House work....Ugh!

Mother's Day treat from Sara, and so true for me.  I hate housework so this was the perfect pillow for her to stitch as a gift.  She stitched it on the 20 (?) ct. linen so it's a nice size.  It's approx. 15" x 8" so it looks great on the sofa or chair.  Thanks Sara, I love it!  Right now I'm letting the shop use it so if you come in to the shop you can see it live and in person.   Since I've been home a couple of days I have tried to get some housework done, especially in my stitching room.  I've been going through the piles now for a couple of days, how did all this crap get in here anyway?  I need to let some stuff go, I honestly save everything thinking I will re-purpose it.  And while I do find uses for things most people would have chucked long ago, even I couldn't find a purpose for all this.  So purging shall commence.  Since I finished "Cross Stitch Nation" which Sara has shown on our facebook page (and you know it will be here next), I'm going through the stash to pull out something new...Love to find something new.    I had pulled fibers and fabric for Hands on Design's "Wool Block Party" earlier, but I can't just stop with one project, because last night I also finished something I started a while ago that's also been released, "Button Posies" so that means I also get to pull out something that's been started before to finish.....so now I'm on the look out for both new and old projects.  Of course, there are several in each area to choose from...so that's where the trouble begins and ends.  I'm still loving the Erica Michaels strawberries and really want to stitch one on gauze, so perhaps that will be the winner but since  I have the attention span of a child in a candy store and I've got 5 more bags to look through, well I'm still undecided on new.  As for old....well that's tougher since I've already worked on them and put them away, I put them away for a reason.  Now can I get beyond that, pull them out and do what I have to in order to finish them? Well, tonight will be the moment of truth as I have to pick something to work on or just sit all night watching T.V. feeling unproductive.  This is the weekend all the cars are in town and for 2 days I had one of the cars under my window revving up the engine constantly and apparently unable to actually get it in gear to move.  I was about to scream out the window and tell them to shut the damn thing off and give me some peace, but decided I might be better off just coming in to work early.  I was  bitching and complaining about this car so much I was afraid I'd have a stroke.  But God heard me and when I got home last night after work the car was covered with a tarp and thankfully the crew was done with it.  Even with the constant running of cars on Baltimore Ave. it was still quiet enough for me.  Heaven was restored!  I have to say our weather has not cooperated.  It was gorgeous, sunny and warm on Thursday and Friday, however, today it is raining and suppose to rain all day and into tomorrow....the cars don't run much when it rains so I'm afraid the car weekend is a disappointment for the folks here for it.  We still haven't had it warm enough to warrant air conditioning for which I'm thrilled.  I don't do well in heat, so high 60's and 70's is just fine with me.  And since we've got the college kids in town for a couple of weeks and then the high school seniors for a month of a different kind of hell, I really don't care if it rains every single night starting around 10 and lasts until 10 am the next morning.  All I really want is peace and quiet at night.  But I know summer weather will be here soon and then I'll complain about the heat.  Not sure if it's ever going to be just right for me...either too noisy, too hot or too cold.  Well, I really don't care as long as I've got a/c in the summer and heat in the winter and I can always close the winters against noise.....unless it's right under my window...then apparently it does matter whether the window is up or down I hear it.  Well, I'm off to the shop to look at the new charts one more time in my struggle to make up my mind.  Tomorrow I'll blog about one of the most fun projects I've done.....have a great weekend whatever you do!

