Bit By the Crafty Bug

Happy Thursday everyone!  Hope it's a great day where you are.  It's gloomy here, but they say the sun is coming out.  Yet to be seen, but I hope so.

I made a little more progress on Adam Alone this week.  I'm just loving the colors in this thing and it's so much fun to work on:

I'm just getting to the good part - Adam and Eve, but I don't know how much progress I'm going to be making the next week - a pretty busy one for me.  But a heads-up to anyone that is thinking of doing this chart - you're going to need two skeins of DMC 500 if you use DMC threads.  I have to tell you though that the Florentine Stitch really was giving me grief.  I'm blaming it on the fabric, not the Operator! 

I have to thank everyone for all your wonderful comments about my craft room.  I was just tickled!  I'm thrilled that now I actually have a room put together after years of working in the living room, dining room, etc., dragging threads and pins all over the house.  And I've already been able to make some good use out of it this week (I'll show pictures in a minute).  But first, I wanted to answer a couple questions asked in my last post.  I'm sorry that I don't really email responses - just don't have the time, but a few people asked questions:

Berit asked about the DMC sign - I can't tell you where I got it, Berit.  Probably some country/prim shop long ago.  I have probably had this sign for over 20 years.  I bought it not only because of the DMC thread logo, but my initials were also DMC before I was married - kind of served double duty. 

Brigette asked about the sampler over my stitching chair. 

That was the second large sampler I ever stitched.  It's the Sarah Maddock Sampler by Simply Samplers.  It's back from 1985 and I doubt that it is still in print (I didn't get around to stitching it until 1990).  You can't tell from the picture, but that border gave me a lot of problems.  It tends to go up in areas.  It also gave the framer a few headaches.

Mel, you are too funny.  I think that you're going to make me a hooker yet (see below).  You've gotten me knitting, so let's see what other mischief you can get me into!  LOL

Laurie mentioned me having a lot of pizza boxes!  Yes, I do, and there are more somewhere.  I love to quilt, but I also love to cut quilts out.  Most people don't.  When I made quilt samples for a store long ago, I was actually paid to cut out quilts for people because I love it so much.  Yeah, I know.  I'm weird.

And for all of you who asked if you could come over - the door is always open - what's a better time than friends and crafting??  I can't think of a darned thing! 

Speaking of quilts, I actually got down and put a block together:  Yoo Hoo!!!!  Yesterday, because it was Veteran's Day, I put together this block:

Okay, not a biggie, but hey, a start, right?  Actually it took me longer to figure out where I was in the pattern then to actually sew it.  This is part of a larger quilt that I had started a while ago:

Independence Quilt
Kansas City Troubles

I've gotten five blocks from this finished now.  I think so far my favorite one is this one because it incorporates quilting plus some handwork and applique.  I'm not big into applique, but I need the practice because I want to make this quilt:

Blackbird Designs

Home Sweet Home

Last weekend, our Sampler Guild held a Blackbird Designs Day.  Lots of beautiful stitched pieces and quilts!  And one of the quilts that was brought in was this quilt.  Being the lame-brained person that I am, I didn't take my camera!  What was I thinking?  Obviously, my head was where the sun doesn't shine!  LOL  Anyway, I've drooled over this quilt for a while, and even bought the background fabric for it when it came out.  I don't know if you can tell from the picture, but it's fabric stamped with samplers.

Anyway, I've procrastinated because I am not a huge fan of applique.  BUT I HAVE TO DO THIS QUILT!  So I whipped out my BBD books (at least the ones I could find):

And started browsing through them.  Not a good thing!  A lot of appliqued quilts.  So what's a girl to do, but practice:

This is the first block from another quilt that I've had cut out forever.  But being appliqued, I froze at actually starting it.  Yeah, yeah, I know, there is machine applique, but I want that real hand-pieced look which on a quilt like Home Sweet Home will probably take me into the next century to finish.  Well, no matter!  I got the courage up and  hand appliqued the pieces down on the block above, and then top stitched them on the machine.  I won't use topstitching on the BBD quilt, but this particular quilt lends itself well to that prim look.

