a busy bee

I felt like a queen bee today tending to my hive. In this case the “hive” stands for all my activities not home. First I went for my routine walk. It was g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s! Our high was in the mid-70's - can’t beat that. Afterwards, I went to the FedEx office store (used to be Kinko's) to make copies and print off my Jane Austen sampler for an upcoming project. Here are the ingredients:

Not too long ago, Alma and Barb’s blog had the best tutorial on how to cover a paper mache box, which I’ve done before, but they added one small clever detail to their box that I have not yet tried. They copied a favorite Quaker sampler and inserted it inside the entire box. It is so, so adorable. I just had to make one so I began the process today. The two pieces of reproduction fabric above are of original color. I adopted Blackbird’s way of removing color.

I experimented with removing color from two pieces of fabric with Rit dye color remover as they did. Blackbird was right. You have to remove that fabric quick or else. Thankfully I read their instructions twice over and was ready to take the fabric out as fast as I was at putting them in. I let the pieces air dry in the sun for a couple of hours. Here they are color removed, after drying, and before ironing. I’ve ironed them since and they look so soft and old. I love how they turned out. I’ll work on the sizing and slicing of fabric as soon as possible. I’m in no rush.

Jo March says…

I finished stitching Little Women Saturday night. I started it Friday afternoon so a fairly quick stitch indeed. I picked these two pieces of fabric a year ago for this design and they look better now than they did before. I’m glad I picked them. =)

I’m shocked I had bells in my finishing drawer, but they work, don’t they? They add a nice “ring” to the piece – LOL. Tanya was right. Christmas doesn’t always have to be in red and green. PINK will work just as well. The pink and green stripes remind me of candy canes so it definitely works for this piece. The pink with green stripes is the backing fabric while the just pink stripes are for the bottom panel.

Here it is all made up. It’s done on 28 ct linen that I hand-dyed with a pomegranate and that was a year ago. Surprisingly its managed to keep its color nicely. I used the recommended DMC thread – only three colors. I used a ribbon that had polka dots on it which compliments the berries, wouldn’t you agree? :o) Anyhoo, can’t wait to get this out for Christmas and jingle those bells!

While I was in the spirit of finishing projects and starting others I decided to get threads together for the November flip-it by Lizzie*Kate. This needs to get stitched b/c it is November – can’t waste anymore time. Aren’t the colors pretty with this one? I think so. I love those rich colors. I’m going to turn this one into a little needle cushion.

Last, but never ever, ever least is Cameron being ever so sweet and cute. I cut his hair Saturday night and as mothers we know how much older our toddlers look once we make those snips. I leave you with him playing outside today in the yard and the car.

Enjoy your Monday! We’re spending ours at Nana’s house – Yay!!! Talk soon!

decisions

With trying to keep with the holiday spirit (so not me but trying to find cheer in it) and after much inner struggles I have decided to put any project that doesn’t ring Thanksgiving, fall, Christmas, or winter aside for the time being and focus on just the fall thru winter projects. I need and want more pieces to fill my home that reflect the season which unfortunately I don’t have much of.

I’m putting Mayflower Landing by LHN away even thou it will be greatly missed. I just haven’t touched it in over a month. My focus over the next couple of months is ornaments and anything winter-ish and fall. For example, I just pulled out Little Women yesterday and look how far I am already.

This is proving to be a quick stitch and much loved. Upon looking through Tanya’s Booklet One I noticed several other Christmas themed stitches that look fun and quick – I’m going to look into those as well.

When going through my stash of charts I noticed I have Paulette’s Christmas Tea design which I really want to stitch, but I need to get the Belle Soie silks first. Also, go check out Paulette's freebie bok-bok turkey - so cute! I have a teeny tiny November pillow to stitch up by Lizzie*Kate that I need to get a move on with before the month is over. There is at least a couple of other Christmas themed projects I want to start, but I won't bore you with those now; not in this post anyway. And I have the yearly stitching project for mom to do. Ahhh...! What are us stitchers to do with all this stash and not enough hands or time to stitch it all in??? Seriously! It’s overwhelming, don’t you think.!?

