Cape Cod Girls and My Achin' Back

Happy Sunday evening everyone (well, it's evening here)! Hope that everyone had a great and stitchy weekend.

I had another finish this week which totally amazes me given my lack of attention span to any one project (although as usual, I didn't do this all in one sweep):

Cape Cod Girls

The Primitive Needle

36 Ct. Highland fabric

Weeks Dye Works threads

I didn't have the recommended 40 ct. fabric, and was a little worried about the coverage, but it came out pretty good. Because I also have an attention problem with following a chart, I did the entire top band in basil instead of how it should have been with the Basil and Cinnabar, but I kept forging ahead and I think that it's fine. I like following the Amish philosophy that nothing is perfect except for God (works for me - LOL).

As I mentioned in my last post, I've been really having a hard time with the amount of WIPs that are languishing around the house. So I've some up with kind of a half-assed plan. Probably because I know that I'll break every rule that I set down for myself if I make this too difficult. So my process of WIP elimination is going to be pretty loose. I think that I'll work on a WIP for one week, if I still love it I can keep going for another week or until I scream "Uncle" and go to something else.

The something else can be either another WIP or something that is already in stash and preferably a small project. It can be a small project that I have not started yet. If I need a thread or two, I can buy them, but the pattern and fabric and most of the threads have to be in stash. I'm stressing the smaller type of project because most of the WIPs I have going are pretty big:

1. Marquoir de Justine
2. Houses of Hawk Run Hollow
3. Village of Hawk Run Hollow
4. Shores of Hawk Run Hollow
5. Frances Eden
6. Ann Medd
7. Convent's Herbal Garden
8. Provence
9. Altegamme
10. Sarah Pope
11. The Ideal Landscape Sampler
12. Crystal Christmas (this really isn't on the radar screen right now, but it's a biggie)

(there are about another 20 projects laying around, plus three needlepoint projects and about 15 quilts in various stages of work, but I decided to spare everyone the agony of reading about all the WIPs laying around - just wanted to list the ones that I'm pretty sure that I will work on now).

As far as buying any new stash - well, after that junket last week, I think I can resist for a while. Market is coming, but I'm really going to try to hold off and only reward myself when I get something finished (Cape Cod Girls doesn't count as a rewarded finish, darned it.) I was going to come up with all kinds of rules and regulations for myself - like I can't buy anything even a few threads or can't buy anything until I've finished two projects -not going to happen. I think that I'm a rebel at heart and I knew that it just wasn't going to work. So to begin the attack of the WIPs, this week I picked up Marquoir de Justine:


This is where I left the poor girl when I started her in 2007. The reason I didn't get far is because I couldn't see the darned holes to stitch. I think that the fabric must have shrunk down quite a bit in the dyeing process and it was painful to work on. Well, since that time I've purchased the Mighty Bright light and I can see great with it and Justine is now fun to work on. I'll post a progress pic after my week is up (Tuesday). I haven't picked out my new project to work on. I'm leaning toward a smaller Scarlett Letter piece, but I don't want to make a decision now because Tuesday is two days away and my mood could change! LOL Actually, it may be another WIP - Ann Medd - she's been calling to me in my sleep, so I may just go back to her. I've got two days - who knows what will happen.

This week I found another flower frog at a garage sale that I passed by. I wasn't going to stop, but, well, you know how that is. I see the sign Garage Sale or Estate Sale, and I almost always have to stop. Of course, my kids love going to them as much as I do, so it's fun for all of us:

I think that I'm going to put myself on a diet with these things too. DH keeps asking me what I going to do with all of these things. Well, the other day I did put flowers into one (didn't take a pic) and it looked lovely. So they do have a purpose besides holding scissors. But I think I need to rein myself in before I'm overrun by these things.

And the most exciting news of all - my FIL is almost done with my table for my craft room. YAHOO! We were over at his house yesterday and he had some finishing questions for me. Even my DH was impressed by the way it looked. It may be another couple of weeks before it's delivered here, but I'm so excited. In anticipation of the big event, I ended up finishing up the packing (that I've only been working on, for what now, three months?), and moving everything out so that DH can paint the room (he took this week off) and this is what I'm facing now:

If I have to find something, I think I'm going to be up a creek without a paddle. I should have taken a birds-eye picture for the true impact to be seen. It's just total mayhem in the center of the main room in the basement. And my back is aching. My DH thought that he could move my two cabinets with all my patterns, books, etc., on some dollys, but not the case, so I had to empty them. Back breaking work! My DH also was amazed at the amount of stuff I had crammed in that room. Quite frankly, it was perfectly organized, but I was a little shocked myself. I must have arranged things pretty well, but I was amazed. Definitely time to start sending some of this stuff to a good home. Actually, I had to clean out both the basement bedrooms - the one I'm vacating and the one I'm moving into - so this was kind of a double whammy.

Well, that's about it for me. I'm going to take a Motrin for my aching back and sit and put some stitches into Justine. Thanks for all the wonderful comments last week. I can't believe all the excitement that stash purchases have on everyone. Of course, I think that I get just as giddy seeing everyone elses purchases (and it's gotten me into a lot of trouble)! LOL Have a wonderful week and get some stitching done.

