Another Week Speeds By

Oh, my goodness! It's only 7:25, and it's dark! I'm not sure why that's so shocking. Maybe I've been so busy that it's sneaked up on me. Finally, I'm to the point that I can see how my school year may work. I haven't completely adjusted yet, but I'm getting there. Dysfunctional schools require much more personal adjustment. I have to figure out how to do the right thing for kids within a climate/structure where that's not always the intention. Can you tell I've been thinking it over?


Enough shop talk. On to the stitchy talk. Here's a little pic of my progress on Shores Block 2. Just a couple of fish and the remainder of the eel, and this baby's finished. That seaweed took me a long time. I was trying to watch movies while stitching it, and I had to divide my attention appropriately. Also entertaining me during stitching time has The Help on cd. What a great book! I stitched at a much faster pace while listening to it.


When you're stitching something untamed like that seaweed, do you pick out paths to follow? I do! Is it just me? I pick out paths that will make my stitching more efficient (kind of like working my way through a maze), so I'll have fewer stops and starts and shorter carried threads. Could this be that crazy OCD issue I've written about before? Or is it my feeble mind trying to find something extra to work on? Or is it my brain trying to free me from all the other things I have to think about? Hard to say.

Wanna see a couple of planned projects? Below is a picture of the supplies I've gathered to stitch Reed's Stocking by Shepherd's Bush.



To understand why I'm starting it, you'll have to hear a little story. My 25-year-old daughter, Nikki, sneakily (so like her mother) got married this summer (sigh ... I think 30 is a good age to get married, and yes, I realize that this isn't about me.). So I have a son-in-law (oh, my gosh!) who needs a pretty Christmas stocking like the rest of the family. Being a stitchy kind of mother-in-law (Geez, Louise, I'm a mother-in-law), I'll be getting that stocking done ASAP. All of those other projects will have to take a giant step back to let the stocking cut into line. Ready for the good news? Nikki will be having a baby at the end of March (huge gasp)! I know! Then I'll get to stitch a grandbaby stocking ... when not holding that baby, of course. I'm from a family of confirmed baby nuts. We love, love, love babies. It's nice to have something big to look forward to.


Something else I'd like to start is Sarah Esh. It's an OOP reproduction sampler that I was lucky enough to find on Kathy Barrick Dieter's (Carriage House Samplings) Etsy site. It's been on my list of have-to-haves for a long time, and I'm very excited about (eventually) stitching it. In the picture below is my conversion from DMC to Gumnuts Stars (my favorite fiber ... so far) and one Silk 'n Colors that Stars didn't have a close match for. I think the fibers will work out well, but I'm gonna have to have a little fabric spa time in the kitchen to work one of my stash fabrics into a suitably splotchy state. The Lambswool in the pic just isn't vintage enough for me.



It's time for this post to end. It started two hours ago, but my slow-as-a-snail computer needed a restart a while back, and I got sidetracked. Hope you're all having a good week. Thanks so much to you who visit and comment. Comments are like getting little letters from people who understand what's been written.

Make some fun.

It's Really After Labor Day?

Have you noticed that my recent post titles indicate that I'm struggling with time? I am. Seems like just a few days ago I was spending the Fourth of July on a Minnesota lake. Now Labor Day is over. Yep, I know it happens every year, but it also seems to happen more quickly every year. The new school (sorry, but I can't bear to call it my new school) continues to suck up my time, but I will get used to it.

The long weekend was a fun one. Each Labor Day weekend, the Taste of Colorado is the big event in the Denver area, and they always have an interesting music schedule. The man I hang around with and I are music fiends, so we found some blasts from the past to check out. We saw Grand Funk Railroad (if you remember them, you're old like me), the Spinners (huge crowd) and Robert Cray (not from the olden days). Robert Cray is one of my personal favorites, so I was enthralled, even with the huge outdoor crowd of talking gawkers. Enjoying free music is a great way to relax.

Even though I finished Evil Serpent ten days ago, I'm just now getting around to showing you the finished product. Here's a little picture taken as the sun was coming up one morning.

I changed a few little things. I put Rhodes stitches in the eyes of the peacock's tail feathers, giant eyelet stitches in the flower centers, and I stitched my children's initials instead of Vilma's charted letters.