Then there were these pictures of hooked rugs in the BBD books:

Okay, now I know I'm going to become a hooker, Mel.  LOL They match some of the blocks in the quilt.  Be still my heart!!!

And then this quilt that I really like a lot - I think I have some Civil War prints around here somewhere:

So, I think that now I'm going to be busy.

Well, that's it for me today.  I've got a busy week coming up so I may not post for a week or two.  I leave for New York next Thursday for my annual visit to see my Sister on Long Island and then my couple days of running amok in the City.  I can't wait!!!!  My sis says she's scoped out quite a few thrift and resale shops on the Island.  Sounds like a good plan to me - thrifty shops, calamari and clam chowder for lunch and then a trip to the Winery on the way home.  Oh Yeah!!!!

Again, thank you for all your wonderful comments.  I feel so lucky to have met so many wonderful people through blogging.  And remember, the door is always open.  Just give me a holler.  Have a great week, and make a lot of X's.

Stitching & Craft Room (Lots of pics)

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Hope the sun is shining is your neck of the woods.  It is here today, but it's getting rather brisk.  I heard that we may actually see some snow (hopefully very little) this week!  Probably snow flurries, but heck, snow is snow, right?

Since a couple people guessed the name of the sampler I started, I can reveal it now.  I was going to wait and see if someone could identify it before I posted the name (Cari and Siobhan guessed it right, so a little surprise could end up in the mail soon!!!). 

This is the progress I've made this week:

Adam Alone

Sheepish Designs - Second Examplary

DMC Threads

WDW Parchment 35 ct. linen

I seem to have been struck by the Adam and Eve craze that's going around and I'm bound and determined to get that A&E wall filled.  I am so loving this piece.  The colors are brighter than I anticipated, but there is a lot going on with this.  Queen Stitches (those things actually used to make me tear out my hair), over one (which still does make me want to pull out my hair), and Florentine Stitch!   I have to admit though that after I snapped this picture, and then sat down again to stitch some more, I realized that I was off a thread on the dark blue portion of the Florentine Stitch, which proved to be something that I couldn't fudge without it looking hopelessly lopsided.  So I had to frog it out almost to the center.  GRRRR!!!  I was not happy!   So far it's holding my attention enough that I haven't given in to the urge to slap another piece on some scroll rods.  But I have to admit that doing that Florentine Stitch made me start yearning for a needlepoint piece that I have upstairs that I've barely started.  So don't be surprised if you see that pop up in the near future.  Since I've put Ann down I feel like having a stitch free-for-all!

I was pleased as anything to win one of Missy'sThirteen Days of Halloween.  I thought this was such a fun giveaway:

Isn't that a great package?  I love, love, love the crypt with the scissors (since we all know that I've become a scissors whore).  But I'm keeping these babies in the crypt and displaying them all year!  Thanks Missy!

And finally, I've gotten my craft room into some semblance of order.  It's not finished by a long shot, but here's a short tour.  Ignore pieces you see on the floor - I still have painting to do on them.  This room is a little wonky because it has 7 walls and three doorways.  Makes it a little hard to arrange things.

My craft table made by my wonderful FIL.  He did such a fantastic job and I'm just tickled pink over it.  The shelves on the sides are removable so I can arrange them as I please.  I found the little shelf on the table a while ago in a thrift shop and thought that it was perfect for displaying some of my pincushions (I still haven't found the rest of them). 

My daughter added her decorative touches with the wreath on the door.  I'll leave it up for a while, but it's covering my DMC thread sign.

 

To the left of that table is a very long wall where my sewing machine sits.  I didn't want to run rampant through the house and rip samplers off the walls, so this wall is going to be filled with different things.  In the meantime, this arrangement will have to do.  I still have some small cupboards and things to paint that will go on this wall.  And samplers when I can get them stitched.

At the end of the wall is my walk-in closet and a slight alcove-type of thing.  On the right is the closet - on the left is the entrance to the bathroom.  Convenient set up!  The people who previously owned the house had a ton of kids and built two bedrooms in the basement with a Jack and Jill bath and small walk in closets.  All I need is a refrigerator in this room and I could camp out for a long time!!

