Thursday, February 18, 2010

Learning My Alphabet and What's a Little Spilled Tea?

Happy Thursday everyone!!  It has just been one of the weeks.  Stitching, quilting, cleaning up spilled tea (ahem, Terri!).  This week has really run the gamet, but yet it's been pretty productive.


This week in the stitching arena, I've had a bit of startitis.  Ever have those times when you just don't know what to stitch, so you dig around and make a huge mess?  Well, that was my week.  After finishing the Yellow House Sampler, I couldn't decide if I should stitch on a WIP or go for something new.  Well, I opted for the something new.  For all the stash diving, I picked a couple, but definitely not the most exciting pieces.  A note here - I did pull out a WIP - AAWFAA and took it to Guild, but as luck would have it - or maybe it was a lucky thing - I pulled the wrong project bag and didn't have the right threads.  Probably a lucky thing when you read the story of the Sampler Guild a little further down. Anyway, this is what I did work on this week:


And this one:
Pretty boring!!!  I'm almost done with the top piece, so I'll just wait until I'm done with it before I reveal the whole picture.  But don't you think that if you had startitis, you'd pick up something a little more fun than alphabets?  My DH still wonders if I'm losing some memory faculty in my advancing years and need to refresh myself by stitching things with alphabets!!!  But these are fairly small pieces and will be a welcome relief from the BAPs I seem to always pick out!


Now, a little bit about spilled tea with an update on the life of The Yellow House Sampler.  


You can read all about it on Terri's blog, but there was a slight mishap with my poor sampler.  We had Show & Tell at Guild this weekend and I took my Yellow House Sampler to show.  Well, we are Sweet  Tea Lovin' Girls, and of course, those were up front and center on the table along with my dear, sweet sampler.  Well, I won't go into all the details, but poor Yellow House got a bath in iced tea!  And poor Terri just about had a heart attack (have you recovered yet Terri?)!  Me?  Well, I don't know if I was in shock, or what, but I just kind of sat there looking at it trying to figure out the ramifications of the sampler getting a tea bath.  But the reasonable side of my brain probably thought that everyone is trying out the tea dyeing thing, so what the heck!  Well, probably I was more in shock!   LOL  But no harm, no foul - everything is fine and it looks the same as it did before.  I think we did more damage interrupting the meeting (which makes me laugh every time I think about it) than was done to my sampler.  I think that poor Terri thought it was ruined, but you know, these samplers a lot of times look like they've been water damaged, stained, run over by cars, etc., with all the various shading of the fabrics, so if there was some tea stain, let's just go for it!  I'm still thanking my lucky stars though that I didn't use overdyed threads!!!   (Note to self: buy Terri a non-spill, insulated sippy cup for next meeting).


On the quilt front, I've made great progress on my quilt (about time, don't ya think?):


But it's not quite done yet.  There is a pieced border and I'm not sure that I like it with the border.  What do you think?




I don't know - I like the simplicity of just having the thin black edge, but yet at the same time....hmmm, I'm still not sure.  Oh, if you blow these up, please ignore all the threads.  I have this weird thing with loving to sit with the finished top and spend an evening clipping all the threads that I didn't clip because when I sew, I sew fast!!  And plus, I just love playing with the quilt top - touching it, spreading it over me while I work - I know, I'm weird!


Another sweet (no, not sweet tea) thing that happened in the past week was that dear Melody sent me a wonderful package in the mail in anticipation of my upcoming rug hooking class.  Wow, I just realized that I'm going to be hooker and a whore (scissors) - I know they're the same, but I can officially be called both.  Hmmmm, that doesn't sound too nice!  Anyway, Melody sent me the nicest package:

 

She was such a sweetheart and send me a small canvas and the wools to try my hand at hooking!  Isn't this the greatest?  She also send a maple hook in a French General drawstring pouch!!!  I am going to always remember her wonderful act of kindness every time I look at the rug and that FG bag (just love, love the FG things).  I have only played around with this for all of about two minutes (every time I settle my hiney in the chair to watch the video, I get booted off by the kids), but I'll definitely post more progress after this weekend!  Thank goodness for videos on YouTube because DD is sick today and I couldn't make my first hooking class (last week's class was cancelled due the snow we had up here - yeah, doesn't snow all winter and BAM, it does on the day of class)!  AUGHHHH!  But I will make up for it at the end.  I just can't wait to get started really learning about this craft!

