers over on Facebook.  So even though I've put Quaker charts on my "DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU LOVE IT" list, somehow this one squeaked in.  I have no willpower.

Chart alone = $14.50

So here's the math:

20.50 balance

25.00 February allowance
00.00 Earned for finishes

(14.50) Quaker Medallion

(17.40) PS chart and supplies

13.60 carried forward to March

And here's something fun! I won the January give-away from the Stitch from Stash group!  This lovely little chart was donated by Gillie, and she even included a couple skeins of floss.  Aren't those flowers adorable?  There's so much to see in this sweet design. Thank you Gillie!

Now, here's my February stitching.  No finishes...I had hoped to finish one of those Santas to get some kind of credit, but, well, no.  

I've been working on a particular sampler named Plenty and Grace.  I can't give you too many details, but I'll tell you this much:  It's a biggie.  

Isn't this little thistle motif adorable?  I wish you could see the colors better.  I like alphabets, but I couldn't wait to get the thistle.  So cute.

OK, I'm off to start supper.  It's stormy here tonight.  Maybe I'll stay in and stitch!

Lee's January SFS Report

Month:  January 2015
Spent:  $4.50
Earned:  $0.00
Balance at end of month: $20.50

This year I decided to join the Stitch from Stash Group.  It's not that I'm against stash enhancement...That would be too sad for me to even think about.  It's that there are so many gorgeous projects in my home and they are always calling my name.

"Lee, don't forget about me!  I'm still here!  You know you have feelings for me....And we're so good together."  My stash was starting to sound like a whiny ex-boyfriend.  Well, without the creepiness.

So I think if I really, really try hard at this Stitch from Stash thing, I'll make some headway into the 50+ kits I have at home.  Yes.  I admitted it.  I have over 50 completely kitted projects.  And we must report in monthly, so that's the purpose of this post.

We had a lot of changes and goings on this month, so I haven't had very much stitching time.  Not enough for a photo at all.

And what did I buy?  I can't resist older Prairie Schooler charts, and although I'm not doing the whole alphabet (like my ka-razy friend Sue), there are a few of these alphabet charts that I particularly like.  So I picked up V-W-X on ebay for $4.50.

Samplers and Quakers

I always dither about framing, but I think I've discovered a wonderful framer in Pittsburgh, who is not only reasonable, but also has a great eye for what goes with what.  I think I love her.  And I think I'm going to declare 2014-2015 "The Framing Years".  There are things happening in my life now that make me want to clear out closets and boxes anyway, so I'd like to stop spending money on stash (because it goes into a box) and start spending it on framing (because it stays out of the box)

Well....that's my plan.  I'll let you know how it works out.  Because I have other things I need to spend money on in 2015.  Like a wedding.  Or two.

Here's the Jan Houtmann Tree of Life sampler I worked on for 5 years.  2007-2012, to be exact, then two years to get up the gumption to frame it.   It's on 36 ct. white linen, with Au Ver A Soie silk. I can't remember the color numbers and to tell you the truth, their dye lots vary so much that knowing the numbers is useless.  Let's call it red and light red.

And boy, did I ever beat the heck out of that pattern.  Have you ever had a chart that is totally unusable when you've finished with it?  I kept the fabric and thread pristine, but the chart looks like it's been through a war.

That's a stone wall in the interior of my home, and that's where it'll hang.  But right now it's on the floor.

Here's a cute little Quaker you've seen before, but now it's framed and on the wall in my entryway.  It's a Goode Huswife design:  Quaker Four Corners, with HDF BeRedded silk on PTP Doubloon 32 ct. Jobelan.

And this has been around for a while, too.  I love the mat and frame choices my framer gave me.  Really perfect for this sweet little alphabet.  It's La D Da's "ABCD" done on 40 ct linen with Belle Soie Mer Blue.

Finally, here's my blue Quaker Samplings, by Ellen Chester of With My Needle.  I'll bet it's the first Quaker design I purchased long, long ago.  I loved every minute of stitching this, and I made some minor adaptations, pulling out some of the hearts and adding my family's initials and the year instead.  I think the design used Belle Soie Chester's Blue, but I chose Blue Lagoon silk. (Colorworks silk now).  I'll be sending this to the framer's very soon.