I've been so busy getting ready for events I haven't had time to blog...well, that's not exactly true, although I have been busy, but Elaine cleaned up and changed displays in Sea Trader, including my blogging spot and now I can't blog in there anymore because she removed the shelf I used.  So now I'm home doing it where I should have been doing it all along.  But when I'm home all I can think about is stitching....you see the problem?  Anyway, it finally happened, after all this stitching,  my behind is tired of my stitching seat on  the sofa so I've moved over to the blogging chair at the table.  I have a different chair for everything so I don't get bored in one spot. Anyway, the pictures on the left show what I got done for last weekend.  You know I'm loving that large count linen, although I did find a flaw with it unfortunately, after I had already started stitching.  I was working on "Land of Liberty," a Brenda Gervais piece and at some point I felt it just wasn't going to fit on the cut of linen and decided I had started in the wrong place.  Aggravated, I tore out the L and the Uncle Sam figure and started over.  After stitching the LIB and Uncle Sam again I thought it looked too long for the cut of linen.  This time I counted the threads per inch and found this friggin linen is not 20 ct as marked but is 16 in one direction and 18 in the other.  I almost ripped the damn thing up, but of course I couldn't do that, and thank goodness I had another piece of this linen for another project and the cut was really bigger than needed and so for the 3rd time I restitched the darn thing. What I love is after calling Sara to alert her to change the count on those linens, she called the supplier and they actually knew it wasn't 20 and still sent it out as such anyway.  What is that about?   Not as enthusiastic stitching a 3rd time, but loved it when  I finished it, so it was worth the aggravation.  And it's such a fabulous size approx. 15" x 6"  Makes a wonderful pillow for a chair or sofa.  The third piece shown is "Long May Ewe Wave" which is actually a free chart, (when you purchase the beehive button) from Shepherd's Bush, stitched on 18ct. Raw linen and then finished into a pin cushion.  Of course I changed one minor detail....I didn't stitch the bees but used the bitty bees instead (much to Sara's dismay I love the bitty bees).  Sara gets aggravated because I keep using the supplies and she runs out....order more I said...for God's sake stop yelling at me because I'm using supplies.  It's for the shop to begin with...a model...honestly I get no respect around here.  The second piece is from 2015 Nashville Market.  It's by Little House Needleworks,  and called, "Giving Thanks".  The frame is an East Side Moulding frame which we carry in the shop.  It was a fun easy stitch as were the other two pieces shown.  Today I finished another of the pieces done on the "20" (yeah right) ct. linen, I've redone "Jingle Jingle" by Plum Street Sampler.  I loved doing it the first time and this time I changed the color of the horse to greys and still love it.  I've also started "Cross Stitch Nation", (since I'm certainly a member,) but for this I went back to 32 ct.  Sara wants me to finish it as a barrel pin cushion, so I'm going to give that a go....and I'll post it when it's done.  But I must mention the last 3 events.  First was our Sheri Jones class and we love Sheri so we knew it was going to be fun and she didn't disappoint.  Friday she had a finishing class for any of her pieces that you might not have finished.  You were able to bring in previous class pieces and she would assist in the finishing.  It was very successful and Stacy Stinson went home with her Patriot Patty completed.  Kudos to her.  Sara worked on her Hare pocket and with Sheri's help she did get it completed.  I'm so proud of her and she really did a terrific job with the finishing.  So Thank You Sheri for all the time and attention you gave the stitchers.  That's why your classes are so popular, because you care about the stitchers, and they sure do love you.  I saw that Bernadette has finished her Garden Long Pocket and several had the band almost completed before they left for home.  