Anyhoo, my walk was fantastic. It was extremely windy though which was fine b/c I actually broke a teeny tiny sweat – that sun was just blazing. It was wonderful! I think the weather will be about the same Sunday so looking forward to another round. =) Well, I’m off. Cameron is napping and I’d like to get some stitching in or whatever I can do before he wakes. Talk soon!

pillow talk

NOT!!! We aren’t that intimate, are we? LOL But I do have finished pillows to share with you. The first…

Give Thanks by Heartstring Primitives. I decided on a cupboard pillow finish for this one b/c of its width yet small size. To keep with fall and the pumpkin theme I used a jute-type cording for a hanger which I really like. Stitched on 18th Century Grey linen by R&R. I used a combination of Crescent Colours and GAST threads. There are a couple of mistakes, but I decided on keeping them. I backed it with an orange batik fabric which really compliments the pumpkins and the overall feel of autumn. I am pleased overall. I hope Beth likes it too! =) It’s my first finish of hers.

My other conversation pillow piece is…

Crows by Bent Creek. I finished stitching this a couple of weeks ago but procrastinated sewing it up into a long pillow. I kept with the fall theme again and filled it with crushed corn that I got from the pet store months and months ago. I’ve used it before for filling and it works great. I’m just happy I have it finished-finished. I’m pleased with having something else for fall.

Finally, this will ultimately become a pillow…

Little Women by The Sampler Girl. This design comes from Booklet One back in December 2008. I pulled this out for two reasons. First, because I recently started reading "Little Women" in which the very first sentence reads “Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents” grumbled Jo March. This brings me to my second reason. Reading that sentence reminded me that I had Booklet One; that this design was included, and that I began gathering materials when it came out. Right after I took the photo of my necessaries, I put the first several stitches in. See, it says Christ already. I hand-dyed that fabric myself with pomegranate – that was a fun and messy experience. Ironically I feel in the spirit to stitch something Christmas-y (so not me) so in feeling this way I had to watch something Christmas-y…so in went Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase. I’m a weirdo, I know. Chevy doesn’t coincide with the March sisters, but that’s me. Miss. Weirdo!

Anyway, I can’t wait to go walking Saturday. Nashville’s high will be in the 70’s and not a cloud to touch us with low humidity. OMG! That is P*E*R*F*E*C*T weather people and I’m taking advantage of it with a nice looooong walk. Ah, I cannot wait to get out there! I’ve been pumped all day for it. I must go. I want to stitch more on Little Women. Thanks for listening to my “pillow talk” ;-). Talk soon!

give thanks

I finished stitching this freebie last night.

By Heartstring Primitives. I made a couple of mistakes, but I’m not going to correct them. I accept small mistakes such as these.

And I give thanks for moments like these…

After school specials.

Goodnight everyone. Talk soon!

"f" is for

Floss tag…

I stitched up a little floss tag for my Aunt Pam. It’s her first one. She really loves it and was taken by complete surprise when it arrived in the mail.

ABC Bird. It’s from Alexandrina. I used 32 ct linen, hand-dyed by me, using GAST Brethren Blue, Dark Chocolate, Shutter Green, and WDW Copper. I personalized it by adding our initials and year to the back. With love always, Aunt Pam!

Fall decorations…

I traded the Halloween trimmings for fall ones. I enjoyed taking everything off my hutch, wiping them down, putting some away, rearranging others, switching items around, adding a little of this and a little of that. I’m quite pleased with my dining room area (except for the blue spongy walls). I even added a couple pieces of fabric as table linens just to give more fall coloring to the room – it’ll do for now until I can quilt some up.

Freebies…

My hopes are to get these two stitched and finished up while fall is still in session – LOL. The first is Thankful by primitivebettys. Second is Give Thanks by Heartstring Primitives. Both very talented ladies. I want to get to The Sampler Girl’s freebie called Blessings to You, but I want to finish one of these first. (Get those freebies while you can!)

Feeble…

Chia Head is looking awful. He has a white mossy substance growing near the root. Yeah, I think it’s about time to de-weed, clean that bald cranium, and store Chia away for the winter. I’m done taking care of him as I have too many things to take care of at the moment. So, a much-waited-for good-bye is in order. Good-bye Chia Head! I am not going to miss you.