The closet definitely does need some help.  I basically moved everything from the other room to this one and didn't go through it:

Pretty bad, huh?  Obviously, I need to do some work in here and obviously I need to really sort through this stuff.  I dream of having a cleaning woman, cook and chauffeur so that all I'd have to worry about every day is playing with my stuff (yeah, what was I sniffing this morning - LOL!).   Anyway, the pizza boxes hold cut- up quilts that I have every intention of sewing one of these days.

More pizza boxes, and bins holding kits, fabric and needlepoint pieces.  I definitely need to sort all this out.  Especially now that I've embarrassed myself with my slovenly closet habits.

Another shot - the closet doesn't seem so messy from this view (or maybe it does!).  You can see a couple pieces I still haven't put up on the floor waiting for paint jobs.

Another wall and an empty bookcase.  The shelving piece I found at a shop in my travels recently.

And then my favorite place! 

The stitchy area!  The chair and ottoman are from our old house and I'm glad we kept it because it's perfect to stitch in.  Actually, I stitched in this chair before we moved.  The table is just a folding table I covered with a quilt for the time being (actually it made a great paper-piecing table when I was doing a lot of quilting).  I'm still trying to find something suitable.  The bookcase I just bought this weekend and I couldn't be more pleased with it.  I looked high and low for something that was bigger than usual because I have a lot of books (still in boxes at press time).  I saw it in a shop recently and the owner was going to distress it all up.  She said that her brother made it and it had been sitting on the floor for a while so to move it she was going to make it look old and get rid of it.  Well, she did get rid of it - right into the back of my van (it was a push to get it in there).  It's solid oak!  I can't imagine distressing this!  And because she wanted to get rid of it, I got a fantastic deal on it!  I can't wait to get all my books on it.

So that's the tour!  Still definitely a work in progress.  And that's about all that's going on this week.  DD's basketball team had a real nail biter of a game last night with a team that they had lost to earlier in the season by one point.  Well, they lost by a point again, even with double overtime.  If you wanted to see a very long, sad face last night, it definitely would have been my daughter's!! 

Thanks so much for stopping by and thanks even more for the wonderful comments you leave.  Have a wonderful week and make a lot of X's.

I Caved.......

....Yes, dear friends, I caved!  I caved and banished Ann to the corner.  I'm not proud of it and you can all flog me with wet floss if you wish (no throwing of needles though, please), but I caved.  Here she is when I left her yesterday morning:

I know, I know.  So close to finishing up that next section.  But putting in that lettering (which I normally find kind of mindless), was making my entire body itch, making me jump repeatedly out of my chair and circle the house mumbling to myself, and reaching for anything that was bad for me (like Fritos dipped in chocolate - ymmmmm - kind of sounds like I was PMSing, doesn't it?  And I was doing that at 7a.m. Sunday morning).  I finally knew when I was beat, and put her aside.  That's not to say that she won't be resurrected in a week or so, but for the time being she can sulk in a corner.  DS is still on his early to school in the morning routine, so that may be part of it.  When you only get about 20 stitches in at a pass, it becomes exasperating on such a large piece.

Speaking of which, this morning you would have found me in the kitchen at 4:45 a.m. making pancake batter for the masses at DS' school.  October 23 is Mole Day (and I'm probably not spelling that right).  It has to do with some equation that the AP Chem class has (10 to the 23rd power or something - I never took AP Chem, so I'm clueless and even though he tried to explain it to me, I was still half asleep).  So to celebrate Mole Day, they cook pancakes for the 400 kids in the Chemistry classes.  Last Thursday was the real Mole Day, but due to the teacher being out, it was held today.  And quess who was in charge - yes siree Bob, my son.  But quess who has to get the starter batches of pancake mix ready.  Yes, that would be Moi!  So you see why, at 9:00 at night when I finally land in my stitching chair, only 20 stitches get made!

