January 2022

New Year’s Day saw me start not one but two new stitchy pieces.   Both have been in stash forever and I have wanted to stitch both forever.    I  thought why not?   Neither are particularly large or complicated which by saying so automatically means I have jinxed myself when I declare there is not a lot of stitching in a pattern.   So ‘round the bend I went on Day 1 and I added to my WIP’s.

My two new starts on for the new year were Thyme to Gather and Winter Cometh.    Cathy Habermann has such a good eye for what colors work together.   I don’t have enough fall pieces that are not Halloween so that  was my rationale.  Stitched and ready to finish up into a pillow.  

Winter Cometh from Summer House has been in my stash since it first came out in 2017.  I have done several of Beth’s and have several more in my stash to do.    Again, not enough winter stitchy pieces in my repertoire so it had to be done.  My Thursday morning stitching group will be a great time to work on  the border.  

I was fortunate enough to go to OCMD for Camp WannaStitch.   185 had signed up but only 75 attended.   We wore masks and sat only 4 per table.   It is always nice to be with fellow stitchers, have some great seafood dinners and get stitching done.  I also started and finished this EZ PZ stitch on a mesh bag while there.   The bag is from It’s Sew Emma and the pattern from Shepherd’s Bush.  

I finished Winter Wonderland.   Designed to be finished as a drum but I will do simple framing.  This is a Primitive Hare design from a retreat in Cape May, NJ a couple of years back.  One WIP down and many more to go.   

The first of the year also saw me catching up on all your blog posts and left me drooling over some of the work and finishes.   Also making me want to vow to do one ornament a month…..but I fear I won't keep up so for me I can just OH and AH at everyone else’s.  Then I saw Carol's 12 in 22 on Instagram and I want to jump in.   I picked up this EGA ornament from my stash to work on for January.   It’s not quite finished but then again neither is January.  I am not exactly enjoying this one BUT it will be another EGA piece from Christmas in July done.

I am doing my first band sampler from Carol i-stitch on Facebook.   This one is called the Denim Band Sampler.  You can choose your own your own fiber and I chose Gloriana’s Bellagio.   I saw a friend's completion last year and she used Gloriana's Bellagio and it was beautiful.   I would have been too afraid to try a variegated until I saw her completed band sampler.   A portion of the pattern is released each Friday.   I thought working on this and an ornament each Friday would be a good schedule to keep me on target for the 12 in 22 Challenge and keep up to date on the band sampler.  There again I fail to have my feet in reality as to what one/I can accomplish stitching-wise in a day all the while keeping up with normal life and interruptions.  

Mid-December I dropped two pieces at the framers.   I picked then up the first week of January and I am very happy with each.  First Coming to America from a Brenda Gervais. I participated in the SAL in 2020 that marked the 400 year anniversary of the sailing of the Mayflower.    

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I am absolutely in love with the green and gold frame the framer suggested!  It is hard to tell but the color matches that of the waves.  While this view looks like the linen is wrinkled, it is not.  It is the color variation of the linen.   

Winter Rose Manor also from Brenda Gervais is the other piece I had framed.   Super happy with the the framing and the quick turn around.   I will definitely be using Finley’s Art Shoppe (Newark, DE) again.  Winter Rose Manor was stitched in most of the called for colors on 36 ct Heron Gray from Legacy.  The pink house (Conch) shows up well but the white (Grits) not so much in this photo.  

Settlement for my son is this week coming up.   I will be on Damma duty to help watch and to keep the kiddos happy while the moving happens.  I am spending Tuesday in the kitchen to whip up  a couple of casseroles as well as a big pot of bean soup to have at the ready during the days of moving.   I will be ready for a massage after five days of moving,  kiddos and not sleeping in my own bed.  And on the Damma note, Raegan finally has put a name to me……she has been saying pop-pop since summer.   I am now Dam to her.  Ask my kids…..it could be considered appropriate.   I hope she learns to add the ‘ma’ to that soon.  

Thanks for stopping by.   Wishing you all are keeping well.   Stay safe and keep on stitching. 