Such a gorgeous piece and well worth my struggle (of course trouble made by myself not by the piece.)  The hardest part of the weekend is always what to pick for the next year.  And I can't recall if they chose something and what it is going to be.  That's always up to Sara and Sheri, I'm out of the loop (as usual).  The next weekend we had the Delaware Valley Sampler Guild and many of these ladies shop with us so we are familiar with them and they are always fun.  But this time I got a really good hint from the Jersey ladies who attend.  Three of the ladies stitch a project a year together.  Last year they picked The Flying Santa from Artist Collection.  They brought it into the shop to ask a question as they were putting the pieces together and then mounting them on one of the "Stix" we sell.  But it's how they put them together to use with the stick that is so interesting to me.  I have done pieces which I have mounted on pointed things like the mini oil cans, etc. and this never ever occurred to me.  They fastened a straw(regular drinking straw) inside the piece so instead of fighting with the sharpened point of metal against the stuffing, polyfil whatever, you simply put the metal stick inside the straw already sewn in.  No muss, no fuss.  They secured the straw so it wouldn't come back out of the piece so you can remove the piece from the display if you wanted and easily reinsert the stand.  Fabulous idea.  And that is the point of stitchers getting together.  It's the sharing of ideas that is so wonderful so I thank Carol Wentzel, Robin Thompson and Pat Lerch for sharing.  I will be using this technique in the future I can assure you.  And then last week I got a really nice gift in the mail....Vera Means who was in the shop when her group, The Tangles, were in town and she found a kit that went missing and was later found while she was packing.  Since she already had repurchased the same kit, she sent me her lost one, so I got a Boo Moon witch pin cushion kit from JABCO, which you will see as I am going to be finishing it next week.  Thanks Vera...I love it.  During Sheri's weekend, Stasi Buhrman gave me the most beautiful bone china tea cup and saucer and the pattern was I believe called petit point.  It looks like cross stitch..how fabulous is that.  As if that wasn't gift enough, Stasi then charted a floral pattern that matches the tea cup design so I will be stitching that up as well.  She also brought me a bag of the old mason jar lids which I use for pin cushions. Thanks Stasi, I really appreciate the gifts.   And Cynthia McCann brought me 4 of the 4" red tart pans which are going to be fabulous with some Christmas Designs I have.  Oh, my I have been blessed. Thank you Cynthia....I love the colored tart pans.  I'm even thinking a patriotic design would look good in it and Plum Street just released another one so perhaps that's the one I'll use.   It's a stitching bonanza down here.....new supplies, etc.  And then this past weekend we had 66 stitchers for our May retreat.  The weather did not cooperate at all, and it was in the 50's and rainy and cloudy every day except Sunday when it was high 60's and sunny.  But as stitchers we don't really care because it's about the stitching and friendships we treasure, although it would have been nice to be able to sit on the front porch to watch the ocean.  But we still had a wonderful weekend.  Sara made some fabulous appetizers and the lasagna dinner was wonderful, and Vernon spent the weekend behind the bar making the ladies orange crushes.  Yes, food, drinks and stitching for the weekend...it just doesn't get any better than that.  So thanks to all the stitchers who came to the first events of the year.  We appreciate your patronage and can't wait to do it again.  Of course we have Betsy Morgan here in June so I guess we will be doing it all again.  I need to get the prestitch done....here I go again! Have a great week and I'll try to post more often so you won't think I've died.  And for the stitchers who couldn't attend this past event due to a fall down the stairs and back problems, and the flu we missed you all and hope you are well on the road to recovery.  We'll see you hopefully at another retreat.

