In my part of the world we say you are a fool if your passion for a pursuit overcomes all practical sense. I am a stitching fool, and I stitch foolishness.

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Jump Starting July

I was talking to a friend of mine about blogs we love, and I was bemoaning the fact that some of my very favorite bloggers have not written in weeks if not months, while others have slowed down their output. It is summer and there are all kinds of distractions in the summer months, but needlework is eternal and forever and ongoing, I said.

And she said, "Well, you're not blogging that much yourself this summer."

Oops.

So, I'm going to try to blog more frequently, since needlework IS eternal and forever and ongoing. In fact, I am going to try to blog every day in July.

(I am aware that November nearly killed me last year. I am ignoring that.)

So . . . starting an evening early . . . here is the little I was able to accomplish over the week-end on Ann Scutt:


I'm slowly getting there on the basic framework for this band. The bands are getting much, much larger now.

And for those who have asked, this is the best picture I was able to get of The Flash. We had been watching Bob the Builder and the Golden Hammer, and he wanted to get his treasure chest in the picture. No matter what I did, he managed to push the treasure chest front and center just as I pushed the button. He could definitely give celebrities tips on handling the paparazzi.


Saturday, June 29, 2013

Claiming my blog

Technology strikes again:

<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5005723/?claim=stcmxp5t69y">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>

We'll see if this works . . .I am not optimistic about anything I do on this machine . . .

It's a Grandma bag

We have traveled to visit The Flash and his parents for the week-end. When he slows down enough to take a picture, I'll try to get one of him with his new buzz cut for summer.

They came to our hotel to visit a bit last night after our rather long and arduous trek (not sure what caused the hold-up on the highway yesterday, but there were about 45 minutes of easing up and coming to a dead stop, simply to cover less than a ten-mile stretch of road).  The Flash saw my red tote bag which on occasion has dispersed goodies to the young gentleman.

But not this time.  He peered inside and looked at me with some disappointment in his voice.  "It's just a Grandma bag," he said.

Apparently this is what a Grandma bag contains:

(The goodies were packed elsewhere.)

And, oh, dear, it does look like what a genteel lady would pack. I seem to have lost my edge somewhere.

Hopefully I found it again. One of the reasons we came this particular week-end, other than the heavens were in alignment as were the work schedules of the two men in the family, is that this is the week-end of Festivall with an arts and crafts fair in the capitol city of West Virginia.

And this is what I cajoled Dearly Beloved into buying for me:


 

Grandpa (aka Dearly Beloved) needed a nap after the morning's perambulations but we are heading back to stay The Flash so his parents can go to a movie.  The Grandma bag is going, too, although I doubt there will be any more stitches added to Ann Scutt.  I'm just about back to the spot I was in when I discovered the major counting error earlier.
 
 



Saturday, June 22, 2013

I see a bad moon a'risin . . .I see trouble on its way . . .

(With thanks to CCR)

This is where I was on Ann Scutt this afternoon:


This is where I am now:

No, I did not get the pictures reversed.

This is where I am after making a significant counting error and ripping it all out. It was, of course, at the very beginning and was a point from which I was making all other placement decisions.

As this day has not gone as intended anyway, I am really not surprised.

It started out innocently enough. I had psyched myself up to do some finish-finishing this week-end and bebopped downstairs to get the sewing machine set up and the iron ready to go. As I pitterpattered down the hall, I hit a damp spot in the carpet.

Immediately I blamed Dearly Beloved. He is dearly beloved, but the man can splash, splatter, and spill and not even notice. (He is also incapable of noticing dirt, dust, or whiskers in the sink but that's another rant entirely.) I went to get a towel to blot up whatever it was.

When I returned with my towel, I realized that the spot was somewhat larger than originally expected and the carpet was doing more of a sploosh than a damp, surface spot. And, as I realized with fear and trepidation, it was located immediately in front of the closet under the stairs where the water heater lives.

Lived.

It was leaking. Not a lot, more of a seep than a leak,  but enough to determine there was a crack in it. Sigh . . .

Obviously we called for emergency aid and assistance, but as we waited for our hero to appear, we realized that to remove the old water heater and to install a new one, the large bookcase/shelving unit in the hallway was going to have to be unloaded and moved.

We now have books, DVDs, and tapes covering just about every horizontal surface in our downstairs area. The kitchen table, where I was planning to spread out my projects--yes, I planned projects for today--is loaded with tottering towers of tapes. The living room floor, which I had planned to vacuum at some point before potatoes could be grown in the carpet, is paved with books.  We can't even get into any other room downstairs because the bookcase/shelving unit is blocking access to the rest of the house.

We also had a person who handles water damage arrive on the heels of the plumber to do something about the hallway carpet and floor underneath. This means we now have a large and noisy fan running along with a dehumidifier, which is draining into the sink in the (only) downstairs bathroom. He suggested letting it all run all week-end and he'll be back on Monday to take care of the rest.

In the grand scheme of things, this is a minor hiccup. I know this. It has, however, seemed to set the pattern for the rest of the day. Dearly Beloved has stubbed his toe. He can't hear the TV above the noise of the fan, which means that the marathon viewing session of Copper we had planned is not happening. I'm hours behind on doing laundry, which I like to get done and over with on Saturdays. We don't have any available counter space in the kitchen at the moment to do anything as simple as make a sandwich. I am suggesting that we do take-out or delivery for dinner. Cheapskate . . .er . . .Dearly Beloved keeps mentioning that we have eaten out twice this week. I suggested that we count this as next week's dining experience.

