Found Something I Didn't Even Know I Had Lost

A rainy afternoon seemed like the perfect time to do a little more straightening and organizing in my craft room.  I had one container that held cross stitch odds and ends.  It was pretty disorganized and the lid didn't quite fit on it, so I thought that would be a good one to start with.  In it I found some Mill Hill Halloween kits, a breadcloth, several bookmarks, a weird thread holder and a needle threader, among other things.  There was one plastic bag that appeared to hold some ribbon, trim and metallic thread.  But upon opening it, what I saw was kind of a surprise.  Three completed stitched projects ready to be made into ornaments and one WIP ornament.  My first thought was, "When did I stitch these?".  Well, duh, probably in 1997, don't you think?  Plus, I would guess that the bottom three in the photo might just be from the 1997 Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue.  I don't have this issue anymore, but that's a story for another time.  The WIP (shown on the top in the photo) is called Snowflakes and Berries, and is a Carol Mullane Design for Rainbow Gallery.  It's stitched on mono canvas using Flair and Fyre Werks threads by Rainbow Gallery.

Maybe I stopped working on this because another project came along, but why I didn't pick it up again is a mystery!  I actually have about half of it done.  It's coming along very nicely and looks easy to stitch, so now I'm looking forward to completing it and turning it into an ornament.  Which is exactly what I will do with the other three.  What a fun find!  See?  This is what happens when I finally decide to do some cleaning.  It's raining again today so maybe I'll do a little more.  Who knows what I'll find!

A Stitching Challenge?

My progress on Folk Eggs

As I continue to work on Folk Eggs, I've heard some comments about my stitching it on black fabric.  Mostly surprise and amazement that I would stitch anything on black!  The common belief is that it is difficult, but I'm not finding that to be the case.  Honestly, I find it more of a challenge to stitch on anything smaller than 32 count!  Any color!  This is my third project on a very dark color and I'm enjoying it very much.  Maybe all eyes are different.  While I find stitching on 40 count nearly impossible, someone else might shy away from my 28 count black lugana.  To each his own.  But if the idea of stitching on black fabric is something you'd like to try, go ahead!  Do a small project and see what you think.

Prairie Schooler sure knows how to choose colors to make them "pop" on black!  "Color pop" is such an over-used phrase, I know, but so true in this case.  I already finished one egg - seven to go!

I hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day.  Mark surprised me with carryout from our favorite Mexican restaurant, which was nice since we both got home from work at the same time.  And he also surprised me with a tulip terrarium.  This was a new one on me!  When I first got it, you couldn't see the flowers, but they're really blooming now! 

Last Saturday was our Stitch Day at The Stitch Store.  As always, it was a fun day that sped by too fast!  I'd  like to chronicle what goes on at our stitch days, and I just might do that next month.  Maybe get some photos of our stitchers and the beautiful work they do.  It would also be fun to include our crazy gift exchange!  I'll thank Sheila for that idea!

Peggy's Tea Cozy

One of our fellow stitchers is also a talented seamstress and she came up with a cute idea for tea cozies.  I just had to get one of these for when life demands a whole pot of hot tea!

I found a wonderful new blog this week:  Learn To Finish With The Twisted Stitcher.  Vonna (aka The Twisted Stitcher), is generously sharing her finishing techniques with anyone who would like them.  What a great resource!  I've often looked at her blog and wondered, "Now how did she do that finishing?".  Now I can find out!  Take a look for some great ideas, and please give Vonna credit where credit is due!

And now for a Cosmo update.  We kept him (and his fellow cats) on the low carb diet and got accustomed to giving the insulin shots to Cosmo.  Then on Monday it was back to the vet for a glucose test.  The vet called me in the afternoon and was a little concerned because his sugar level was too low throughout the day!  It seems that the insulin was doing too good a job.  So now he is off the insulin and we're trying to maintain a good sugar level through diet alone.  The vet says that it is possible to do this and she's seen it before.  He goes back in two weeks for another test to see if this new method is working.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

How do you like my blog's new look?  Keep the comments coming and share my blog with others.  More followers are always good!

Projects Of Three

Most stitchers love starting new projects and I can completely understand this phenomena.  It's a joy to gather all of your materials and eventually put in that first stitch.  In keeping with my new plan to always have three stitching projects going, I started a new one this week.  It's Prairie Schooler's "Folk Eggs".  I've also been thinking a lot about spring lately, so this fits right in.  I don't know why I'm thinking about spring when this winter has been so mild.  Anyway, it's being stitched on 28 count black Lugana over 2 threads all on one piece of fabric. I'm pretty sure it's going to be a wall hanging, but I could still change my mind and frame it. And don't wrinkle up your nose at stitching on black -- it's really not difficult and the result is very pretty, especially with the thread colors used in this project.