Ok, now I've stitched a red Quaker, a blue Quaker, a rust Quaker and a green Quaker.  What's next?

I'm thinking gold.  Or purple.  But probably gold....

Tools for the post menopausal

I don't know about you all...but I have SO MUCH to remember these days.  My memory is usually pretty decent, but sometimes it just gets overloaded.  They say that being post-menopausal doesn't help and maybe that's true.  Personally, I think maybe it's not so much because the synapses are so old...but because at this stage of my life I always have so many things that I need to squeeze into a very short time.

You would think that having the internet at my fingertips most of the time would solve the problem, but in some ways, it also creates the problem.  

Used to be that I chose books by what jumped out at me from the library shelves.  Now I take a list of books recommended for me by several different websites.  I don't want to forget a single one.

The meals I cooked were tried and true and usually the result of supermarket weekly specials.  Now I take lists of ingredients for dishes I've seen on Pinterest, Facebook and recipe websites.  (Except I'm not such a good cook and sometimes I wonder who I think I'm kidding)

I'd go shopping for a new needlework project by visiting shops and browsing stitched models and choosing what was available (because even back then my closest shop was 50 miles away).  Now I go to a shop armed with lists for needlework I've seen on your blogs.  (I'm blaming you all for my crazy spending this year).

And obviously my brain can't deal with so much clutter.  Especially if I'm going grocery shopping, visiting the library and going to a needlework store all on the same day.  My head might explode.  Luckily, I've found some great list and list-type apps that I can always have handy on my phone, my tablet or my computer.  So I thought I'd share a couple of them with you, just in case some days your head feels like it might explode, too.

I think the most important thing about a note/list app is its ability to be used on all of your devices, even if they aren't all using the same operating systems.  For instance, my home PC, my laptop and my work PC all run on Windows products.  My phone is an Apple product.  My tablet is an Android product.  Not all apps will work with all of those systems, so keep that in mind as you shop for apps - you want something that will run on ALL of those.

Sometimes I want to keep a list handy for a long or indefinite length of time, like my friends' favorite colors, books I want to read, verses I'd like to use in a sampler some day, quantities of food I've bought to feed large groups of people.   When that's the case, I use Evernote.  I can look at and edit my notes from my phone, my tablet or my PC and it's super useful.

For instance, I can be out and about and a blog post idea will come to mind.  I can type it into the Evernote app on my phone.  Then, 2 weeks, a month, 3 months, 4 months later, when I'm sitting at my home computer and searching for something to write about, I can log into Evernote and read whatever idiotic ideas I thought I'd like to remember!

Sometimes, things you want to remember are simply WAY beyond using a note or a list.  It needs its own file...or even its own folder.  Maybe you keep a spreadsheet of the threads and fibers you have in your stash.  Maybe you keep a big, giant list of all the charts you own in a Word document.  Maybe you belong to a stitching club and you like to keep your club-member directory handy. I think Dropbox is a perfect place to keep those things.  Put your file into Dropbox.  You can see (and even edit) your file from anywhere.  (Except if it's a PDF.  Most of us can't edit those anyway)

For quick, on-the-fly notes, there are several Sticky note apps out there.  Like if you are headed to a stitching retreat and you need to bring a couple snacks.  Once the weekend is over, you're done with the note.

I still haven't come across a sticky note program that works well across all my devices, but I since I use the note for such a short time, I haven't really looked hard for one.  And of course, there is always the iPhone note app.  With sticky notes, you can see several notes at the same time.  Not so easy with iPhone notes.

So...that's my two cents on how to remember stuff you don't want to forget.

And as for stitching stuff - mostly I've been working on one of Ellen Chester's With Thy Needle Quaker designs.  I'm using Colorworks (aka Belle Soie) Blue Lagoon silk on 32 ct lambswool linen. I have to say...I'm enjoying every single stitch.  I'm also super excited to personalize this for my family.  That will be the really fun part.

I'm off to a stitching retreat this weekend, in the beautiful Ohio Amish country.  Who knows...maybe I'll stop socializing long enough to make more progress in this sampler?