Weekend Fun

I have to admit that I have been a bad, BAD blogger. I had this written right after my weekend in August (gasp, that was like 2 1/2 months ago!) and it sat in my blogger folder as a draft since then. Why you ask? Because I kept meaning to take one single picture which I never did. So, I'm just going to post this 2 1/2 months late and beg your forgiveness. At least it has some good eye candy in it. I'm going to try and do better. I have some things to share from both my stitching and my knitting. So look for them. Thanks to those who have stuck around even when I have been quiet. And now what I did the weekend of August 19th.

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I promised a report on last weekend's festivities and I don't like to disappoint. It took awhile to get around to blogging it, but hopefully it will be worth the wait.

Friday morning DF Jackie picked me up and after loading up her car with my "essentials" we headed to have a quick breakfast before going to Camp Blanding for the weekend. We were lucky enough to meet up with some friends of mine and stake out a nice spot of tables in the middle of the larger of the 2 rooms. Everyone got all set up and as they started sewing, I started stitching. Now, before you get all excited that I accomplished everything I set out to do, let me just warn you that I always set goals and rarely make them happen.

On Friday I worked on a couple of things. One was the Hemstitch Pillow, which was a class I took YEARS ago, like in 1998 or something crazy like that. It's a neat piece and apparently will take me a lifetime to finish since when I pulled it out of my bag it looked like this...

I managed to finish that 2nd row. So now the after...(ok, so there's no after picture. Which is what held up this post for months....MONTHS.)

I also worked on Daughters of Longbourn. I love this piece and hardly ever work on it. So I decided it was worth working on Friday. Here's what it looked like before:

Actually I had a little more than this done, but not much. And here's what it looked like when I put it away after a stitching and talking and looking at other people's pretty quilts and eating and talking, did I mention there was some talking?

For me that's a lot of work!

Then Saturday morning was a little hard. I had to go to a funeral so I didn't have a lot of time that morning and came back after lunch. There was also the presentation of the Quilts of Valor to Camp Blanding. That's always something to see. I did make a good start on my Chocolat for the class in November. It always takes me awhile to figure out how to get my piece sewn onto the stretcher bars! But you can see, it's going to be fantastic!

 This thread is fantastic and really I think I have plenty of time to get it done...no really.

I also managed to put in some time on Margaret W. Brown. This piece is just so sweet and if I haven't mentioned it before I just love the more muted colors that Jean at The Attic did as a conversion. Plus all those silks are just wonderful to work with. A little before....

And what it looked like after....

Jackie and I had discussed that we wanted to finish another project from our trip to Mesa in January. We decided that we could do an entire small little sampler that we got and put it in the cool frame we received during the weekend. Well, we did! Look, isn't it just too adorable?

The pattern called for the colors to be black, scarlet and a gold, but I decided to use some threads from my stash and go a bit more red, white-ish and blue. I'm working on getting this fixed so it can hang on my "alphabet wall". I need to find one of those small sawtooth hooks to attach to the back.

I did manage to add some things to my stash. There is a "sale" room where anyone can bring things that they no longer want to others can procure those items. I managed to procure several charts, and even some that were fully kitted up with fabric and fibers. All at a great deal. I also managed to "encourage" the purchase of a Singer Featherweight machine. It needs a little TLC, but was still a good deal. I almost wish I'd bought it since it was a 1935 which just might be the year my mother was born, but that can't be right so it's a good thing Eva took it home with her.

I did purchase a little bunny that's just too adorable and complete handmade by the very talented Heather Lynn. His name is Dusty and if you hurry over to here and scroll down you can see much better pictures than the one I took below of where Dusty is living for now. Although I think he likes being the bunny protector of my growing collection of "primitives".

That's all I have to share for now. It was a great weekend. I had a load of fun and can't wait for the next one in January.

Is It Really Better To Be Late Than Never?

Often a question I ask when I've set a stitching goal for the month and the end of the month has blown by and I haven't finished my goal. Not sure I know the answer, but I give you Valentine Rose as proof that if you persevere you might eventually accomplish something.

Valentine Rose by Blackbird Designs

 I tried to get this to look as close to how it looks in person as I could. This is pretty close. This one is dedicated to my mother's sister, my Aunt Nora, whose birthday is the same day that some little rodent decides if we're going to have an early spring or not. I spent as many holidays and much of my summers with her and her family as a child as I did at my own home with my parents. My mom wanted me to have the time around family and since my aunt has three sons, one of whom is the same age as I am, that was where I went. Not that I minded escaping Florida in the summer to go to the mountains of West Virginia. Then when I was looking for colleges my Aunt Nora went with my mom and I to check out the first college I attended and over the years I've called her for advise as much as my mom, especially when I needed help with my accounting homework in college!