That's just about all the excitement for me this week.  I think that's enough!  Thanks for all the wonderful comments you left on my last post and just a word of advice here - if you see Terri, guard your stitching!!!  If she wants tea, find a table in the corner for her!  LOL  Only kidding, Terri!!  Have a great weekend everyone!

58 comments:

Country Prims said...

Wow-I love it all! Your quilt is amazing and I sooo love the look of that rug hooking kit-the colours are lovely and I just love wool! That is a craft I would so love to do, but I'm afraid to order on-line as I wouldn't know how to do it-(no classes over here)
I will be watching your progress with great interest:)
Blessings, Shazy x

staci said...

Well, there's lots of stitching and excitement going on in your neck of the woods! Yellow House still looks as gorgeous as ever :)

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Oh my God! I didn't think about if you'd had AAWFAA out. You would have killed me then, and rightfully so! I still feel kind of sick about the whole thing to tell you the truth, Deb. Thank goodness, your sampler was okay.

Love your new starts and what is it about those alphabets we just love?! Can't get enough of them and yours look fabulous!

Your quilt is amazing - honestly, how do you do it all? It looks just like something you'd find in an old, round top trunk. It's perfect.

Oh, and the rug hooking. Can't wait to see how you progress on that - the colors are awesome. And, the cute, little, French General bag did not escape me. How pretty is that!

You're the best!

Cari said...

I read Terri's blog last night...yikes!! I'm sure you just sat there, kind of stupified....that's what I would have done. I'm a spiller myself. In fact I use insulated sippy cups around the house all the time. I know that if anyone is going to spill, it will be me!! I'm so glad that it appears no eternal damage was done.

I love your quilt. I say put the border on that you love. I think it's beautiful either way.

And isn't that Melody sweet? I met her a couple of years ago at an Ellen Chester class. Glad I didn't know she was such a fab hooker or we'd have never listened to Ellen. I love her blog. I'm thinking one day I need to take a good old road trip and meet up with her. I have two kits ready to hook and haven't taken the time to do it. Oh well...I'm busy.

And yes I'm happy to call myself a hooker and scissor whore!! And i get stitch ass on a daily basis. Life is good.

Have fun hooking and stay warm!! Hugs

Andrea said...

Too funny Deb! I did read about this incident over on Terri's blog and think you're wonderful for how you reacted! You're a great friend!
I had to laugh out loud at getting Terri a sippy cup for her tea! I know y'all are going to laugh about this for years and you're going to gig her when you can, lol! Makes me giggle!
Love your quilt, it looks wonderful with the border you've done so far :-)
I can totally relate to wanting to clip the threads at the end so you can play with the quilt top in your lap...it's all about enjoying the process and that's part of it for you!
Enjoy the rug hooking! I've dabbled in it a little, it's fun!
xoxo

Melissa said...

Oh Deb, I had a good laugh at Terri's blog last night. I said I could picture you sitting there cool as a cucumber because I knew you had used DMC floss. Maybe though you were in shock, but you had good grace! Now, I think it was like a "I love Lucy" episode! The way Terri told it I could just see her with red hair can't you? ;-)

I don't think I can comment on anything else now! Good thing everything was ok in the end!

Patricia Lessell said...

I really love your quilt - it is just absolutely positively gorgeous and I am so proud of you that you have finally learned the Alphabet so maybe now you will be able to string the letters together and read and write - imagine that (and me being over sarcastic)! I still love Yellow House btw.
Lots of Love
Patti xxx

Susan said...

