what would you do???

Okay, I'm taking a teeny-tiny poll here to find out what everyone else would do if they came upon THIS dilemma...

I turned her over and this is what I found. I'm pissed! I'm not going to lie. I know better than to go all this way without checking the back. Damn muscle relaxers!

This is the backside (obviously!). With that in mind, I don't know if I should frog all this or secure it and leave it. If I frog it that means having to start from the beginning of the green. Since this is the back, the thread is around 18" in length starting from the right side, continuing left and jumping down and traveling back the way I came. Make sense? Hmmm ~ I guess that's why they call this design the Traveling Stitcher. I didn't know they'd mean that literally...ahem! lol

Here's another close-up and angle of that stupid loop. I'm torn on what I should do. Should I securely leave it or rip it all out? Please, please, please...I want your thoughts.

On a lighter note, I can show you the front for progress' sake...and mine.

I am so enjoying this piece, even with that awful loop on the back. I have the top border to stitch and the verse underneath and I already have the case for it. I have this piece on a rod 'n roll so that's why the right hand house cannot be seen fully. I am lazy and still pissed.

WHAT'S HE DOIN' NOW!!!!!! (This is exactly what my grandmother would say if she were here today.) Cameron is nuts ~ that's all I can say about him right now!

Jose turns 12 on Sunday, May 31! We're celebrating his day on Saturday though. His Mamaw is coming into town from Canada tomorrow to spend his birthday with him. We'll be busy the next couple days. I can't believe my little boy is a tween - I'm in a bit of shock right now and I'm always overwhelmed around this time...but more so now than ever before. Thirteen is going to kill me, I believe.

Talk soon!

show and tell

First things first! Check out Tanya’s new “do.” The Sampler Girl has a brand new website and she did it ALL by herself. Go check it out.

I have been slacking, majorly! I don’t know what has gotten into me. I have been up to a little bit of this and a little bit of that, but as my “how I’m feeling” face displays, I am beside myself – don’t know what’s wrong. I hope after this post I’ll get back on track. Maybe I have spring fever or something. It is warm right now.

Several little goodies have come in the mail lately and that has cheered me up. I bought one of Tanya’s motif magnets from her Etsy shop a couple of weeks ago and it came last week, along with this cute little tote bag. I love it on my fridge.

Me and my mom stumbled onto these sweet little necklace charms. She got one and I got two. They are so very sweet. We found them here. One has a youthful woman sewing. Her verse reads “I feed my soul with the stitches I sew” and we both have that one. It also has a catching verse from Nathanial Hawthorne on the back. I just loved the little girl sewing next to her needfuls and had to have it. Behind the charm it reads "Take your needle child, and work at your pattern; it will come out a rose by and by. Life is like that - one stitch at a time taken patiently and the pattern come out all right like the embroidery." Oliver Wendell Holmes.

Last Saturday me and my mom went to the fabric store and had a very confusing, yet fun and exhausting time trying to sort through the thousands of bolts of fabric just trying effortlessly to search for complimentary colors and prints. I am merely a blooming quilter and mom isn’t one. We wished my Aunt Pam was there because we would have had everything we needed in no time. My aunt has such a keen high for this stuff.

Anyway, I receive the Fons & Porter Love of Quilting Magazine (thanks to Aunt Pam!) and I saw a pattern for a table runner in the January/February issue I want to tackle. We thought this process was going to be easy, but boy were we wrong. I can admit failure, but I cannot accept defeat. I picked a print fabric for my focus but me and mom could not for the life of us find matching or bouncing fabrics. After over an hour of searching for what seemed like an eternity, not to mention I think we were searching for a needle, we gave up on that color palette and quoting words from an anonymous woman, “I started from scratch.” Back to the ole’ drawing board we went.

The left side is the pattern done in Valentine theme from my magazine. On the right, I chose colors to match my decor and interest. I think we did pretty well considering what we picked out in the beginning. Gorgeous but trivial.

Finally, we picked our jump-off fabric and all of a sudden as if the heavens opened and angels sang we had our matching fabrics. Everything just came together and we were more than thrilled, excited, happy we were about to get the h*** out of there. We love the fabric store, but we were in there too long. My dad took Jose to the movie and they made it back to our house before me and my mom, and they dropped her off with me prior to their movie. Now that is just way too long people…admit it! LOL

Not only did I purchase fabric for my new project, I also picked out an extra Civil War Reproduction piece (1/2 yard) and two full yards of each of the 1930’s reproduction fabric. I plan on making a reversible sewing machine cover that ties on the sides with these 2 pieces. I can’t wait! The cover that comes with the Viking is a hard plastic and it takes over the room (too BIG) so I need something more me and more attractive. :D

A not too far distant past I said I had ripped my craft area apart in order to get it organized and get my things within hands’ reach. I’m almost there and I will post photos, but not now ~ sorry! However, my fabric stash is organized and here’s what that looks like.