Intention

I think I found an answer to my one sidedness albeit no guarantees on how long I will be successful.   I stopped making daily lists and this doesn't work for me.   I need a routine.   I've told this is all part of retirement - setting a routine.  So I’ve got to pivot my focus.   No more just one more thread length, no more just one more chapter, no more just one more episode, no more just one more word game.   No-sir-ree    Come 7 a.m. no matter what I am in the middle of I am putting it aside and I am jumping on the treadmill for a half hour minimum.  Once done, I have been proceeding with my morning routine and by 9 a.m. I have walked, showered, made the bed, had breakfast, cleaned the kitchen and whatever needs to be done and the rest of the day is mine guilt-free!   I know......I know.....I am always gung-ho at the start of anything and quickly my attention drops off.....fingers crossed I can keep to it.

As for Wordless Wednesday, a little explanation.   I take photos of whatever I see that week that catches my interest.   It is especially easy if it is something in nature.  Some weeks it is more of a struggle than others.   On those weeks I branch out on a different path and use theme.  Take November 4th - the theme was things that are circles.   Every week won't be a theme but I can guarantee it will be some weeks.  Since I have a weird way of looking at things my theme may not always be obvious but hopefully it is all relatable.

Yes, ta-da.   I finished Coming to America on time.     I was 98% done on the weekend.  I finished up Tuesday and left my initials for the last day.   

I saw a post by FlameFingers on Instagram and had to copy the way she stitched a ship in the embroidery hoop.   

I also added the finish date when adding my initials.    

I really enjoyed this stitching this piece and especially enjoyed all the FB and Instagram groups that helped created a comradely.    

This is the first piece I used my Rolaframe for.   Thank you Shirley for your generous gift of this scroll frames.   Looking forward to putting another project on them.

Off to up a WIP.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by, stay safe, stay healthy and keep on stitching.

Seeing the coastline

Coming to America (CtoA) is so close to arriving to the shores of Massachusetts that I think I can smell those Boston Beans!    I have put all my stitching efforts into only this piece since September and now say with confidence that barring any catastrophe I am going to be rewarded with finishing it on time.    

That said, I, who has always thought of myself as the consummate multi-talker, handling crisis both real and imagined for a floor full of officers and managing a staff of seven at the same time for over 20 years must now confess I seem to only be able to do one thing at a time in retirement.    It is like I put 150% into one thing and everything else slides.    Not housework or preparing meals....things like reading blogs, posting comments, deep cleaning, watching floss tube, taking walks, reading, doing finishing, machine sewing, emails.   It was the same in the summer......yard work, yard work yard work and little else.   When did I become so one dimensional?   

I have known for a long time that I am a process stitcher.   I enjoy the ride more than the destination ergo this could be why I have so many projects close to but not across the finish line.   When CtoA is done, I plan to concentrate ONLY WIPs with the first being the completion of Raegan's stocking.   With the pandemic and holiday travel being up in the air, I want to get this done.   I know I won't get it down before a schedule trip out there later in the month and want to get it in the mail to her mom and dad ASAP.  

I am still spending a lot of time with my sister as she is working through the loss of her husband.   One day at at time.   I've lent her the book, Good Grief by Theresa Caputo that helped me when my our brother passed away.

When I saw that I am on target to finish CtoA I did manage to spend a windy rainy day sorting my summer clothes for storage, donation or consignment store.   The keep pile doesn’t seem to be much smaller but all the tops have been sorted, washed, and neatly put in a tub until next spring.   Next up will be the shorts and capris, maybe today.....maybe tomorrow.  

I also need to tackle the my work clothes.    Some will be kept but most can go.  I want to find a woman’s shelter to donate them to. Maybe some of the women need something to wear to a job interview.   I have been tossing the shabby socks and pjs too.   I think I need to admit I have an excessive amount of clothes as is evidenced by the huge tub of just t-shirts/tops.  I can safely say I could go half the summer and never repeat a shirt.  In my defense, some are "yard work" shirts that are stained and yucky.  I am sure there are more severe offenders out there.   I have things that are years old as they were my mom's - who retired in 1986.   She wore classic, good quality clothes that still look new.     Thoughts are swirling in my head that this could be my mission this week......stitch an hour, sort and purge and hour.   Let’s see how well that goes....I know I have every possibility of running aground.   Sorting clothes is one job where I prefer the end destination and NOT the process.