Sheila and I went to the Intergalactic Bead Show last weekend.  I hadn't been to one of these in a long time, so it was nice to see what was new.  Judging from the attendance, I could see that beading is still a very popular hobby.  I bought a kit to make a woven bead and pearl necklace, and some centerpiece pendants.  It was interesting talking to the vendors and even other jewelry makers, and I even learned a few new things.  This visit might just spark a new interest in jewelry making for me!

Here is another one of Mark's lathework creations.  I came home one day to find it on the table and it took me a while to realize what it was because my first thought was, "Now where did Mark get that?".  It's very well done, don't you think?  I think he's found his woodworking niche.   

All this fuss makes Cosmo plum tuckered out.

This past week has been pretty busy and a little stressful because we just learned that our oldest cat, Cosmo, has diabetes.  A simple change in his diet and two insulin injections a day should regulate this well, but it's still a little weird.  And it means a whole new routine for us because the shots have to be 12 hours apart.  After a few days of this, the shots have been getting a little easier and don't appear to hurt him at all.  Oh, he would let us know if it did!  And I only poked myself in the finger once!  Yay for me!  Cosmo goes in for a some kind of testing on Monday, so we'll know a little more about how well all of this is working.  Wish us luck. 

I'm looking forward to Saturday Stitch Day at The Stitch Store this week!  It's always fun to get together with these ladies and see what we're all stitching.  Amazing how quickly that day passes!  I plan to work on "Folk Eggs" and will post my progress!

It Works!

Now I can serge the fabric I cut!

Those of you who have been following this blog are acquainted with my love-hate relationship bad attitude toward my mini serger.  Yes, it's as cute as can be, but the darn thing refused to work.  This new development falls squarely into the "it doesn't take much to make me happy" category.  The serger is now WORKING!  And I will give all of the credit to Mark, who seems to somewhat enjoy getting things fixed with a great deal of patience.  I was pretty much done with the thing and ready to toss it or sell it for parts, but he sat at my craft table yesterday and got the chain going after discovering that the needle had been put in wrong.  Not by me.  The former owner gets all the blame for that.  So it was up to me to try it out and TA-DAA! 

I used my Friday day off to do some stitching and watching some vintage Project Runway (season 2).  I know.  It's kind of pathetic.  But I did get my Seasonal Sampler finished!  It was a nice change of pace stitching on this giant (10 count) fabric, but it did make it a little difficult for my eyes to re-adjust to stitching on 30 count.  Cute finish though.  I need to find a nice square frame for this one. 

In my ongoing quest to get the craft room organized, I finally went through the chart collection.  I must have done a good job because I weeded out about 20 charts.  These are ones I either have stitched in the past or ones that I know I'll never stitch.  I don't even remember where I got some of them.  But during the process, I got to look at each chart I own and made some decisions about where in the stitching lineup they are.  As for the charts I'm done with -- should I do a giveaway?  Put them up for sale?  This is something I'll have to decide soon. 

These are the ones that are going!

Lastly, here's a photo of Cosmo, while he was watching me type up this post. 

More Progress, TUSAL, And A Rainy Day Treat

After the past week or so of spotty internet service, I'm taking the opportunity to post while the posting is good.  First of all, let me proudly display my ort jar for the TUSAL I'm taking part in.  Amazing how those little threads accumulate!  For more information, read about the TUSAL on this post on Daffycat's blog.

Next is my progress on "Seasonal Sampler".  If I knew how much I was going to like this project, I would have stitched it up sooner.  This has been the perfect stitching project to start after not stitching for a while.  Not too much left to do on it. Fun, just fun.

What do you get when you combine a gloomy, rainy day with a day off from work?  Some housework, bad TV and this:

Who knew that skim milk could froth up like that?  I'm becoming more of a coffee fan lately.  And it was delicious.

OK, I'm not going to tempt the fates much longer.  My internet connection could go poof at any time, so I'm going to make this post a short one.  I guess I'll just have to stitch and maybe watch some more bad TV.