The "J" above and to the left of her name is for her husband James (Uncle Jim) whose birthday is also in February. The "S" is for Nora & Jim's granddaughter Sara who was born minutes after my maternal grandmother died. The other "J", at the top left corner in the blue/green color, is for my father's sister, JoAnn who also celebrates her birthday in February. I used a different color for her since her last name isn't Hart, well technically Sara's isn't any longer since she's now married but to me she'll always be Sara Hart.

With that goal accomplished I managed to get a start on March's goal for Alphabets. No picture yet since it's all in cream silk perlee which looks white and is a bear to photograph. I'm only going to try that once when it's finished.

That's all for today. Wednesday's don't leave much time for stitching in the evening since I have band practice and I need to do some drama directing for the church. We're doing a series of readings/dramas during our contemporary service in place of actually reading the Gospel lesson for the day. Somehow I ended up in charge of it. Hope you all have a fantastic day!

Some February Progress

Haven't felt very well, what with the rain (which we really need so I refuse to be too whiny about it), the cold and not being able to take my RA meds for 2 months it's like a perfect storm of pain. But, I have been stitching so we'll cut straight to the pictures.

Since I finished my January goal for DTs Alphabets I jumped right in to February's goal. Haven't quite finished, but I did get a lot done.

 The goal is to finish this single color alphabet before the end of the month. Shouldn't be too hard.

I managed to finish my January goal for AotH finished a little late, but it's done.

Snow Garden completed

I even managed to get the personalization done. I made a couple of changes. The name "Barbara Jean" and the date "1937" is my mom and her birth year. (Oh please, she looks WAY younger than her age so why shouldn't people know how old she is?) The large "J" down in the bottom left is for my DF Jean since her birthday is also in January. Then I added some cousins first initials that have birthdays in January. "A" - Angela (she's married to my sweet cousin Steven), "D" for my cousin David, and the "L" for Lynda Gayle.

I really love how this has turned out so far. It's very "cold" looking, and I know a lot of people don't like this square, but I think it looks great.

Since I finished and didn't want to get up to pick up anything else I started working on February. Here's where I was as of a few days ago.

Valentine Rose as of Feb. 8, 2011

These colors are very yummy! The house will take me forever, but I hope to get it finished by the end of the month. I need to order the month that has the first bonus pattern so I can at least get the border done before I start March. Otherwise I'll be off in my counting I'm sure.

And a peek of how it looks together.

AotH as of Feb. 8, 2011

No new pictures of mom & dad's piece, but I am working on page 2 so the end is in sight. The party isn't going to be until the 20th so I have a bit extra time to get it finished and let my framers have at it.

I haven't been knitting much, but it's NASCAR season again, so there may be a bit more knitting or crochet going on soon. I really need to make a blanket for Victory Junction from the yarn I bought last year. Have enough for two, but I'm not crazy enough to think I'd finish them both this year. I'm thinking crochet since I do that a lot faster. Make squares and then put them together is the plan. More when I figure it out. However, I have been working on a scarf which I need to take a picture of so you can see. Not much to see right now, but I think it will be lovely when finished.

I almost forgot! Head on over to Cranberry Samplers, she's having a give away since she's reached 300+ followers. Make sure you follow her and post a comment to enter. 

Some Sunday Stitching

Spent Sunday afternoon stitching with my friend Jackie. We met and just hung out for awhile with our needles and some threads. I only worked on AotH Snow Garden hoping that I'd finish it in January. Didn't make it, here's where it stands when I quit last night.

I wasn't happy with my dye lot of GAST's Cidermill Brown that is on the front of the house, mine was almost the color of my fabric, so I switched to GAST's Cinnamon. Love how it looks now. This picture actually captures the color of my fabric, and before you ask I don't remember. I think it's WDW Parchment, but don't quote me on that since it just as easily could be Lakeside or it could be R&R. I need to find the label and make sure I know, silly of me, but I've lost it. Maybe someone else will remember that was with me when I bought it on a trip to A Stitcher's Dream. Anyway, I'm going to keep working on this square so it will be finished and then hopefully get Feb started and finished. If I can do one each month then I'll be doing fantastic.

We met at Panera and had one woman stop to talk with us about our stitching. She said she used to stitch, but not on linen. The other woman works there and had to see what we were doing. Stitching in public is sometimes fun, since it might spark some interest.

I finally have an updated picture of mom & dad's anniversary piece.

This picture doesn't quite do it justice, but it's pretty darned close considering I took it at Panera. I've actually done a bit more late last night on the square I'm working on. The boarder is finished and I've started on the inside motif. Some more late nights are in order, or some days of being able to stitch without prying eyes seeing it. I'm still hoping I'll have it finished and framed in time to give it to them for their actual anniversary. We'll see.