So, what is a girl to do, but find something else - something that she can see light at the end of the tunnel even if there are only 20 stitches in a night.  It had to be in the stash pile - my goal is to clear up stash - no market orders that I was just itching to get to.  So I picked up this.  It's been in my stash for eons:

Mystery Sampler

35 count Parchment

DMC threads

Anyone know what it is?  Maybe I should make a guessing game out of it.  Maybe there will be a prize if someone guesses what sampler it is.  I'm curious to see if someone can identify it.  And, I have to make an admission, that this may not be the only new start I have.  I'm itching to fill every scroll rod that I have in this house with projects.  I feel like a man that's been in the desert.......I need new projects.......I need inspiration ......I need........perhaps I need some help!  LOL

So, anyway, I'm not proud of myself, but I just had to do something else.  I think that after spending two whole months and two days on Ann, I really made a good attempt, don't you think?  And she hasn't been banished to the stitching graveyard upstairs, just behind my chair.  I hear her whine sometimes, but I tell her this:

Yeah, that's right, "Don't make me get the flying monkeys".  I found this sign at a prim shop I went into recently and had to have it for my craft room.  The Wizard of Oz is just about my favorite movie (well, so is Gone With the Wind) and when my kids were little and had seen it for the first time, those monkey's scared the bejesus out of them.  So whenever they were bad I would tell them, "Don't make me get the flying monkeys".  After a few times of me saying that, they would laugh, but it did get them a couple of times (I know, mean mommy).   Even my husband laughed when he saw the sign in my room, just because it's been one of those sayings he's heard me say numerous times throughout our marriage (he's been on the receiving end of that saying, too!  LOL).

While I was going through my itching process with Ann and trying not to start another project, I did manage to get some knitting done this week:

After about four attempts of trying to remember how to do this pattern it finally clicked (You Tube was a huge help).  Now I've only done this pattern I don't know how many times, but it just didn't click.  Fortunately, while I was waiting for my ride to get new rubber (van getting new tires), I made some good progress.  This will look mucho better after it's blocked.

The same day that I found the flying monkeys sign, I happened across another store down the way that had a lot of furniture in it.  Two things I'm trying to find for my craft room are a bookcase, and a bar stool, but it can't be as high as a bar stool.  Well, the store had them, but in sets of four - they didn't want to sell just one, but the whole set.  I started to leave and the owner said, "Wait, I might have what you're looking for in the back and I can sell you one.  It's nicked on the leg, but maybe it will work".  Well, lo and behold, the most perfect chair was there:

It was exactly what I was looking (except for the color which is easily remedied - I wanted red).  And yes, there is a nick, but once painted it will be great!  I was so happy because it's almost an exact match, but taller, to my sewing chair!  SCORE!!!

I also had the misguided notion that I would possibly get some quilting done this week.  I have felt like a real slacker because I haven't done anything Halloweeny.  Well, I open a box (yes, I'm still unpacking things for my room) and what do I find?  This older Thimbleberries pattern and the fabric is all cut out!!  I was doing a happy dance for about ten minutes.  Then the phone rang, then I was off like a shot somewhere, and nothing was sewn.  Well, there is still Thanksgiving to get through, so maybe there is hope for this quilt.

Well, that's about it for me this week.  The pic above was taken from my side yard.  The colors have been so pretty around here (at least when the sun has been out).  But I think we're just about hitting peak.  Seems like a good time to make that final fall cider and donuts scenic tour this week and see what new goodies I can find.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments you leave.  I love receiving them!  Make a lot of X's.  And have a great week.

If You Can't Dazzle Them With Brilliance, Baffle Them With......

........FRAMING!  Ha!  Okay, I know that I'm not going to baffle anyone with framing, but I didn't know what to put as the title of this.  So bear with me.  I do have more framing this week and that's just about it.  I've been spinning my wheels doing absolutely nothing!   Well, I shouldn't say that - I've been busy, plus DS has been out the door every morning at 6:00 a.m. for AP Chem and Physics study groups (God love that boy for being so diligent), but God help me for being deprived of sleep.  By the time I sit down in the stitching chair, I'm dead tired.  Also, have been having some computer problems that sparked a call to the Geek Squad.  Mucho $$ later, it works, but it's still a little quirky.  I am so far behind on blog reading, so bear with me on that too.  I'll catch up hopefully soon.  Anyway, here's some more framing I picked up:

Home is Where My Heart Blooms

Blackbird Designs

I was surprised that the framing turned out so well.  Joanne's did this one and the fabric was hopelessly stretched out of shape even though I worked on scroll rods.  The framer was a little dubious of the outcome, but he did a great job.  I did it on the called for fabric (whatever that was - too lazy to look it up - LOL) and he was concerned because not only was it out of shape, but was stained and crumpled.  I assured him that was how the fabric was suppose to be.  He raised an eyebrow like I was telling lies.  I think he thought that I'd driven over it with my car and spilled tea on it.  In fact, he asked if I had spilled something on it.  But he worked his magic and it's perfect.