I think for having this stash of fabrics for about 5 years and not being a queen quilter, I think this is a nice little beginner stash, don’t you think? I do more crafting and stitching and I love using fabrics to “finish” pieces up. It fascinates me and it’s personal. I also have some of my grandma’s fabrics from years ago. I’ve labeled those Grandma’s Textiles. I know…I’m a complete dork. ;o) I also have her laces, crochet accessories, and lots of little of this and that going on. I’m honored to have it and will find some use.

I started early on a Christmas ornament this year bc I started way too late last year. I haven’t done a lot of stitching lately bc of all my other things, but this is the progress on SamSarah's Winter Love from the JCS 2007 issue. I enjoy stitching with Belle Soie and I love the over-dyed fabric. I should have my floss tag done, but I don’t. As soon as I get one of these little stitchings complete I’ll start on my table runner or sewing machine cover. There is just so much to do and not enough seconds, minutes, hours, in a day or rather my lifetime to get all that I want done.

My Just Cross Stitch magazine came today and I am not too thrilled with it. Nothing appeals to me this issue. The blackwork bookmarks design is the model my mother stitched so I’m proud to say that, but other than this nothing yells at me. Maybe better luck next time.

Me and the boys went to mom’s today and Cameron got a haircut. He looks like such a big boy, but still so sweet. His hair was getting really long and needed a good trim. While at mom’s a book and DVD came for me. My mom is so wonderful! She does a lot for me and I hope she realizes how appreciative I am towards her affection, love, attention and generosity (I hope you do mom.). I know it’s because she loves me so so much. I recently told her that I had an idea of stitching a selection of Ohio reproduction samplers and giving them a home on their own wall of sampler fame. She is the best mom ever! She bought me a book called Ohio Is My Dwelling Place. I can't begin to explain the price, but she got a fantastic deal with her wise shopping ways. Now, I haven’t gone through the whole thing because I plan on reading it thoroughly, but it has the entire history of Ohio samplers and the regions and counties. I am in awe over this gift. The photos that I have seen are stunning! I’ll post more about it later.

The other item that came from mom was a DVD called Judith Baker Montano Teaches You Crazy Quilting, which I’ve been interested in exploring for a year or so. I watched a little bit of it this afternoon while I put Cameron down for a nap. Let’s just say, I got far enough into the lessons to realize what we did wrong with color in the fabric store on Saturday. LOL

You live and learn…and laughing along the way always helps. :o) Talk soon because I still have more show and tell to offer.

catching up

I have so much catching up to do, but I'm still tired from my weekend trip. When I got home Sunday night I checked the mail and to my surprise was my Stacy Nash Country Sampler Heart Pinkeep & Strawberry Emery kit from Country Sampler. I was so thrilled! I sleeplessly got ready for bed, brushed those pearly whites, climbed into bed (too tired to stitch which never happens) and looked through the kit. Here was the packaging, which was sweet.

And here is what the kit entails.

And here is where I am with this project...

What's interesting about my start is that I always thought to stitch the design and then worry about getting the shape. The instructions are reverse, which I actually enjoyed. I used an iron-on transfer pencil and traced the template onto the "wrong" side of my fabric. Since I don't have a light box and it was gloomy outside I improvised and used my laptop screen. All I did was lay it down and waa-laa: traceable! The instructions say to straight stitch on top of the pencil mark, but that wasn't coming out the way I wanted so I hand sewed a running stitch instead. I like how my shape turned out. My start is nothing to write home about, but it is a start. Progress, not perfection, right!

I've spent the last couple days trying to catch up on email and groupie email and blog readings. Everyone has been so busy since I’ve been away. I drove to my LNS Monday afternoon and picked up 30 ct Weeks Dye Works Straw so I can start Betty’s kitten design bc it is just so darling and extremely tempting to begin right now! So far I've kitted my kitten project and I'm ready to begin. :o) It's going to be so much fun!

I ordered Annemiek’s A Year of Primitive Floss Tags through The Needle’s Content website. The first is the snowman and if you haven’t seen it yet, it’s cute. I’ll start that soon as well. I also want to finish up Sarah’s ABC Pincushion, by Blackbird Designs. I’ve decided to stitch my own name instead of ‘Sarah Tobias’, but I’ve had to chart that out differently so I’m still working on those details, but hopefully I can get that stitched and finished sooner rather than later. I brought my Sarah piece to Florida but never touched it bc of the project from Susan.

Speaking of my Susan project, here is a photo of the Longaberger basket we received as part of the project in St. Augustine this past weekend. I believe the basket has been discontinued. It's cute.

Two nights ago I posted a couple photos of what the SGD class project was. Here's what I managed to stitch yesterday - the blue waves. The waves are stitched using one strand over one.

(Sorry this photo is sideways. No matter how I took the photo, nor how many times, it never straightened, so I apologize.)

How sweet it is to be loved???!!! My dear sweet Aunt Pam mailed me a little envelope with three pieces of fabric inside. She mailed these because I don't have any reproduction fabrics in a cranberry-purple-ish color that'll coordinated with my Lovebirds piece that I finished weeks ago. I love all 3 and cannot wait to use them. I really like the fabric with the blue-ish flowers. I asked my DH his opinion and he likes the far right fabric. I just don't know which one bc they would all look cute. ALL opinions welcome!