On a cheerful note, my Thanksgiving cactus is blooming up a storm.  I moved him to the window where my orchids seem to do their best.    I think Mr. Cactus likes the spot too.   Best he has every looked......could be now that I am retired he is getting a little more attention.  

Keep safe everyone, stay healthy, thanks for stopping by and keep on stitching.

Tail wind

 I've got the wind in my sails for sure but don't know if this strong tail wind will be enough to have me reach port on the appointed date.  Super happy with my progress.  As expected, the letters are going quickly.    I am slightly optimistic I can make it.  

With some waiting room time coming up, I hope to make continued progress.     I had planned to go to State College at the end of the week (Thursday a.m. and NOT heaven forbid on Friday of a home game weekend - I know better) so I knew there would be no stitching with a four-year old and a ten-month old but those plans have been canceled.   Willy was sad when he told me the little boy next door might have "germ balls" from a day care worker who tested positive for Covid.  We all think it best I delay my trip for two weeks.   Willy loves getting mail so I was quick to put some cards and stickers in the mail for him.

It is bittersweet.  I would certainly rather be bunking in Willy's room than at home but I am glad I can devote more time to Coming to America and hopefully finish in time.  I think I have advanced so much that I need to only stitch ten rows of the pattern each day to do it.   Somedays maybe more than 10 and somedays maybe not as many.  Although I am enjoying everything about this piece but because I have been dedicating my time to just this piece I am ready to move on to something else.   I'd like to have all the names done by end of stitching tomorrow.  That would be more than 20 rows in two days......knowing full well what I'd like to do and what I get done often are not the same thing.

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe, stay healthy and keep on stitching.

Calculations

Well I don’t need a sextant to know I won’t make it to Plymouth by the appointed day for the Mayflower's landing.   I calculated when I started that if I stitched 6.something rows of the pattern every day that I could drop anchor in early November.   Well, what can I say, life happens and the best laid plans of mice and men go awry.     

I recalculated this weekend and I now need to stitch 15 rows each day to finish in time.  I am wise enough to know if I couldn’t stitch  seven rows a day I surely cannot stitch 15 rows a day.  It is all good.   I have made a bit stitching progress lately to be able to see some progress.  That’s all I need, forward progress and not to run aground on a sand bar.  

I am jumping down to the names with the thought that lettering goes faster.   Not sure if that will be the case.  I'll save working on the border when my stitching group meets this week.      Heave-ho, hoist the anchor matey and let’s get some stitches in this week.

Continuing with the ocean theme....

I spent the second weekend of October in OCMD attending Salty Yarns' Jamboree.  I had attended this annual event years ago but because it is the weekend after my guild retreat, I have begged off Jamboree in recent years.   Well no more; the Jersey Girls are ready to sign up again.   What a fabulous retreat.   The goodies, the projects, the teachers, Sally and Sara, and being back as part of the Jersey Girl Foursome of stitchers was really fabulous.  It was touch and go for a while because of the pandemic and I was so happy when we got the all clear that it was on.   Granted all the necessary temperature taking, sanitizing, mask wearing, social distancing was done.   It really was not any problem to do those things.  A small price to pay to  be able to get together and stitch on the fabulous projects.  Sara was great recording a Zoom Meeting of the classes for those who could not attend in person.    All the projects were  a tribute to the Lankford Hotel in anticipation of its pending demolition and rebuild.   Like so many other things this year, the demo and rebuild have been delayed because of the pandemic.  

The three classes this year were with Fern Ridge, Erica Michaels Designs and The Stitching Parlor.   My first class of the weekend was with Clara of the Stitching Parlor.   She did her research of Ocean City and focused her piece on the early 20th century in OCMD.   The needle book and smalls she designed were a lovely look at OCMD of yesteryear complete with old fashioned bathing suits and carousel horses. The needle book included a thimble holder and thread winder as well as all the fabrics, flosses, interfacing and some beach themed extras all nice and tidy in a binder.   