The directions about how to stitch the grass were unclear to me, so I used satin stitches, as I did for all of the other bird's tail feathers. The date was a little too big and fat for me, so I stitched it over one.

I'm pretty happy with that little finish. This past week, there's been very little stitching (sniff), but I've worked a little on Shores and Women of the Mayflower. Eventually, there'll be enough progress to show you, but not yet. Speaking of progress, I'm gonna go make some.

Make some fun.

Better Late Than ...

My new work schedule is really getting in the way of my fun. It'll take some time to adjust, but it'd be nice if it happened soon. All of my work tasks are getting done, but my other endeavors are suffering.

Take, for instance, TUSAL. I should've posted a picture more than a week ago, but it didn't happen. So here you are ... One thing I could do on the way home from work is to pick up a newly framed item. Here's a picture of Twined Heart, a little Shepherd's Bush band sampler that I finished a while back.

I think the frame is so pretty that I had to try a close-up picture of it, even though my photographic skills are right up there with any seven-year-old's. Why did I let this project sit unfinished in a drawer for so many years? What was I thinking?

How about a little visit to Eden? Here's my progress on Evil Serpent. I kept thinking that I'd have this finished by now. It's getting close, so maybe on my next post ...
On 40-count, this is a tiny sampler ... only four by six inches ... or so. When I brag about finishing it, I'll show you some of the things I did differently than charted. I'll have to go close-up again, so get ready for some more amateur photos. Maybe I'll finish this weekend!

As soon as Evil Serpent is finished, I'm going back to Shores for Block 2. I've been watching FayeRaye's progress, and I'm gonna try to keep up with her. Debbie asked me if I'm gonna rest between Shores blocks or keep on keepin' on. I think I'll continue to work on a couple of things between blocks. Each block is such a good little project that it just makes sense to have a little different scenery in between.

Happy weekend ... make some fun.

Saturday Is Bath Day

What? Two days in a row? Don't get used to it.

I had to show you what I accomplished so early on a Saturday. You may remember my old man cat Merlin, aged 17 years. Even though he's suffering from kidney failure (used to be 20 pounds, now down to 11), he's still hanging in. Because he's so old, he doesn't take such good care of himself anymore, so he gets an occasional bath. Merlin would probably exact some hideous retribution (ie, pee in a corner, barf on the carpet ... oh, wait, he already does that) if he had any idea that I'm showing you these pictures. But I couldn't resist, and what he doesn't know won't hurt him. Here he is after his bath. Oh, and in the background is a piece of now-shriveled catnip I brought in for him last night.

I know (gasp)! Isn't he pitiful, but cute? Merlin's a little unsteady on his feet at times, but he's still jumping up on his favorite places. He's especially fond of jumping from my bed onto my lap while I'm stitching. You can just imagine how that turns out. He's our friend, so we'll take good care of him as long as we can. I can tell he's weaker, because this summer there hasn't been any bloodshed (never his blood, mind you) during our tub encounters. I almost feel bad that I don't have any wounds.

That's it for now. Make some fun.

Whew! Week #1 Is Done

Ahhhhhh, it's finally Friday. The first week with kiddos at school is done, and I'm pooped. I always feel very sorry for the first-graders. Many of them have never been to a full day of school until this week, and they're incredibly tired for the first few weeks. You can actually watch them droop during the afternoons. Poor sweet little kids. I can relate. Today a second-grader told me that I might be a little older than his dad. After I asked how old is dad is, he told me 28. Then I told him that my son is 28, so I'm old enough to be his grandma. His answer? "Huh-uh, I don't think so." I love this kid.

I don't have loads of time to spend here this evening, because I wanna go put my ass in my chair and stitch until I can't keep my eyes open. But I wanna let my stash giveaway girls know what's coming their way. Barb, the new stash queen (because I sent her something a few weeks ago), is the only brave soul to request the Paula Vaughan kit. You rock, Barb! I put three little slips of paper in the cute little Damariscotta dish for the L&L Angel. I swished and swirled them around and pulled out Jennifer, so the angel will be winging her way to Georgia. Thank you again to any of you who have requested my destashing treasures. As soon as I have more stashy stuff to pass on, you'll see it here.