A Start And Some Acquisitions

Remember how I wanted to add to my WIP's to make my magic number of three projects?  I decided on "Seasonal Sampler" by Bent Creek.  My friend Lori gave me the chart a while back and I've had it kitted up for quite a while too.  Wanting to stitch something different, I thought this would be just the ticket.  The fabric is 10 count Tula in Country Mocha and the floss is Perle Cotton.  I don't think I've ever done an entire project in Perle Cotton, so this is a departure from the norm!  The result is stitches that have a very chunky look.  And the chart is so cute.  I do like stitching things having to do with seasons and months, so I'm really enjoying this.  My fellow stitcher, Thea, remarked that she was also a fan of seasons, so I'll pass this chart to her when I'm done.

Last Saturday was Stitch Day at The Stitch Store.  I hadn't been in a while, so this was a real treat to see our stitch group again.  It's always good to see what other stitchers are up to - very inspirational.  Also, we all had to agree that a positive thing about meeting and stitching was the affirmation we receive when we show off our completed (and in-progress) projects.  I'll try to remember my camera next time to get some photos of the beautiful work our group does.

I did get some straightening done in the craft room this week.  All of the Christmas wrapping paper and ribbon are put away, as are the boxes and bags I stashed there.  There is still a lot of organization to do.  I'll get to it.  And then there is the chart collection.  I figured out how many actual charts (not freebies) that I have and I'm somewhat embarrassed.  But that's as far as I got.  The next step is to go through them.  See how I have to do this in steps?

There's a very cool antique show that is held at a local exposition center every month.  Did I mention that it's local?  It's within about 5 miles of my house.  Plus, they always have a spectacular selection of lovely things to buy.  A little dangerous?  Why, yes it is.  I don't go every time, but when I do, I usually come home with something fun.  And useful too!  Here are some craft room goodies I bought last month.









The pink glass flower frog fits a little bowl I already had and makes a good (second) scissor holder.  I don't have a scissor problem.  Really.  The  cats in a row is actually a wall hanger.  I still have to decide where to put it.  And the little bunny is just cute and looks good on the craft table.  And this tiny box of Shiny Brite ornaments is really a little pin.  Some extremely talented crafter copied a real Shiny Brite box and then shrunk it down to create a teeny-tiny box, just big enough for some Mardi Gras bead ornaments.  So cute and clever!

So I've had a good start to the year, crafting and stiching-wise.  Also organizing-wise.  And that scrapbook has been on my mind lately.  Maybe this will be the year that I actually finish it!

Getting Back Into The Stitching Routine

No one was more surprised than me when I saw the date of my last post.  A month ago!  And I'd been doing so well with the blogs!  Oh well, I'm back and ready to go.

Let's see, since I last blogged, I:  baked two batches of cookies and three loaves of pumpkin bread; made a batch of crockpot candy; worked 12 days; lifted and checked in approximately 1500 books; had a good 18 day visit with our son; wrapped about 20 gifts; met our son's lovely girlfriend; put away approximately 200 ornaments; enjoyed some nice dinners/lunches with family and friends; had a wonderful Christmas and New Year.  And just how many stitches did I get in during the past month?  Oh, just about 100, if that.

I guess my craftiness has taken a backseat to any and all Christmas activities.  I was, however, happy to present the scarf I crocheted to Stephanie and was even happier that she liked it!

Now it's time to get back into the routine of eating better, exercising and being crafty - stitching in particular.  Remember when I used to stitch only one project at a time?  Maybe you don't.  But it's true.  No new project was started until the current one was done.  What a weird rule.  What was that all about?  So now I have in progress the Kitty Kalendar and Holiest of Nights.  What shall I add to my WIPs?  Over the next couple of days, I'll be searching through my ever-increasing chart collection and select the perfect one.  That should get my stitching back on track!

The good news is that there is a Saturday Stitch In at The Stitch Store this week!  Yippee!  I'm looking forward to seeing all of my stitching friends and spending the day doing what we love to do - stitching, eating, and talking.  Can't wait!

January is also the month that we're supposed to get all organized.  The craft room truly needs it.  I've been in the bad habit of sticking stuff that I don't want to deal with in there.  And I should go through the above mentioned chart collection and realistically weed out the ones I probably won't stitch.  Good idea, huh?

Oh, and a serger update:  Mark spent some of the last day of his vacation taking a look at the ill-mannered machine.  He has come to the conclusion that it is indeed threaded correctly (I'm patting myself on the back right now), but that there is something bent in the inner-workings.  He thinks he knows what it is, and he is welcome to take the thing apart and attempt to fix it.  So I'll post either a picture of the working machine or me saying a sad farewell to it.  Stay tuned.