Sampler of Stitches

Drawn Thread

I was a little bit on the fence with the framing on this one - I'm not into these types of frames, but IRL is really looks good.  I really enjoyed stitching this piece even though there were some errors on the charts.  I think that in a couple of places I changed out some colors and stitches.  I know that there was one metallic red that was only used in one small place.  Well, dang, when you buy a whole spool of a thread, you want to get some use out of it, so I replaced a couple things here and there so that I could feel like I got my monies worth out of that thread.

I did make a little bit of progress this week on Ann.  Are you getting bored with her??  I certainly am.  Although I have to say that I have my days - some days I can't stand looking at her - and some days I'm in love with her.  I think that if I could get some good stitching time in, I would feel the love so much more.  When you only get about 20 stitches done in one night, it gets a little frustrating because of the size of this thing.

Not a whole heck of a lot of progress at all.  I'm working on the lettering over to the right now, to catch up to the middle section so that I don't have to do all the lettering at one time.  Although, to tell the truth, I could just about do that lettering in my sleep (now there's a thought!  LOL  Wish that were possible).  I hope that it goes quickly, as I'd like to get the woman in so the man doesn't look so alone (although he does have a dog and squirrel to talk to).

Last weekend, Terri and I went to a Bead Show before our monthly Sampler Guild Meeting.  It was a trial trying to find a restaurant after the show even with the help of her Garmin.  I think her Garmin sent us to two closed restaurants!  It was fine though - I like to call those types of adventures "Scenic Tours" and just go with them.  It was funny!  I think that Garmin needs to update its system a little though.  The bead show was fun.  I'm not a beader in the least, but it's so interesting to see what there is to offer.  Of course, you know me, I can't walk out of anywhere without buying something.

I found these three wooden beads that I thought would look great at the end of scissor fobs - a frog, a mermaid and a snake (the mermaid can't sit up straight on her belly - perhaps the tatas get in the way!).  Now all I have to do is learn how to make those fobs.  I've been assured that it's not hard at all.

Then I found this fob and scissors.  The price was $15.00 and I was sure that it was only for the fob, but it wasn't!!  I thought it was a pretty good deal.  Especially because......

......the scissors actually fit into the end of the fob to keep the points safe!  I like them and it saves me from having to make one and I got a pair of scissors out of it.  Speaking of which, Jolene asked if my porcelain artichoke frog is full yet.  Well, almost Jolene (waving at ya).  I have to find three more pairs of scissors and it's filled.  I don't think that I'll have a hard time the way I've been going.  I'll take a picture soon.

The weather has been quite crisp up here in Michigan.  Unseasonably so.  I should take some pictures of the country roads around here because the colors are breathtaking!  Anyway, reading what blogs I could this week around all the computer problems, I stumbled across people working on knitting projects (yes, Mel, you've managed to pull me over to the wool side!  LOL)  So, I started hunting around in my stash for some knitting.  I found this wonderful Noro yarn.  Last year, I was going to make a sweater out of it, but when I got done with the back, even though I was on gauge, it was too small.  Well, I decided that I'd make a Entrelac scarf instead:

That's the back of the too small sweater on the right, but don't you just love how that works up?  This is going to be my travel project.  I find it easier to knit than to stitch in a car and will be perfect for working on while waiting for DD at dance and at her basketball games.  I have a hard time just sitting with nothing in my hands to work on.

I did manage some more thrift shopping this week, but I'll save that for another time.  It's amazing the stores you can find when you're trying to find a vacuum repair store!  LOL 

Well, that's all for now.  I hope that everyone has a wonderful weekend.  Again, thanks so much for your comments.  I love and appreciate every single one.  Make a lot of X's. 