Fever…

Jose stayed home from school today. He’s running a temp of 101.5. He’s having sinus pressure and head issues. I guess the crud is all in his head. Poor thing. He may need to stay home tomorrow too and we might see the doc. I’ll probably put Cameron in daycare. It will be best for them to avoid each other as much as possible at this point. Cameron’s ear infection is improving so that’s good. He’s due for another flu shot soon though. That time of year…ahhh! Talk soon!

stitch, therefore i must shop

I hate shopping, but not shopping for stitching essentials, charts, linen, etc., and especially done with friends and/or family. =) Halloween afternoon I played over at my friend Sally’s house. Had so much fun! We went to her LNS which I had never been to. It was a neat little place. It had more than just stitching to glance over, but I stuck to the essentials and bought a little more stash. After wards Sally and I went for a juicy, heart-stopping cheeseburger which was d-lish. The conversation was much needed on my part, and then we headed back to her house for a little Sewing101 on a cute little pumpkin ornament she’s putting together.

Sally reads a lot. I mean A LOT. She has books in relatively every room of her house. I admire a person who reads and reads and reads. She allowed me to take pictures of her cozy library nook which is absolutely adorable and these photos probably won’t do the space any justice. For someone (me) who doesn’t read as much as they should or as much as they really want to I love looking over books. There is just something about reading over the spines and wondering what's inside. Maybe it’s the smell of the paper under the cover. I don’t know, but there is something about looking over shelves upon shelves of literature and storytelling that intrigues me.

I love Sally’s décor too. She has a thing for bunnies as well which are tastefully placed throughout her home. Did you notice her Jane Austen shelf? So cool. Sally wrote the Tennessee Criminal Law Case Finder book. She has two copies, but I had to take a photo as I’m proud to know this about my friend. She’s an attorney and I formerly worked for a criminal defense attorney so these books are intriguing and familiar to me anyway. The light is hand-painted and is really pretty. I just love this space and I enjoy the company I keep when I’m there. Sally, thanks for sharing Saturday with me. I thoroughly enjoyed our visit. Good luck with your finishing!

Shopping Saturday…

I plan to finish Bent Creek’s Winter Row into a long pillow and Lizzie*Kate’s November Flip-it into a needle cushion or maybe that’ll just get put into a basket for decorating. No needles required.

I couldn’t believe how many LHN charts this shop had in stock. I love the house series, but really want to stitch the Two White Houses first so that’s the one I purchased. Funny thing is that I’ve never seen Necessities Sampler before. In fact, there were some I had not seen before Saturday. I love it when that happens - it’s like new found treasure. I saw CCN’s Forest Snowfall and had to have it! The verse is so sweet and the little deer-bunny combo sold me. Pretty colors too. You know, you just can’t go wrong with his mother-daughter duo, can you?! Has everyone seen the Ornament of the Month Dianne has designed? These two amaze me with their talent and speed at which they create.

Shopping Sunday…

(L-R) 32 ct. Ice Blue for Winter Row, Bent Creek; 32 ct. Antique Ivory for Clara’s Skating Sampler, The Sampler Girl; 28 ct. Confederate Grey for Forest Snowfall, Country Cottage Needlework; 32 ct. Flax linen for Rain in the Country, The Sampler Girl; 28 ct. Vintage Autumn Field for Mr. Darcy, The Sampler Girl; 28 ct. Raw linen for November Flip-it, Lizzie*Kate.

The best part about all the gorgeous linen is that I shopped at moms for it – LOL. The boys and I went to mom’s house for a French toast breakfast, mixed with fruit and bacon, and coffee. Orange juice for the boys. After cleanup, which I gladly took on, I went through mom’s gobs of linen for these new charts I just bought and ones I received last week. If you can imagine, I’m pretty happy right now. Giddy actually.

Sally allowed me to borrow Little Women. I’ve never read this story. Can you believe that? I know…shame on me. Sally already crossed her fingers at me so I get it – LOL. I read about Louisa May Alcott. What an intriguing and robust woman she was. It makes the temptation to read her novel even more the fancy. So without further ado…Talk soon!