Sherri jones will be here soon..excitement mounts!!!!

Pre-stitch pressed and ready to go.  I had handed this off to Sara on Friday to finish the butterflies since I was experiencing difficulty (or so I thought) getting it right.  I had partially stitched the bottom piece on the left and had not stitched any of the butterflies on that piece, thinking she would take pity and do it while she was finishing the other butterflies.  So she brings it down, happily announcing she had finished the butterflies, but then hands it to me and says, "You haven't finished one piece."  UGH!  I was back in pre-stitch hell.  But I just went home Sunday night, sat in my stitchy chair and got down to business and was finished in an hour.  And I finished the butterflies on that piece because I always knew how to do it, I just wasn't secure in the knowledge.  But now that it's finished, the "Garden Long Pocket" is finished and I've got it blocking now so it will be ready to go by Friday....I can finish the rest of the projects that are sitting on my dining room table waiting for me to get to them.  Nothing more exciting then finishing projects and getting them into the shop on display.  A real sense of accomplishment.  Especially now....winter is over for us with our first class starting Friday and stitchers arriving Wednesday.  Then it's the Delaware Guild retreat, the May retreat and then it's summer.  Yes we are definitely feeling the tension as we all get our particular jobs finished in time.  Mary's working everyday getting the guys fixing and helping move furniture, etc., housekeepers have been working on the rooms and apartments for over a month already, and Sara's busy still getting merchandise out and getting orders placed.  Whew!  All I have to do is get the peanut butter cookies done and the models (and really no one knows what models I'm doing so if I don't get them done it's no big deal.)  I certainly won't have the pieces that were suppose to go to the framers here because they are still sitting on the table at home.    One was for St. Patrick's Day so at this point....what's the point?  The ladies return for another summer this week.  Judy and Pat will both be here this week, Sara will be taking the class so I'll be in the shop (God help us) and the Tangles will also be in town.  So the shop should be very busy this weekend.  That's always exhausting, but really exciting to see what everyone is working on, getting to speak with Sherri Jones....I better start catching up on sleep so I'm ready.  But it's so hard to sleep with my Roku....darn that Debbie Liming.  She told me she had one so of course I had to get one.  Now, I'm addicted and can barely go to sleep for watching my British shows and Netflix...OMG, commercial free T.V. is the best.  I didn't know how addictive it was until I went back to watch a show on regular T.V. and at the first commercial break I counted 13 commercials before I said, the hell with this and went back to Acorn T.V.  I'm seriously thinking of canceling my cable.  Each week since I became a Roku devotee I've watched less and less of regular T.V. although I could watch it on NBC apps on my T.V., I think there are commercials there was well, and while I miss a couple of my shows on regular T.V., so many commercials every break just wears my patience thin.  It's as if  they give you 10 minutes of a show and 10 minutes of commercials.  Can't deal with that.  I'm a bit concerned about the weather for the weekend now.  I always think it's going to be warm when we open and boy, after last weekend I really don't know what it's going to be like.  Today the sun is shining and supposedly the temperature is in the low 50's but feels like it's in the 40's with the ocean breeze...breeze well more like a nor'easter wind.    We have portable heaters at the ready just in case but I've got my fingers, toes and eyes crossed hoping for the warmer temps.  For those coming...we can't wait.  We'll see Ginny, Beverly and Bernadette on Wednesday, Sherri, Debbie and Stasi on Thursday and God knows who else before the bulk of the stitchers arrive.  Nothing better than a group of stitchers on site. 

Two fast projects down.

Another fast project "Alphabet Art" from Just Another Button Company and when you are done the stitching, you just slide it into the 4 sided box made for this series. OMG.  No finishing since the perforated paper just slides right in the box. And all you are stitching is the floral display on the initial and the black border. Of course as I'm stitching it I'm thinking of the possibilities with the box. It's 4 sided which means you could do the 4 seasons, insert each season into the space on a side and just turn the box to the season you are in. The box is open at the top so you could fill it with a vase of flowers, or anything you like. Each letter comes with the chart and buttons.  You supply the fibers. 

Little House Needleworks "Land of the Free" framed and on display. Yippee!!!! Fun little stitch, just took a few days and love, love the frame. The stars on the frame are perfect for patriotic pieces. The over dyed fibers come with the chart, but you supply your own linen or aida. 

I'm out of Pre-Stitch hell.............YEAH!

I'm finally out of pre-stitch hell and am blocking the piece you see here, but that's no big deal (at least I'm saying that today), or at this moment I don't think I'll have any trouble with the blocking.  Below the picture of the pre-stitch  is Red White & Blue by Lizzie Kate.  A fun little stitch and I'm all about patriotic so that was a win win for me to stitch.  I did change a couple of things....I turned the pillow sideways (the kit shows the blue wool at the bottom not to the side).  I also left off the twine roping that was suppose to go on the spot where the linen meets the wool, however, you cut your wool with pinking sheers so I felt it just didn't need the twine there.  But that's a matter of personal preference and you might prefer it.  I also left off the ribbon and button because that too just didn't seem necessary. I meant to add a bead to the door for a knob, but forgot it in my pre-stitch haze so it sits unadorned and will never open.  It was nice to have a Lizzie Kate stitch that's so much fun after the over one pre-stitch which I so struggled with this time.  I've got several more things stitched and just need to buckle down to finish them...ugh!  But I won't get better at it unless I force myself to do some of it so I shall soldier on....eventually.  Today is bright and shiny and cool, but we are in the shop as we will be everyday until Thanksgiving....that's right we are back to opening 7 days a week.  Right now that's 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and it will not be until the middle of June when we go from 10 to 10p.m. UGH!  I love the shop, but 7 days a week...it gets tough, although I don't have to work it by myself 7 days...next week I'm only on 5 days and then the Tangles group along with Sheri Jones will be here so that is truly exciting for us.  Sheri's classes are so wonderful with full instructions so you never go away wondering what in the hell do I do now.  And her designs are to die for.  If you have never taken one of her classes, please put it on your "must do" list.  You gain so much knowledge with her and you will learn how to do your own finishing.  The more finishing you do the better you will get.  Many of you go to retreats, another good learning experience.  If you have never tried a retreat, please do.  You will meet so many wonderful stitchers and if you go alone, you won't be alone long.  Stitchers welcome everyone into their groups,  so once you arrive at a retreat you just blend right in.  Stitchers are always willing to share tips and suggestions so you get a lot of information while you are there.  And if there are classes, it really is a win win because then you have the benefit of designers giving you information as well as kits from them.  In any event, if you are in our area, please stop by to say hi.  Talk to you again soon.