I wish I had a picture for you, but my progress on Evil Serpent has been very slow this week. Maybe I'll have something to show after the weekend. Oh, the weekend. I love weekends. Hope you have a happy one. Make some fun.

A Monday Quickie

The lesson I'm relearning this week is that time flies whether we're having fun or not! I had such good intentions, but time moves so quickly when that work day takes over.

I'll get business out of the way first, and then we'll go on to fun. Well, I guess the business part of this post is kinda fun. I'll be sending the Shepherd's Bush pillow kit to Diana (no blog?) just as soon as she sends me a snail mail address. Hooray ... another stash piece off to a happy home. No one asked for the bread cloths, so they'll go back into the cedar chest for a little while.

I have two more kits to give away, and then we'll stop until my friend Rhonda (no blog) decides what she wants from the bag I took to her house. The Lavender and Lace "Angel of Summer" kit below needs a new home. I'm thinking that this design uses 32-count Twilight Blue linen, and it includs all of the floss, metallics and beads. Since it was kitted, it has to be more than a decade old. It's a beautiful angel, but I know I won't stitch it.

Then there's this Paula Vaughan "Welcome Summer" kit. It includes an ivory fabric and all of the needed flosses.
If you're interested in either or both of the kits, just let me know by Thursday, and we'll do what we've been doing for a couple of weeks now. If you're new to the game, just look at the past few posts to catch up.

Here's what I've been working on in the little time I've had to stitch. Adam and Eve have appeared in Evil Serpent, as have the birdies. I really wanna finish this one and another A&E so I can put them together. Now if only my schedule will cooperate.

I had a very exciting weekend. On Saturday I met up with an old college friend who I hadn't seen in about 30 years. It was just like we'd seen each other last week! He looks and seems so much the same. Isn't that the strangest thing? We hung around a lot for the year we were in school together, and then we kinda went our separate ways, keeping in touch once in a while. It's good to see old friends. Then the man I hang around with entertained me with a little motorcycle ride up to Estes Park. It was a beautiful weekend, and it was filled up in the perfect ways. Color me lucky!

That's it for today. I'm off to watch The Closer and hit the hay. Make some fun.

Last Day of Freedom

Yep, I'm whining. It's the last day of summer vacation (sniff ... sob), which is my favorite time of year. I'm very happy to be employed, but I love, love time off. I appreciate every single minute of it. We all know those retired people who complain about being bored. I'll never be one of those people. Bored has always been a dirty word at my house. With all there is to see and do, how can anyone fail to entertain themselves?

As promised, I used an untechnological method to choose recipients for the UFOs and fabric. I got out my pretty little Damariscotta Pottery dish and put little slips of paper in it. Like this ...

Ellen will be receiving Home Sweet Home, Buttoned Hearts will be sent to Loraine (no blog?), and the fabrics will be sent to Pam. If you ladies will send me a snail mail address, I'll get those things out to you ASAP. Thanks to all of you who offered to give homes to my old projects and fabric. For those of you who are wondering, I'm thrilled to be giving stash items away rather than throwing them away. I hate waste! It is my extreme pleasure to keep the US Post Office busy carrying things from my house to yours. And isn't it nice just to get something you want with no strings attached? I love things like that. So enjoy.

I'd like to mail out two more packages. These projects aren't even UFOs ... they're ancient Shepherds Bush kits (just look at the packaging and charts). First is a selection of bread cloths that I'm giving away together. There's an angel cloth and a shepherd cloth.
I also have a cute little pillow kit. Sorry ... it's a picture of a picture, but you can get an idea of how it looks.

All of these items have fabric, cotton floss and chart. Again, you just have to let me know the item(s) you'd like to have. I'll give you until Friday to make your request. I think I'll try to get it all settled by Friday afternoon, because there's no telling what the weekend will bring.

How about a progress picture? Here's Block #1 of Shores of HRH all finished. That was fun!

I've worked a little on Evil Serpent and I've sat at my sewing machine for a little while, but that'll have to wait until next time. I'm off to play golf and enjoy the rest of the day.

Oh, by the way, the Harley trip to Steamboat Springs was great. We had wonderful weather and saw beautiful scenery. If you don't know about Steamboat, you oughta google the little ski town and see it before developers completely change it. Make some fun!