Your quilt is beautiful. I love log cabins in all their sizes but if you strip cut your logs - you are also a stripper! Welcome to the club!
Enjoy!
I will be no help to you on the border as I have put borders on LC (multi layers) and just a narrow as you have now with the same fabric for the binding. Sorry no help here.

Hazel said...

Gorgeous post! Love the new starts. Esp the top one. The tea sampler haha looks lovely as ever. The quilt is amazing. I wish I could quilt :( xx

KarenV said...

I'm so glad your project wasn't ruined! I love the quilt and like the pieced border, I think it works well overall.

doris said...

Our rule for spills. If something gets spilled and it can't be washed, just dunk or splatter the whole thing. There's no way you could do anything that would spoil that sampler. It's perfect.

I'm pretty sure I recognize one of the samplers you're working on, and I think it's in my pile of wanna-stitch-it-now projects.

I love hooking, and that pumpkin will turn out to be very cute. What a great gift.

Margie said...

I love that quilt - and I really love the borders on it. I've started to cut out a log cabin and I might do that to mine. :-) I can't wait to watch your hooking progress - that was so kind of Melody.

missy said...

I had read Terr's post this morning and I was wincing the entire time. You are one "cool" lady to have been so calm or in shock as you say. You know of course you could have used this to your advantage and gotten something like perhaps a year worth of free house-cleaning!! LOL LOL

Your quilt is gorgeous.

hugs
-missy-

Nancy said...

Your Yellow House sampler is gorgeous, and I did read about the tea mishap on Terri's blog earlier. Glad it recovered! Your quilt is beautiful too!

Such a nice package from Melody! Can't wait to see this when you get started.

jayne@~an eye for threads~ said...

Quite frankly, people pay for Tea Dyed fabric so it's not so bad, but good that it wasn't a candle or something along that line. I love you term "startitis" can I borrow that? and as far as the BAP's, that's the only way I go...well 99% of time. Gotta love excitement when it is among good friends and family.
Be always in stitches.

Carol said...

Love the tea story, Deb! I'm sure every time you and Terri see Yellow House, you'll giggle over the incident...

Unknown said...

Me thinks one of those alphabet pieces is an A&E. Your husband is funny, mine always asks why I don't stitch something that actually says something. I love your quilt, I think I like it better with the added border, but either way, it will be beautiful!

I do hope your daughter is feeling better soon and that no one else gets sick.


Yellow House will always hold quite a humorous (hopefully) memory for you - you should write the story and slide it into the back of the frame.

Looking forward to the reveal of your two alphabet pieces.

Amy said...

My hubby spilled coffee on one of my samplers. I just rinsed it and left it. It gave it a nice old look. Hubby was very upset. But I don't get mad over stuff like that.

Have a great day.

Blu said...

Your quilt looks gorgeous! I like it better without the pieced border. The black line makes it look "finished" and the pieced bit says "more to come" (to me anyway)

LiahonaGirl said...

I'm so glad the sampler survived the mishap. And the quilt is looking fabulous. I personally like the piano key border, but it would look good without it too. I'd probably just bind with the dark rather than add a single narrow border. I'm thinking maybe a narrow border might not be in proportion with the quilt. I'm sure you'll decide what looks best.
Nancy

Casa Pearl said...

What a lovely gift to start you on the path of hooking! And I had to gasp at the tea on the sampler story - I'm so glad it turned out well. And your starts have me intrigued - can't wait to see more progress. I am in the mood to start something new as well but am trying to wait a bit.

Annie said...

Glad the tea spill didn't totally bum you out. The piece looks find. A cup of tea is good for everything I think.

Love your quilt. I think I like the thin border best, but either way, it's gorgeous!

Laurie in Iowa said...

I read all about the iced tea episode on Terri's blog. I'm glad the story had a happy ending.
Love the quilt top... it looks fabulous. I cast my vote for including the border.
I'm so jealous that you're going to go to rug hooking class. Great package from Melody.

woolwoman said...