My second class was with Fern Ridge.  I have never done peyote beading so I was a little apprehensive.......for no reason.    Their project feature the beloved rockers we so enjoy sitting in on the front porch of the hotel.  Once you get the hang of beading, you fall into a rhythm and I had three experienced table mates to help me if I got stuck.  I didn't finish the scissors fob until after I got home.  It is not 100% perfect but I am totally 100% happy with the result.  I could be convinced to do peyote again.

My Sunday class was with Linda of Erica Michael Designs.   Again, like Clara, what a fabulous kit she had prepared for us.   Erica Michaels provided a wooden tray with a mat featuring the Lankford.   The hotel is front and center on the front of the piece.    The mat unfolds to show the boardwalk and the beach.  Further down the blue fabric represents the water.  She included a signature strawberry.    

We left with ideas and charms to embellish the beach and water.   Close it up and it fits in the tray with the strawberry and the other two class projects.   These teachers really put their heads together to make an awesome coordinating set and such a lovely sentiment to honor the Lankford.

All that is left to do is to stitch it.......    .......and just where on my project list can I squeeze this one in?

So retail therapy continued on this weekend while shopping the trunk shows.  Not only did I win while at there the prior weekend for my guild retreat, I won again this weekend coming home with the “honor” for most spent.     I need not buy anything between now and next Jamboree.....but need and want are two different things aren't they?

I made just minimal progress on Coming to America.  I struggled with stitching the fish skeleton on the left.   I mean really, how many times can you use that in a sentence?  I am sure my sampler will not be making the completed voyage in the allotted time but it's OK.  I already decided I would stitch on it only until the day the Mayflower docks.  I need to get back to Raegan's stocking to get it finished for Christmas and my poor planning has another SAL that started October 1st.   I don't expect much stitching time in the near future either because I returned home to be by my sister's side.   Her husband was injured in an accident four weeks ago and has been in ICU in a coma since the accident.   He passed late Monday peacefully having never regained  consciousness.   He was surrounded by my sister, his daughter, and step-daughter.  So sad because he was doing nothing wrong and the other vehicle left the scene just leaving him laying there.  He was such a great guy who was loved by all.  The outpouring my sister has received since the accident has been a tribute to how wonderful of a man he was.  

It's easy for many to say during this unimaginable year of 2020 that they have had enough.  I  now myself included.  Come on 2021!

Stay safe, keep stitching.

PS  Pardon any weird formatting.....so much for Blogger upgrades.   No matter how many times I set the font size, inevitably I log in to find it has changed.   Sometimes I am frustrated with "improvements".

Like a tennis match

I am back from my weekend in OCMD.   It was great.   We all followed the rules - sanitizing, keeping our distance, wearing masks.   The long weekend was just what I needed after a summer of yard work.  

I made great progress on Coming to America.  There are many others way ahead of me but I am sailing at my own speed.  

Two birds left and I will be finished with the section with the ship.  I may stitch down the side and stitch the placement of other bands....and I may not.

I also had a new start.   I have a self-created rule......a new start at any Lankford visit.   This start has been planned since early summer.   My group of Jersey Girls and I are all stitching Theresa Kogut’s Land That I Love.    I didn’t get a whole lot stitched but I did make a start.   I am stitching on 35-count Aspen.   We each have different linens but are all using the called for threads.   It is always neat to see the different looks you get of the same pattern.   

For anyone stitching this, don't worry, I know the "A" was supposed to be blue.    I am not making the U, the S and the A in blue but rather I am stitching my initials in the blue.    I am doing a twist with doing the letters stitching as smyrna cross rather than just a plain old cross.  That's about as far as I will go with changing what the designer has charted.

I think I am a convert!   This is the second piece I have stitched on anything over 32 count.   Coming to America being the first.   I have always been fearful of using 40-count but it may be in my future.  I really like the look of things on 40-count but have always feared I wouldn’t be able to manage it.   I have a nice big piece of 40-count Navy Bean in my stash that is now calling me.  

For my stash, since I have been doing mail order all summer, I did not buy a lot.     I bought Heartstrings Samplery Berry Bowl Sampler.  I have liked this since I first saw this on The Attic's flosstube.   I choose one piece of doubloon rather then two pieces of linen that need to be joined.   I have done the fabric joining in the past but couldn’t find a suitable combination for my taste.   And, it’s 36 count!   