Okay, I have to brag about my mom real quick. She stitches models for the Just Cross Stitch magazine and she has made the cover once again. She stitched the pillow that's on the cover. I am so proud of her! JCS doesn't inform her when her models will be made she just knows they will at some point so when they adorn the cover she is always pleasantly surprised. Wouldn't you be?!?!

I had to take Cameron to the ear, nose and throat doctor Monday morning and as I suspected he has to have tubes put in. His surgery is next week. I feel bad for my baby. He isn’t hearing very well either, therefore, why he isn’t talking yet. He’s 17 months old and he should have somewhat of a vocabulary now. Luckily I’m not in the dark about all this. Jose had 2 sets of tubes put in with the same speech issues. At least I know what to expect. Anyway, Cameron was really upset by the hearing test, but as soon as the doctor entered Cameron wanted in the doctor’s lap. He’s never even met this man and he was that comfortable. It was amazing how well behaved he was for the doctor but the nurse, he wanted nothing to do with her.

Sooooo, I best get off and get crackin! Thanks for visiting and listening. I so enjoyed my travels this past weekend, and being with mom made it all the merrier! I love and like my mom! In case you’re wondering, there is a difference between liking and loving and I feel for my mother on both counts :o) She’s the best friend ever bc I can be myself. And trust me, I’m not always nice and pretty! LOL

looky here

I just received a lovely and totally surprising gift in the mail. I see that it is from my Aunt Pam in Ohio. Several days ago she said she sent something to me in the mail and that it wasn't much - just a little something - but that she saw it and thought of me. I opened the package and to my complete surprise I pulled out a huge piece of 1800's reproduction fabric. It's white and blue stripes, just like the old Civil War type pillowcases. I absolutely adore this with ALL my heart. I was flabbergasted really. I will have to come up with something spectacular for this fabric ~ it's just so unique and special to me. My aunt's note to me, "Julie, I thought you might enjoy this! Love, Aunt Pam". Well, I more than enjoy this. I positively love this piece! Thank, thank, thank you for this fabric!

Also...

...here is my progress on Sarah's ABC Pincushion by Blackbird Designs that I began last night. I am really loving how the silk coordinates with the Cafe Kona linen. It's getting to be very pretty when it's done.

By Friday morning, I'll be on a plane heading for Florida ~ I am counting down the days! WooHoo!!!

Today's Stitching: Sarah's ABC Pincushion; Be Still
Watching Today: 'Death Race'

progress report (revised)

I want to report on a couple pieces that I'm proudly progressing on. I am thoroughly enjoying each stitch I take with these projects. This first piece is taking a little longer than it should, but that's because I keep picking up new projects to add to my WIPs pile and I'm included in a quick-stitch every weekend. Needless to say, I am finishing small designs so my turn out is not so bad. Okay, back to my progress report...

Hallow's Eve Sampler Pillow
by Stacy Nash Primitives
fabric: 28 ct. Autumn Fields (already hand-dyed)
floss: DMC ~ 301, 310, 612, 730, 838
finish as: pillow or door hang

The SN Hallow's Even Sampler Pillow is half way complete. I plan on either having it as a pillow laying around my home (I don't care that it is Halloween-ish), maybe in a basket, or giving it cording or twine so it can hang from a door or hook. I haven't decided yet. I am thinking about adding a black nostalgic key as an embellishment. I believe it will go with the piece. On to my next progress report...

These next three photos are Phase I of my progress. Approximately a week ago was my start time.

I must add that I love my scissor fob! It was a cute little project I received from a stitching night out. It is a vintage wooden spool which I need to get my hands on some more so I can make more fobs or whatever my heart desires, really. The spool even has its original label on it. I used Crescent Colours instead of the called-for floss: Belle Soie - Rose of Sharon. Again, I don't have any Belle Soie and my LNS didn't have many in stock and naturally I grew impatient and wanted it NOW! After much thought and comparing I decided on Crescent Colours - Bandana. The color has a fabulous variation of deep reds. It's close to the called-for floss, but Bandana is a deeper red.

(Photo Above) Check out the hand-dyed fabric. The photo doesn't do it the justice it deserves (never does!), but the hand-dyed portion has a very subtle green tinge. It's so pretty!

(Photo Below) I tried to get a better, close-up of the fabric I choose for this piece ~ it's a little better. It called for 28 count Bisque Linen from Lakeside Linens, but I did not have that in my stash and neither did my Mother. (I always go to her if I can't supply it myself and can't make it to my LNS.) By chance, as me and my Mother were rummaging through her ENORMOUS stash, we came across this fabric and I was floored. I had to use it...if she'd let me. Thankfully, she had a large enough piece to split it right down the middle with me. Isn't my Mom an angel?!?! (Thanks Mom!)

These next couple photos are Phase II of the progress. Hopefully the next time I post this progress report I'll have it all stitched up...hopefully!

I love that little schoolgirl. She would make a wonderful little scissor fob or floss tag.

Schoolgirl Lessons
by Little House Needleworks
fabric: 28 ct. Vintage Country Cream
floss: Crescent Colours ~ Bandana (2 skeins)
finish as: frame