Happy Easter!!!!

Finally finished, border and all...yea!!!!!  I just had to take a day off from the pre-stitch as it is a test to my endurance at this point.  As I said before, the colors on Autumn Log are not colors I normally work with, but I will say I loved most of the stitch.  I come from a crewel background and I do miss, on occasion, the lack of dimension I got working with crewel fibers, etc.   I had used many of the stitches before, although I swear they've changed some of the names, so it was like going home again.  I'm not used to working on stretcher bars so that was a little awkward for me, but all things considered, I'm getting ready for my next canvas work piece, only this time I'm picking the project.  Sara just got in a book with so many different stitches which shows them made into blocks and forming the American flag.  Of course done in reds whites and blues, doesn't that sound perfect?  I feel like we all have to join together this year to stop the embarrassment of the pre election smack downs, so I will be doing patriotic pieces to show I still believe in us even when grown men are acting worse than kindergarten bullies in a school yard and then wanting to become president.  Really, I'm an independent because I refuse to vote for a party, I vote for the person who has the same vision, morals and ethics as I have.  That is certainly missing from this build up to elections and certainly shows us the true ethics and morals of the people running.  I know I don't want a bully in White House calling other heads of states names, but I shall not go there today.  This election tends to depress me.  So let's move on.  As for my prestitch, well let's just say I could have done better.  From the beginning I started incorrectly and stitched going down the length of the linen instead of the width....Wrong #1...then there are 2 pieces to stitch which come together in the back and I stitched the right side on the left ....Wrong #2...which means now I have to stitch the left side on the right ...Wrong #3 (Sara said it was alright she doesn't care so I left it.)  That meant that the dates and initials that are worked into those 2 sections now have to be moved and new spots found...oh, my it might have been easier to just start over.  I have to say though, I love this piece, wrong or not, it is simply beautiful.  I was doing well with the specialty stitches until....Peruvian loop has thrown me for a loop.  I finally said, "I'm handing this off to Sara"...I mean how many times can you rip something out before you admit defeat?  And of course, I'm looking at bags full of Nashville stitching that I can't wait to get into.    So for the weekend it's in Sara's hands and after she gets that part done I'll do the accessory pieces and then I'm done all pre-stitch, until we get Betsy Morgan's.  Whew...now on to Nashville stitching.  And finally, I pray you all have the Best Day Ever, as we celebrate Easter.  Happy Easter Everyone!!!!

Finally, I'm back from the Nashville Market!