Oh Deb - I would have just collapsed over the spilled tea incident - however you are quite right - lots of people seem brave enough to 'age or dye' their samplers after they are stitched - and you just got a complimentary tea bath - poor dear Terri - I'm sure she was mortified. Anxious to see the new starts progress and the quilt ooh la la - gorgeous! I'm so glad you liked the little "let's get started hooking" gifty - but ooh so sad you were unable to make class again this week. thanks for linking my name but the link did not work - my blog is wooley-thoughts - not woolwoman - that might be the issue. Cheers! Mel

Ranae said...

The yellow House sure sounds like it won't be forgotten for a long long time.
Good choice to start a new WIP, lol.
I love stitching the alphabet, so these are keeping my attention.
Pretty quilt! Whatever you decide will be fine either way.
I can't wait to see that little diddy all hooked up, lol
What fun!!!

Tammy said...

All your stuff is great!! The quilt looks beautiful, truly! I'm :-O over your tea dyed sampler, but kudos to you for holding it together, lol.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful quilt top! Yellow House Sampler looks gorgeous even after its tea bath!

Robin in Virginia

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Maybe we need to take Terri to hell with us so she can cool us down by spilling ice tea on us? Hmmm? :)
Seriously I'm glad that your sampler survived the dunking and I was laughing my bottom off reading Terri's blog this morning :)
Love your new WIPS! AND I love that quilt! YOWZA gorgeous! But I agree with you on the border...hmmmm...does it draw your eye away from the quilt? I think it sort of does mine. But it's a real beauty no matter what you end up doing. You have my address right?
LOL!

Kellie said...

Love all your projects!!! Yellow House Sampler still looks great! :) You were a really good sport, and I am sure poor Terri must have felt just terrible about the whole thing.

Love the alphabets!! :) They are fun to stitch, aren't they?

Your quilt looks gorgeous, and I can't wait to see your rug hooking start. :)

Sounds like a fun week, all in all. :)

Kaaren said...

I vote for the border, Deb. It really does add to the quilt, IMHO, and with a black binding, it'll be just perfect!

You're absolutely right...thank goodness you didn't use overdyed threads. Now that would have been a disaster in the making.

I'm soooo envious of you trying rug hooking. Please keep us posted with your progress.

Margaret said...

I love the border on the quilt! Hope that's ok to say. :D I'm glad the whole tea thing came out ok in the end -- poor Terri and poor you! lol! Love your alphabets so far -- pretty funny that both turn out to have alphabets at the top! Oh, and I love your quilt no matter whether you decide to put the border on or not! Melody is so sweet to send you all that rug hooking stuff! So cool! But such a bummer about your missing the rug hooking classes so far. :( Hope you make it next week!

Kim said...

Yes Deb!! Border!! I love that quilt and the piano keys border will be wonderful!!!

I so adore the Yellow House Sampler, and am glad it made it out alive from the guild meeting!

Can't wait to see your hooking progress!

Jennifer Ann Fox said...

Oh Deb, you are so funny. I love to read your posts. So you are a hooker to now? hmmmmm...LOL
I've always wanted to be a hooker! ;)
When we first moved here and older lader, about 72 at the time, told me she was a hooker and I just about dropped my mouth......found out a rug hooker.
Well, your quilt is looking mighty-fine and every time I see all those perfect angles I wish I could do it but still scared of it.
I'll have to zip over to Terries blog and read about her sweet tea incident.
I know on my Dutch sampler in my kitchen which was quite tedious and long a couple of years ago, it was done in overdyed dark color, monochromatic and I spilled alot of coffee on it in the basket.
I freaked out and finally almost threw it away and that was my first coffee dying project. I just dipped the whole thing in it and it actually turned out better than it looked originally.
Jennifer

Jennifer Ann Fox said...