I also bought Harvest Time from Lila’s Studio.   I just fell in love with her plaid skirt.  I think I may have even have owned one like it back in the day.   I have plenty of Halloween stitching but I need more fall themed stitches.    I am sure I can stitch this using fabric and floss from stash.

For history making events, I was out on the boardwalk at 9:15 Saturday night to see the launch of the rocket ship from Wallops Island heading to the International Space Station.  It was very cool to see, not so easy to photograph with a phone.    I found these on FB and they pretty much show my view.

This one is using a little more photographer savy time-lapse finesse.  Thank you Ken Fullerton!

I am volleying back to the Salty Yarns and the Lankford again on Thursday.  I am attending Jamboree.  These classes were booked in March.  We have been on the edge of our seats all summer hoping Jamboree would not be canceled.  Some are attending via Zoom so the class sizes are much smaller.  And again all the Covid safety rules will be followed.   One of the classes is with Fern Ridge.   As you know they are famous for their peyote beading.......yikes!   I’ve never done peyote beading so I hope my table mates have patience with me.  Fortunately this is all part of my new mantra......move out of your comfort zone.   This class is spot on for that!

Thanks for stopping by, stay kind, stay safe and keep in stitching.

Weather report......

Oh boy......I'm heading to Salty Yarns in OCMD for a much needed weekend away.  This is my semi-annual guild retreat and I have been on the fence about going.  I made the decision to go because of the pending demolition of our beloved Lankford Hotel thinking this would be the last chance for a retreat there.   Covid has actually put a monkey wrench of the demo/construction so the demo has been delayed.  It will feel so good to get away.   I can’t wait to lay in bed with the windows open and listen to the waves.   With Covid, other than two trips to my son’s I really haven’t been anywhere.  Of course, the grocery store and post office but not out to lunch or dinner or day trips or any of the retreats or conventions.   My Thursday group did start to meet again in July and after getting over the initial fears, it has been nice.   So going to OCMD is not without some apprehension.    There have been as many at 40-45 in the past; this time there will only be 10.  We had a zoom meeting to go over the Covid rules.   I think with only 10 of us, and if we all follow the guidelines, we won't have any problems.For stitching, I accepted the fact  that I would not get the lotus box done in time for the October finishing class.  I made myself a promise to stop work on the lotus box this past weekend and to get back into the Coming to America project.   When I started the pulled work on Sunday I was just so caught up in how easy it was and how cool it was looking that I kept on going.  

Finishing the fourth side, adding a round of satin stitch and some blackwork in the corners and this half will be done.  The design has to be stitched twice; once for the inside and once for the outside.  I found a nice blackwork “R” on Pinterest that is charted on the diagonal.   I want to try to see if it will fit in the center when I work this piece the second time for the inside of the box.  I am not overly concerned about the assembly.   I have the concept and I am pretty sure I can manage the assembly.    If not, I guess I could send up a weather balloon and hope a fellow stitcher can  rescue me.

The winds have settled and I managed to sail out of the Sargasso Sea and get back to stitching Coming to America.   I frogged the left end of the boat and started stitching in John Howland, the man overboard.  Due to how I stitched the 'rows', the back was looking like a meteorologist spaghetti plot model of a pending hurricane with thread ends all which ways.  It was not fun weaving them all back. 

With nothing but clear skies ahead  I plan to concentrate on this and nothing else while in OCMD so I sail back on course.

This week I managed to sew a couple of project bags.   One for me and for a friend.   I coffee stained the Coming to America fabric panel with  some not-so-good Pumpkin Spice Coffee.   Not that I don't like Pumpkin Spice; just this particular brand was yucky.   I also made some new face masks.  Way back in March when I made the quickie little pleated ones none of us had any idea how long we would be wearing them.   I made six of the more fitted style.   These have the wire nose piece and adjustable elastic cording which makes them more comfortable with a toggle to tighten/loosen them.     