Stashing and Framing (But Barely Any Stitching)

Woo Hoo!  I finally got some framing back from Joanne's.  It took forever, but they had one of their great sales again, so I was all over that!  Usually it only takes a week or two, but it took four weeks this go around.

Cape Cod Girls

The Primitive Needle

36 ct. Highland Fabric

GAST Threads

I just love the frame for this one.  This picture doesn't do it justice, but it looks like fish scales with small flecks of gold in real life!  Very perfect for the piece!  Sometimes it surprises me that Joanne's actually has some great frames.

I also picked up Queen Bee by Shepherd's Bush:

 

Queen Bee

Shepherd's Bush Kit

I love the framing on this one too!  These are not the best pictures.  It's been cloudy as heck with little bursts of sun.  Taking a picture inside is hopeless, and just as I'd get outside, the sun would go away again.  Michigan weather for ya!

Stalking of the mailman proved successful this week!  He hates when boxes or large envelopes come because our mailbox is at the curb.  If he has to get out of his truck and walk up the drive and walkway, he gets cranky.  Poor man - he'll get over it!  The day he brought this package, the squirrels were in our Oak tree tossing acorns down at the poor guy.  He came up rubbing his head telling me we had vicious squirrels!  HA!

But I was doing a happy dance.  I love getting stash in the mail!  The box included Paradise Lost by Plum Street Samplers, A Mind Independent and Free by Carriage House Samplings, In the Garden by Milady's Needle (and Lois from the Elegant Stitch also included the Little Gems scissors with it), and the Kelmscott Adam and Eve Needleminder.

Then I just had to have The Multiplication Table Examplar (although I don't know if I'll dish out the $80.00 for the hornbook - may have to be a project for my FIL), and Sarah Woodham by Shakespeare Peddler. 

Then, of course, I just had to add to the scissor collection, so I got the Tudor Rose Scissors, and then while picking up my framing, I found the new scissors by Gingher which I had to have.  I have a lot of flower frogs to fill.

Then a couple of weeks ago, I won a Giveaway on M Designs site:

Sisters Needleminder by Kelmscott Designs

It was a great giveaway that included the JCS Christmas Ornament Issue (which I was tickled over because I couldn't find it in my neck of the woods), four of her Angel Charts, Miss Mary Mack's Pincushion and Miss Mary Mack's Needleroll.  She also included the Sisters beautiful Kelmscott Needleminder.  Okay, now don't you think that's enough?  Well, I guess I didn't.  I must be getting really itchy for some stitching on something else besides Ann.  I ended up ordering three more charts from The Strawberry Patch yesterday because they were having a Wacky Wednesday sale and all Country Stitches patterns were on sale.  I definitely think that my DH needs to take that smokin' charge card out of my hands. Either that or he'll divorce me when that bill comes!  But hey, 30% off is 30% off, right?  I'm saving money, right?

So lots of stash, and no time to do any of them.  Once again, stitching has taken a backseat to everything else - basketball games (DD's team 3-0 - Go Vikings), parent/teacher conferences, DH being out of town so for some reason I don't sit down until late, so no pictures of Ann this go-around.  I know you're all probably getting sick of her like me!  Okay, I'll give you one - does this thing not look like some kind of Pterodactyl?  It seems huge in comparison to the rest of the piece.

I actually tried to get myself to stitch something else the other night.  I pulled out a cute Halloween piece by Mary Garry, found some fabric and the threads and thought that it would only take me a night or two to stitch.  Did I?  Of course, not!  I started to pull the threads out and that danged bird above started screeching at me!  Dang!   Ann is relentless, let me tell ya!  Although, quite truthfully, I think it's me.  I really want to see her done and hanging near And They Sinned.  I started her December 31st 2005.  I'd really like to (if I'm not lucky enough beforehand) to put the last stitches in before December 31st 2009.

Well, that's it for me.  Thank you everyone for the wishes about my cold/flu thing.  I'm feeling much, much better now.  My SIL said that it had to have been Swine because the regular flu hasn't even hit the State yet.   I'm still coughing and sniffling, but that's nothing compared to what it was.  All I know is that it was miserable. But thanks so much for the wishes and for your comments. I love every one of them. 

Have a great weekend and make a lot of X's.