First report back from Nashville Market....wonderful time, but exhausted even a week later. I picked Sara up last Tuesday around 9:00 a.m. for our annual trek to Nashville Market, and we had beautiful weather and I had plenty of things to do on route.   I had planned well, a week out made a list of what I needed to bring, etc., pulled luggage out so I could start putting things in, oh, yes I was going to be ready, packed, and luggage in the car, early.  I even brought the list in to show Sara how organized I was this year.  I did laundry 2 days early so I wouldn't be up all night on Monday.  Well, things fell apart quickly.  I felt sick on Wednesday so started my doses of Nyquil, but this time they weren't working as before.  But I kept it up and just knew I would get over it before we left.  I left work on Monday without having completed a few things, but I had my list and I was going right home to get stuff done and get packed so I would be ready in the morning.  I was still dreaming that I'd have the bags packed and I could get some sleep.  Well, I get home and couldn't find the damn list I had spent a week to compile (I found it while in Nashville...not really much help there), but I just started methodically loading the suitcase.  I decided to go with all black pants and tops and just add colorful shirts, etc., and when I pulled out the 2 pairs of summer slacks (I knew it was going to be hot inside the hotel so I was prepared), I found that they had white streaks over them and so at 1:40 a.m. I was back doing laundry (best laid plans sometimes go awry).  As I was cursing about my luck and lack of sleep, I just kept moving, loading snacks in bags (that was as important as clothes to me), also loading the largest stitching bag know to man with projects.  I had a few already started projects, my 2 pre-stitch pieces and the supplies for some of what we were buying so I could also stitch on them once the show started.  I had the computer, printer and all the office supplies ready to go , and 5 books for the trip packed and sat down at 5:00 a.m. to catch a nap.  Sara came by around 8:30 to help me load the car and then we got her stuff loaded and we were off. We arrived at our first stop, Annapolis Cheesecake Factory and had lunch, delicious pot stickers and Sara's usual salad, and then it was Nashville or bust!  We make it a 2 day trip with poor Sara driving the entire way, because I was too busy reading (one book down).  I didn't so much as put the needle through the canvas work piece I had for the car.  But as you can see from the picture, I did get some stitching in finally in Nashville.  We arrived at our destination on Wednesday afternoon, unloaded, and stitched.  I looked at all I brought but I just wanted to finish Sara's canvas work project, which became my project.    So that became the only thing I worked on the entire time.  I couldn't believe it was taking so darn long, but now that I'm done the major part (now I'm working on the border and should have it done this week) I'm glad I stuck with it.  Of course after seeing all the stuff at the show....well my stitching tote is overwhelmed with new projects.  I'm still working on pre-stitch for Sheri Jones classes so at this point I can't work on anything else.  To make matters worse, I got done one half of the back panel on the Garden Variety Long Pocket and realized I had stitched the panel on the wrong side.  It was supposed to be on the left side and I stitched it on the right.  So I brought it into the shop on Thursday and told Sara to cute me a new piece of linen because there was just too much to tear out.  She looked at it and said, don't tear it out, just keep going because she didn't care if the panels were reversed.  While in the beginning I was opposed to leaving it, by Sunday I was on board.  We had problems with the computer and printer in Nashville so I didn't do any tickets or tag the charts, etc., while we were there.  So Thursday I got the boys to unload the car and Sara and I started working.  I got the tickets done and inventory loaded into the computers while Sara got the tickets on the  merchandise and was busy getting it on the racks.  Sunday I realized something was wrong and as it turns out, there was a glitch in the system here and none of the  merchandise I had put in the computer for the past 3 days was showing up.  I'm telling you I was so aggravated.  Vernon came in this morning to see what he could do, and the end result we called our "tech" guy and told him to put us on our own server since he couldn't figure out what went wrong.  Now I've got to go back and reenter everything....UGH!!!  Not a great start to my day.   But this time around I'll get to really look through what came back with us.  As I was doing some of the tickets I made sure some went into my bag, but I didn't get to go through everything.  After going into Erica Michaels show room I became obsessed with the strawberry's.  While I haven't stitched a lot of them, I have done a couple, but the strawberries done on silk gauze are just too cute and then she stitched one of the gauze strawberry's on 32 ct. linen over 2 and it became a giant strawberry and she had me sold.  Sold I tell you....so I'm doing that too.  Too darn cute!!!!  I went through a few showrooms saying, "Sara I can do one of those for a sample."  Finally Sara said, "Mom you have said that in too many of the rooms, you can't possibly get all of them done."  Just you wait, as soon as this pre stitch is done I'm going to be stitching 24/7.  Can't wait!  Got to start loading our website so I'll talk later.  Have a great day