Monday, January 5, 2009

We're definitely in the winter gloom & doom down here!

My God, it's like the party ended and no one told us to go home and here we sit in the midst of the mess. I was suppose to have Solomon overnight on Sunday, however, I forgot I had to get my crown put in again (when will I learn not to eat caramels)...so I asked Sara if I could drop him off with her at 8:30 a.m. to make the appointment. She said it would be better if Solomon stayed with her (does she know something I don't?) and she called his father and arranged for Solomon to be dropped off at her house so I was Solomon free..which meant I came home and instantly fell asleep on the sofa..my usual routine. Then I woke up around 7:30 p.m., tried to figure out whether it was morning or still night and then tried to make up my mind if I was going to work or stitch. Stitching has won out lately, but tonight I decided that I needed to get some work done...so here I am again. Anyway, today was bleak, everyone has left town basically, ut those of us who never leave. I started out my day at the dentist...the day could only go up from there...and still arrived for work on time. There was a fog delay (you folks get snow...we get fog) so I knew Sara was going to be held up getting Michael on the bus, especially with Solomon tagging along. It wasn't long before she showed up, Solomon ate at the shop buffet (cereal snacks, etc.) and then he went home. For the rest of the day it was Sara and I sitting looking at each other with a drizzle going on outside periodically. And this will be our month! We did see several of our friends over the weekend, Hedy, Jennifer, Stacy, Linda and Candi (just to name a few) all showed up to spend some time with us. It was fun catching up to everyone. Even Connie hobbled in with her cane (she had her second knee replacement done but is rehabing beautifully). But today...gloomy...the party's over and they forgot to turn out the lights. I thought I'd show you stitchers what I did over the holidays, or some of what I did. I forgot to take pictures of the Just Nan over the top tins I stitched along with their biscornu's, needlebooks, etc. The second picture is the Christmas sewing set I made for Renee. I loved stitching this piece, however, putting it together was too daunting for me so I looked very gloomy at our November Stitch 'n Bitch and whined enough that Jackie J. finally say, "Just give it to me." And I did and I was thrilled to do so, especially when she returned it in December with a report on how long it took her and I can tell you if it took her a while I'd never have gotten it done. So I am so grateful to Jackie J. Anyway, it turned out beautifully and I couldn't have been more pleased....and best of all...it looks just like Renee's house..very Victorian. The first picture shows the scissor holder and the scissor fob that goes with the set. The last picture shows the slipper open and reveals the green wool needle page. You can also see the miniature hornbook with the loop for a thimble which slids into the slipper (as in the center picture). Loved it!!!! The other major accomplishment for me for Christmas was the gift to Sara. Yes, folks, not only did I give Sara a completed project, she gave me one as well as finished the last part of what she presented me with last year so I actually ended up with two stitched gifts from her, which I'll show you, but first, I had taken a class on-line called "My Treasures Workstation" by Judy Odell and amazingly enough I finished the stitching by November. During the process I thought it would make a wonderful surprise for Sara, who knew I had taken the class but had no idea I was going to finish it for her. I enjoyed the stitching but then as always, it had to be assembled. As you are aware, that is not my forte...nor do I envision myself doing the finishing on any project. But knowing I had two difficult assembles to do I decided if Jackie did one then I had to do the other. I feel it's important if I'm going to do the smalls I do need to know how to assemble them. The only problem is....I'm a procrastinator. So with all the crap I had to do 2 days before Christmas, I decided that on the night of the 23rd I should start trying to assemble this piece...yes, I said it...done by the 1st of November and waited until 2 days before Christmas to do anything about it. I have to say, while a seasoned finisher would be able to see things they would have done better, I was thrilled with the assembly in the end. I did make a couple of changes, but that's allowed and wasn't because I couldn't do what she told you to do, I chose a different look. You can also see the white headed pins which are stuck around the top as it's a pin keep. The second picture shows the workstation as it looks when you first open it. The needlebook is now visible and you can see the scissor handles stitcking out at the top. A white headed pin is used as the catch to keep the needlebook closed. The third picture shows the workstation completely open. On the top is the needle book open revealing the needle pages, then nder the needlepages you see the hinge and then the bottom piece with her name and date attached to the base which is a wooden thread station. The original way to attach the stitched piece to the base was with ribbon, but you had to put 3 holes in your needlework to match the holes on the base and I just couldn't do that, especially with the cardboard in between...I just knew I'd make a mess of that so I glued the piece to the wooden base as instructed and then I made cording long enough to go around the stitched piece as well as up through the handles of the scissor which you can see sticking out of the top of the piece. A sheath for the scissor is stuck in the top of the piece for your scissors. The cording through the handles of the scissor then are tied to keep your workstation contained. The next picture is the needle mattress which is stored inside the station when it's closed. Is this not the most fun....? Judy's directions were wonderful and except for a couple of things I clearly didn't understand, but it was easy enough to go around them. While I did understand about the ribbon placement, I'm just not a ribbon kind of gal, so I figured out a way to not use any. But that's O.K. as Judy encourages you to do the finishing any way you like to . Anyway, I had a ball doing it, and couldn't be prouder of the finished piece. And Sara was also thrilled with it so that was wonderful. And now that I've figured out how to get the pictures on the web site from the new computer...well I'm going to pat myself on the back. I've got to go now and get my hot chocolate...I'll return later...perhaps. Have a great night.

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