Don't look now Deb, but there is a Needlework 4 system just for rugs and hooking on that website.......you've got to get one! hehehehehheee.

Nancy M said...

I read her rendition of the mishap.....how funny! Well it probably wasn't at the time, but I think I would have reacted as you did. Samplers are supposed to look old! Your DH and alphabets......I think you need a refresher course, you're missing some letters, LOL!! Love the quilt without the border. Rich, rich colors!

Katrina said...

Poor Terri and poor you. Glad your sampler is none the worse for wear.

Fun new starts and gorgeous quilt, I actually like the border myself. I am trying hard not to have startitis, LOL.

Have fun hooking ;-).

Jackie's Stitches said...

I would have about had a heart attack in slow motion! I'm so glad you're able to chuckle about it and I can tell you I probably couldn't.

Melody is such a wonderful supporter of the fiber arts. What a wonderful package she sent you. The wool is just gorgeous. Enjoy it and I can't wait to hear more about your hooking adventures.

Marion said...

My daughter asked me why I like stitching alphabets so much...LOL
Love the stitching!..Read about Terri on her Blog....LOL
Your quilt is gorgeous Deb....I have not ventured into the quilting.....I admire from a distance....and hooking....my grandmothers did that..LOL..but I haven't (yet).
Take care....I think we got some of your snow!!
Marion

Catherine said...

You and Terri are definitely going to be telling this story for a long time to come! I read her post earlier today and suggested she take a sippy cup to your nex gathering! I'm glad it all worked out and Yellow House lives for another day!

Love that quilt!

MyLifesAStitch said...

Aw, c'mon, Deb!! Don't give me something else to want to try!! :)

Just kidding! Can't wait to see your hooker pieces! That pumpkin looks like it will be adorable!

I laughed and laughed at Terri's post re: the Great Tea Incident (after I skipped forward to be sure there was a happy ending, of course!). Her description of your response confirmed that you are a really cool chick and that the next time I am in MI I need to meet up w/ you (& Terri) IRL... **note to self... we'll just try for a shopping trip. It'll be safer that way!**

Looooove the quilt! I'm with you - I like the plain black border. I think the pieced border sort of detracts from the piecing in the main part of the quilt in some small indefinable way. I'm sure it will be bee-autiful no matter which way you decide to go, though!!

Giovanna said...

What a beautiful quilt! Love those colours. Pretty alphabets too.

Missy Ann said...

Without the pieced border. It's too busy, it's takes away from the simplicity & purity of how the dark & light work together to form that big beautiful diamond.

I would add another border though (the bigger the quilt the better IMHO). The thin black border is good, so why not continue the dark/light theme and add a wide light border. That could be pieced if you wanted, just piece it using lights only.

Just my 2cents, and take it with a grain of salt - my quilting skillz are not legendary. lol

Loraine said...

Oh my goodness, The tea thing just made my heart stop when I read it on Terri's blog! What a bad nightmare, I'm glad all turned out all right.
Your sampler is beautiful!
Love your new quilt top. The colors are stunning! I like the pieced border, but how big do you want it to be? You could sew the strips into the back. That always looks great.
I love clipping threads too! I know it is weird, but I spent a good part of the day yesterday clipping threads after getting the binding on a quilt. So relaxing!
What a wonderful post! I love reading about all of your new starts.
What a wonderful gift from Mel! She is so sweet! I love that pumpkin. It will look great for Fall decorating. It should finish fast! And French General is fast becoming my favorite line of fabric at the moment. I must get some!
Snow, snow go away! We have all had our fill! I'm ready for spring. I want to wear pink everyday!
Hope your DD gets feeling better.
Take Care and many hugs dear friend!

Berit said...

Wow, what a heart stopper! I'm glad everything turned out okay! I developed the discipline in HS (surrounding art and etc) that liquids don't go on the same surface (or any other if it's "higher elevation) as artwork and/or computers. I recall in design school when a classmate finished off her laptop with a bottle of wine. Being more youthful (and therefore more callous), I could only shrug--never shouldda put yer wine on the table. "But I was having wine while browsing.". At this point I think we gave her the look your cat gives when he thinks you're a moron.