Space Invaders, Stitching and more Tooth Drama

Well, it's been one of those weeks! The space invaders I'm referring to are DH and the kids - they were home all week. Talk about cramping my style! LOL Well, not really - we've had a good time going to movies, out to eat, etc. DH and DS have gotten in some quality golfing time and DD and I have gotten in some quality shopping time. Shopping with a 12 year old is like being put into a revolving door whose speed has been stepped up to warp speed. Man, can that girl shop! LOL Makes my head spin!! She's adorable though. She'll hold something up to me and say, "This would look good on you mom" and I have to laugh under my breath because I'd be lucky to get my right breast into it! LOL It has been fun, but not a lot of stitching time for me (or as much as I would have hoped).

I worked a little bit more on Cape Cod Girls. Siobhan blew me out of the water on this one! Working on this gave me a little bit of heartburn because it wasn't until I was on the "they have" line (and seeing Siobhan's finished one) that I realized that I did a major screw up on the top. The background under the curley cues at the top were suppose to have alternating colors - one for each curley cue. I'm using the creative license thing and not changing it!

April 15th was looming so I started on Block 3 of Houses to fulfill my monthly requirement. Have I ever mentioned that I hate stitching with white thread? Yep, I do. But the house is coming along. I've really been wondering if I'll actually get through this entire thing. I wouldn't place any bets on it. I love the design and hope that by treating each block as a small project, I'll make it through. I had a wee bit of incentive the other day to keep going when I received my sampler guild's newsletter mentioning that Kathy Barrick is once again coming to our Guild next June and teaching another class! This coincides with when we were suppose to have our respective HoHR pieces finished. But again, a small incentive for me - would love to have it finished, but would not suggest anyone place bets on me getting it done.

During the week while the kids were off with my DH, I started actually going through my craft room and purging out what I know that in a million years I will not use. My tooth had started acting up again, DH got the kids out of my hair because I was just a miserable grump, and I had to find something to do. My dentist has now recommended me to a periodontist. Looks like the tooth is going to have to be pulled. But here's the kicker. It seems that there has been an inflection in there for quite some time and has disintegrated the bone. I never felt a thing - the tooth never swelled up around it, never hurt or anything. How my old dentist missed it would be interesting to figure out. The root had cracked and infection set in. The new dentist asked me if I was going to be in town for awhile! Yikes. Sounds like I did something crimimal and can't leave town. Well, seems like I'm going to have the tooth pulled, bone grafts done and an implant. Six month of extreme fun! NOT! Wednesday is my first appointment with the periodontist. Wish me luck!!

Anyway, while I wasn't feeling too good and the house was quiet (before the penicillin kicked in) I decided to get into that craft room. First thing I'm tackling are my bookcases. These are before my attack - you don't want to see what it looks like now - I've got a huge mess going on:

This cabinet holds all my quilting patterns, Sew News magazines (which are going to go to a good home), and miscellaneous things - decorating books, etc. Just spending a little time down there I found some great things - like old issues of Folk Art Magazine that I didn't know I had (and don't even think they're publishing it anymore), great papercutting patterns (something I keep saying I'm going to try), rug hooking, oil painting books (yeah, used to do that too). I really wish I'd gone through these last fall - I could have spent our nasty winter holed up actually trying out some of this stuff.

A few of my first, rather primitive attempts at oil painting.

Then we have the second cabinet (need to lose the ironing board in the picture). This cabinet is filled with cross stitch, needlepoint and knitting and crochet books. I seriously need to downsize. All the binders hold cross stitch patterns. I would be embarrassed to reveal just how many are in there (and there are quite a few, well more than a few, that still need to be filed because I ran out of binders and space). The top shelf of binders hold the cute, but no longer on my radar screen, Alma Lynne, Gloria and Pat books - you know, those cutesy country patterns. DD is going to go through them and then rest I'm going to donate or Ebay. Haven't decided what to do. To the right of the cupboard is a walk in closet. You don't want to see that - there is a whole other thing going on in there.

So anyway, I have a lot of stuff to do. I'm revamping the room, but figured it was best to purge first, before I have to completely empty the room and paint, get my worktable in there, etc. I know it's going to take me a while, but it has been fun finding treasures I forgot I had.

So that was my week. Hope everyone has a great weekend and gets a lot of stitching done!!

Tooth Aches, A Finish and a Road Trip

Happy Friday everyone! I'm glad it's Friday. It's been a good week and a bad week!

First off, I have to thank Karen for posting her finish of the La-D-Da Tiny Sampler a week or so ago. She made it into a little tin pin finish. She was gracious to offer the pattern to people who wanted it. Well, any freebie is my freebie and I printed it off and worked on it this week. It's in a 1-1/2 inch tin pin.