In answer to KarenV's question, yes I'm using the called for fabric and fibers for DT Alphabets. It's Lambswool. It looks more khaki to me as well. I think as I get more of the design completed I'll be much happier. Once I get Snow Garden finished I'll be back to work on my February goal for this piece.

That's all my stitching news. Things here are slowly getting back to some sense of normal. My mother still isn't recovered from her bout with mono though she does seem to be gaining some strength. She still has to stop and rest a lot. We did have to go back to find out what they found with her CT scan. Not great news, some major arthritis damage in her cervical spine area that has to be addressed, plus we're still trying to find a good rheumatologist to get her started on more advanced treatment for the osteoporosis. Looks like we may try to find a doctor down in Gainesville. I'm not sure if they will allow my vehicle to park in the garage down there, but I'll give it a go. (Yes, all my Gator friends, that's a joke.) The symphony was lovely and we're thinking of getting tickets for Saturday evening's opera performance. I still need to work on the cleaning of my office. I would love to put down new flooring, cork I think, and then go get some bookcases from Ikea that I like. Lots of plans, too little time. 

A Vacation Cut Short

Unfortunately my trip to Atlanta was cut a little short because of the weather, but at least I got to go and have some fun with everyone up there. As usual DF Jean was a fantastic hostess. You know you're going to have a good time when this is what you find on your bed.

Yep, that's some Tony Stewart swag! Those who know me and kept track of my crazy attempt to get a copy of that calendar know that I ended up with 2 of them, plus this one that Jean ordered for me. I took one to my LYS to share the yumminess. I'm not sure where I'm going to put this one, but I'm sure I'll find a place! The picture isn't great since I took it on my iPhone, not sure why I didn't pull out the actual camera, silly me.

The weekend was mostly a lot of hanging out with friends, eating and stitching. Thursday night we headed over to Andy's for some fantastic turkey soup, birthday cake for Jean and stitching. Then on Friday it was all about hanging out at Jean's. We did a little beading...after I did some organizing of Jean's beading stash. There was some stitching and of course eating. Friday is when they started talking about all the snow and ice Atlanta was going to be getting. At first it didn't sound that bad, but it kept getting worse and when Delta started canceling flights and offering to switch people's flights for free, well I decided I should be a little proactive and get my Monday afternoon flight switched to Sunday morning so I could get home before I leave again for AZ. I'm really glad I did since the flight home had very few people on it and I'm not camping out at the airport. Plus I got to take my mom for an early birthday dinner.

Saturday was DF Jean's birthday and we had a great dinner with lots of friends at a great Chinese restaurant. It's always good to be with everyone and this was no exception. I'm not sure why we didn't get a group picture, but we didn't. Maybe next time.

I did some stitching while I was up there. I took several things with me, mostly new starts. Got around to starting three new pieces, which are going into my personal 2011 challenge.

The first is the one I'm doing a SAL with Jean & DF Ann. The Drawn Thead's Alphabets is such a beautiful piece.  (You'll have to follow the link to see what it looks like when finished.) I'd love to say that I'll have this one finished by the end of the year, but I'm not that crazy, and I know myself. I have a plan that if I actually follow it will get me to that goal, but I have a feeling that at some point during the year I'll fall off the wagon, so to speak, and something else will grab my attention. But on to the picture of what I did finish while I was in Atlanta.

copy write The Drawn Thread

I've been working on this today while doing some laundry and trying to not get sick. (Yes, I managed to pick up some bug while I was gone, or more likely I had it when I left.) I'd love to finish this top alphabet this month. Like I said, I have a plan and that's the first month's goal. I think it's doable, so we'll see what happens.

The next piece I started while gone is another big one. Anniversaries of the Heart from Blackbird Designs is my poison of choice this time. I opted to do all the parts on one large piece of fabric. I'm working on a piece of 35ct linen to keep it from being TOO large. I love how it looks, but so far there isn't much to see, especially since what I have done is very light and doesn't show up well when I've tried to photograph it.

That's the best I've been able to do. This will be January's block. I'm working who who it will include. I know my mom will be there since her birthday was Monday. I'm trying to decide whether to have this be just family, or family and friends. I figure I have some time to decide.

I actually have more to show, but I started this post on Monday and it's Wednesday evening and I really need to finish getting packed to leave for Mesa, AZ in the morning. I'll leave you with this little tidbit.

By Milady's Needle, this is the beginning of Margaret W. Brown. I promise I'll tell you more when I get a chance. But now I'm off to get my final items packed and hopefully get a few hours of sleep before I have to be on a plane at 6:50AM!