Rabbit trail, there.

Quilt= Ditch the border; plain black border gives a striking finish. The extra stripes border is a superfluous element bogging it down (*whining* "We're Stripes tooooo....we can belong heeere...")--cut the fat! :D

I am thrilled by those alphabet starts, particularly the second! Wish I could identify the patterns.

P.S. Where's that Home Goods cabinet you've been tormenting my imaginings with? ;)

Lois said...

Oh my Deb! That was a heart stopping moment and I'm glad it all worked out okay! Now every time you look at Yellow House you'll have memories that you'll never forget! Love your new starts, I can never get enough alphabets although DH has been known to make a comment about not needing anymore around the house!! Love your quilt.

Siobhán said...

I am so glad that your sampler wasn't damaged. ;) And that your heart wasn't, either, from the shock of it, LOL! Your WIPs look great. I wonder how many alphabets we all have stitched on these samplers and what it is that draws us to them each time. I can't wait to see both projects! Your quilt is GORGEOUS, btw. Love love love it. I'm envious of your becoming a hooker. I am super interested in seeing your progress with this art form.

Mary @ Neat and Tidy said...

Everytime I read your blog I see more and more great ideas. This has to be one of the most inspiring blogs I read!

Anonymous said...

Stunning quilt! I'm happy your sampler was fine. Can't wait to see your hooking projects.

Valerie said...

Your alphabets are looking good! You are right, sometimes we need to work on smaller projects once in a while. I too gravitate to BAP's but have to throw in a small so I feel like I am being productive!

The quilts are amazing! Such rich colors! Now, as for the pieced border...I think that it will look fine once you have it on all four sides. It will look more like it belongs there and add some dimension.

And Yellow House is a gorgeous as ever. Now you have a really great story to go along with a really great sampler!

Stitch By Stitch said...

The Yellow House sampler is beautiful! And that quilt, oh my goodness! It's gorgeous!

Mylene said...

The Alphabets are looking wonderful. I've read the Tea incident at Terri's blog, glad to to hear the sampler wasn't ruined.

Your quilt looks beautiful!

Sherry said...

Oh wow, I love the quilt and am drooling! The scrappy look is so perfect. Keep it away from me! LOL. I can't wait to see more of your new starts. One looks familar but I won't say anything just yet cause I would probably be wrong!

Isabelle said...

Hi Debbie , I love you Yellow House Sampler and you new quilt is just fabulous : really well done :-))
Have a nice week-end,
Isa

Karen said...

I love the ABC's and read each letter before I moved on to the next picture. Seems I need to refresh myself too!

Thank goodness the tea came out of your Sampler. Poor Terry! I'm waiting for the day I spill tea on something I am working on.

And, nothing weird about touching, etc., your quilt as you work on it. Unless, that makes me weird too! LOL. It looks wonderful!

Love the rug hooking. You will have fun making that. One day, I will have to make another one.

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Brigitte said...

Oh Deb, I read about Terri's mishap on her blog. What a relief it must have been that nothing really serious happened to your sampler. And that you stitched it with DMCs!
I love the quilt you are working on. These are the colours I love, brown fabrics and tones. Wonderful. I think I'd finish it without the border. The edges you show without the border seem to right, so done.

Michelle said...

Yellow House still looks lovely. I nearly died when I read Terri's blog! I commented and asked if you were that calm with the bat?! No way, Jose! ; ) Love your quilt too - so pretty. And yay for starting to learn hooking. I want to so bad, but I have to finish school first - then I can empty out my brain and refill it with crafting stuff!

Marie said...

What a beautiful blog. I love everything you do. I wish I had some neat needlework shops like yours within a reasonable distance. What amazing work you do. Marie