However, we do have hot water.


Friday, June 21, 2013

Back to Ann Scutt

After Martha Edlin, I wasn't really sure which project I'd go back to. Ann Scutt was sitting in the basket by the chair, actually on top of the basket once I put Martha's instructions and leftover threads away.


It was just the easiest thing to do to reach over and pick Ann up and start stitching, so here is her next band. I do apologize for the shadow. I had hoped to get the last bit on this stitched and a photo taken on the longest day of the year, but the sun went down and the moon came up before that happened.

And even though it is a major full moon, the moonlight wasn't quite bright enough.

After Martha, it is absolutely amazing how fast this band stitched! I believe I will continue on with Ann for a few more days.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Let the Wild Rumpus begin!!!

Martha Edlin is finished!


This is the spot section at the bottom of the sampler.

When you look at the elaborate bands she used earlier on the sampler, you forget she was a little girl--then you stitch the little dogs chasing each other up and down the cartouche with her name and date, and you remember. Oh, and the "R" in "Martha" is reversed.

I forced  sweetly requested Dearly Beloved to hold the whole thing up so you could see how long this sampler finally ended up.


It's a good thing I'm going to need to save my pennies to have Martha framed . . .it's going to take us awhile to figure out where we have a place to hang her up--and that last phrase sounds really weird, but at least you know what I mean.

And I am happy dancing the rest of the day.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Birds and . . . Blossoms?



I'm assuming those things on either side of the birds are flowers, although the one on the far left seems to be missing a stem.

I'm a little concerned about the pox that the birds seem to have. Hopefully it's not contagious.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Really going back to the Seventeenth Century

No, I don't have a time machine.

Baby Girl and I went on a day trip to Historic Jamestown yesterday, the site of the first permanent English settlement in the New World.

We're all history geeks in this family and Baby Girl majored in history as well, so this is one of our favorite places to tromp around. With an active archaeological site, there is always something new to see or hear about, so off we went.


The locations for many early structures have been discovered and marked by these wooden constructions.


When I was a child and visited Jamestown for the first time, we were told, very seriously and profoundly, that the original fort had fallen into the James River over time. In fact, I clearly remember the very regal gentleman who grandly gestured to the center of the river and declared, "There lies Jamestown."

Not so much.  The scientists who are currently excavating have found the outlines of the fort, and the river has claimed only one corner of it.

We met an inhabitant of Early Jamestown and her companion:


She was a most entertaining re-enactor!

Behind her you will see one of the areas that is currently under excavation. Due to the heavy rains, they weren't digging and had covered the area with tarps to protect potential finds.

And this is one of my favorite parts of the site, the church tower.  There is a fundraising effort in place to preserve the tower, which has taken hits from weather and age. As the oldest structure remaining on the site, it is worthy of reclamation.



And from the inside of the church proper, here is the arched window over the altar.

It is more than obvious, needlework from the 1600's always pulls me in. Traveling to Jamestown, seeing the artifacts that have been found, appreciating the craftsmanship of the work from that time which has survived to this, all of these things only make me appreciate the chance to stitch designs and motifs that people from that era could recognize.

So, did Martha Edlin see the light of day while I was gone?

She traveled in style in her padded tote bag to Baby Girl's and back. However, the zipper on the bag was not unzipped.

I plan to rectify that situation immediately.


Thursday, June 6, 2013

Seeing Spots



Here are the first four motifs in the spot section on Martha Edlin. There are four more on the other side, plus the attribution surrounded by a bunch of critters and other things (not sure if Martha meant for them to be flowers or simple geometric shapes or what) in the center.  I am that close to finishing!

As much as I would love to stitch on this all week-end, I'm going to visit Baby Girl and see her new apartment and go on a bit of a road trip to visit her BFF and BFF's fiancé. We are hoping the rains do not wash us away in the process.

Martha will, of course, accompany me.

The commissioned piece is getting some attention as well, so I don't feel guilty about spending time with Martha.

Actually, at this point, I don't think anything could make me feel guilty about spending time with Martha! And that's what I plan to do the rest of the evening.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Now I know my ABC's

at least the 17th century ones!



This is the last alphabet on Martha Edlin. I have to tell you, it's going to be awhile before I stitch anything with an alphabet on it! Three of them in a row are quite enough, thank you very much.

The last couple of weeks have been hectic. I went to help Baby Girl pack for her move.  I worked. I was felled by a migraine for a couple of days, which REALLY interfered with my life! And I agreed to stitch a commissioned piece, about which I can say absolutely nothing, which means, of course, that I can't blog about it.

For my own sanity, and because I have a lot of my own projects I want to work on, I'm stitching the commission piece on weeknights and my stuff on the week-ends. I was all primed to do some finishing work today, but then Dearly Beloved and I went on one simple errand after the weekly trip to the Farmers' Market--and we ended up gallivanting for most the day. This included lunch at our favorite sushi place. I also have some new clothes that I was past needing as well as a new pair of Birkenstocks, also sorely needed. Now I'm doing the laundry and web-surfing to see what everyone else has been doing lately.

I will thread a needle before the day is over. After all, Martha Edlin has only the spot section of her sampler to be stitched. And when it's complete, there will be a happy dance the likes of which have never been seen.