The reason I can't thank her enough is that this little sampler saved my stitching self this week. Last weekend I started to get a toothache. Monday morning I woke up and it seemed like it was going away. NOT! By the late afternoon, my tooth was screaming (of course, too late to get to the dentist). If I walked it screamed, if I bent my head to stitch it screamed. It was awful. So I medicated myself with some high strength Motrin and got through until the next day. I was going to take some Vicodin left over from my son's wisdom teeth extractions, but he had told me he saw pink elephants in his sleep while taking that so I decided not to go that route! But I wanted to stitch! This little sampler saved the day because I put the fabric into some baby Q-Snaps and could hold my head up and stitch right in front of my face (putting my face down caused more throbbing even though the piercing pain had subsided). A trip to the dentist solved the problem (flushing and antibiotics) and I hope that's over with. Although the Dr. thinks I cracked a root. That will be seen next week! So thank you, thank you Karen for saving me this week!!

By Wednesday, my pity party was over. Toothache gone and normal stitching could begin. I finished up the Tiny Sampler that night and then I started Cape Cod Girls yesterday.

The colors are a little washed out in this pic, but it's such a fun stitch. I'm stitching this along with Siobhan. I think she's a bit further along than I am. I'll probably work on this for today and then put it aside to work on the City Stitcher A&E for the weekend.

Wednesday I was feeling so good I went on a road trip. We have a town near us called Holly and the town is full of antique and prim stores. I shouldn't have gone. I kind of went nuts. I probably felt I deserved a reward for battling all that tooth pain (any excuse is a good one, don't you think?). Plus I usually do some kind of road trip every month. Sometimes I come back with goodies. Sometimes I just have a good drive - looking at the scenery and singing to the songs on the radio. In the fall, I load up on donuts and cider and drive around and look at all the colors. With the weather the way it's been around here this winter though, I've pretty much just holed myself up in the house. So, yes I guess I went a little nuts, but I had to catch up.

This was my first find. A clock cabinet minus the clock. Someone had tacked a quilt square into the opening. Well, my first thought was to get that quilt block out of there and have a piece of glass inserted and then a piece of needlework. A sampler perhaps? Yes, a sampler and I think I have the perfect one in mind. Maybe Ellen Birdseye? May require some tweaking, but I think it would be perfect. The cabinet has two small shelves behind the door that will be perfect for smalls. But I'm going to use this as a side table in my family room. My FIL is very handy with woodworking and I'm going to have him extend the base and the top (as the depth of this is rather narrow) and VOILA, a decorative side table.

My second find was this key case. You can't see the key holders as they're hidden by the cross bar. I was going to hang this by the back door because DH is always losing his keys, but I think it would look better in my craft room. Besides, my DH is never known to put anything where it's suppose to go, so putting it by the back door for his use would be futile! LOL So it will probably end up in my craft room. I think I'm going to give the inside of this a paint job though.

Then I found this Angel plate. I love Angel stuff. I was originally looking around for Red Transferware (didn't find anything), but I fell in love with this.

And I just had to have this Angel! Isn't she sweet? I believe the owner of the shop - Dawn (who also has a blog - http://hollyhillsprimitives.blogspot.com/) makes these dolls. I just couldn't pass her up. By the way, Dawn's prices are very, very reasonable, otherwise I wouldn't have bought half this stuff. Check out her blog. She is happy to mail things!Then I found this punched tin bowl. I think it will look great with some candles in it lit up for the holidays (or anytime I think). I loved the hearts cut into the sides.

Then I found this picture frame. Couldn't pass it up. Don't know what I'll use it for, but I'm sure that I'll find some small sampler to put into it. That was another thing I wanted to look around for was old picture frames. Our community is having a picture framing classes and I think it's about time I learned how to do this. I don't frame half my stuff just because of the expense.


I also found this old carpenter's tool box. It's good sized - about 2 feet across. I was originally going to put this out on my porch with some potted plants, but I'm thinking that I've got better uses for it in my craft room. Time will tell after I do my craft room over!

And last but not least, I thought I'd take a picture of this door molding that I found on a previous roadtrip. I loved it when I saw this with the stars and glass door handles attached. A cute idea. Again, designated for my made-over craft room when I finally get my butt in gear and tackle that beast!
As I write this, Terri is probably on her way up to Holly Hill. There is a funny story behind this. She was going to call me to go up with her today, not knowing that I had already gone up there. We must have been on the same wavelength this week! When I got home that day and started going through the blogs I follow, I found out she was planning a visit to HHP on Friday! I called her and told her I felt like I was going through a Twilight Zone moment. It would have been fun to go up with her, but maybe the next time! I was tempted - Dawn said she was getting more stuff in last night, but I think I've done enough damage for this week. I'm anxious to see what finds Terri came across there!
Well, that's about it. My kids are off today and all of next week. Should be an interesting week. I'll be able to stitch in the mornings and listen to the two of them go at each other in the afternoons. You know how those teens and 'tweens are! Do love them to death though!
Thanks again for all your comments! I love reading them. I feel like I've made a lot of friends all over the world! I hope that each one of you has a safe, peaceful and happy Easter!