Sewing projects like this are what leads to a tornado of a mess with my fat quarters.    I hate taking the time away from the project to put everything away neatly and when I am done the project, oh I am off to another already and promise to get 'back to the pile".   Since everything is currently in order, I will not just stack this on my work bench but rather I will take the time needed to put everything where it belongs!

(Footnote:   I DID put all the fat quarters away properly.)

For the yard this week,  I had hoped to  get to transplanting my strawberries and cilantro and cutting back my hydrangea.   I just couldn’t I can squeeze it is as I have a couple high pressures systems calling for my attention.   

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe, stay healthy and keep on stitching.  

Sometimes there is no answer....

Why, why, why do I never seem to run out of things to do?  Do I take on more than I should?   Do I not know how to say no even to myself?  Why do I see things to do where other's don't?  Do I invent things to do? (yes I do!!)    And the piesta le resistance, why does the grass seed always sprout better in the flower bed versus the bare spots?  

But enough.   No need to waste time on solving the mysteries of my personal universe.  Let’s see what I have gotten done.   For Coming to America I was blown off course and seem to be tangled in the Sargasso Sea.    I wish I had asked the question as to why the little pilgrim was standing outside of the boat on the waves.   Of course I charged ahead and stitching the boat to have him standing behind the rail.  Only then did I find out why he is outside the boat.  He represents John Howland who fell overboard during a storm but was pulled back aboard and rescued.   Now that I know the story, I can’t leave him behind the ship's rail.  Why did I not think to ask the significance of his position?    Maybe fair winds will sail my ship out of the tangles of the pending frogging.

I did finish Ornaments ala Round.  I will post a picture once I have it framed.  

I made progress on Raegan’s stocking.  I am saving the hair for last since it consists of french knots and a detached braid.  I don't want to smash the stitches as I roll it on the scroll bars.   I am more than half way done.   I need to shop my buttons, beads and charms to find some good ones to attach.

I picked up my EGA project, a Terri Bey Lotus Box.  I worked on it one weekend in June and put it down while I waited for #8 perle cotton.  The perle cotton arrived but I didn’t pick the project up.   Now I need to get busy.  The pattern was intimidating but I am pleasantly surprised how easy it is to follow the well-written instructions.  We have a zoom meeting in October to learn how to assemble it.  I understand assembly will be similar to putting together a biscournu.

I did finish a complete sort out of my craft room.  I had to remove everything from the walk-in closet so the inspectors could access the attic hatchway to check out the roof structure to make sure it could support the new solar panels.     I did end up with a couple of boxes I hope to send off for eBay sales.  

All my fat quarters are again sorted by color/type as best possible.

These wire locker baskets I found at an estate sale work perfecting to storing finishing supplies and small frames on the closet shelf.  

The main thing taking my time has been the yard project.   The bricks lining my paths were  found while clearing.   The pavers where I placed the park bench are left-over from my daughter's patio.  The flagstone, some is from my yard and some was found while clearing.  Since technically this is past my property line I don’t need to go overboard investing a ton in landscaping dollars.  A ton of time seems to be a different story.

I have done as much as I plan to this fall.....famous last words.   On the right side of the brick path I planted over 100 daffodil and iris bulbs, three mums and periwinkle ground cover.   The cool thing is the bulbs were found from other gardens around my yard and my daughter's gardens and were originally from my father's garden.   Is that possible they could be 40 years old and still viable?  I think planting bulbs is my favorite planting......I love the anticipation of them coming up when you are in the doldrums of winter.     The periwinkle is from existing gardens and also was originally from my father's flower beds.  I bought the mums for a great fall pop of color.

To complete the right hand side, from where have finished to back to the three line, I plan to clear, plant some ferns, more periwinkle and a favorite, some bleeding hearts next spring.  I've never had a good shady area I could plant them; now I do.  Then this side will be done which will be about 1/4 of the area.   I will gradually work towards the left, adding shrubs and low maintenance paintings.  Again, this is going to be a several-summer-endeavor.  This time last year, this was nothing but a 75 foot fallen oak blocking the entire overgrowth of vines and briars.  Good thing I really really really enjoy yard work.  

So that's all I've got.   Thanks for stopping by.   Stay safe, healthy and keep on stitching.