Coming back to life....slowly......but surely....

 I brought home a very unwelcome visitor from Richmond......a nasty chest/head cold!!! I pretty much slept for two days last week (not really sure what's worse...the cold...or the medicine to treat it that tends to "knock" me out). I've started to try essential oils ( my daughter swears by them, though she had the "crud" when we visited). So, I've had Immunity diffusing into my family room for a week now, so hopefully a preventative for the future.

I started to feel better over the weekend but energy level was still pretty low. What to do??? Why sit quietly, listen to a Harry Potter book on CD and stitch!!! I got two more in the Chalk series stitched, September and October. Only two more to go! Now I have to start deciding on how best to finish--I have a couple ideas but need to work out what will work best.

I used some glow in the dark blending filament on this one--I hope it works!

Lots to catch up on, so I will keep this short.

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

Stitching on the road...........

 We spent 5 days in the Richmond area visiting my daughter and her family. We were able to attend a couple of my grandson's basketball games and my granddaughter's first cheer competition. Oh my, was that an experience!!! The make-up they require on 5 year olds was crazy, but her team won a trophy so she was very excited. And, as you can see from our selfie, she already has an affinity for make-up!!!

On the drive down and back, I was able to get another one of the Samsarah calendar pieces done, the final one for April.

I also managed another in the Chalk series, August. I only have until the end of the month to get these stitched and finished to make my deadline!!! I love this one!

And, I've gotten more accomplished on my class pre-stitch, but still have the rest bearing down on me..... and.... I still have another whole class project to get the pre-stitching done for by mid-April. Stay tuned to see if I make it!

That's it for today---gotta get stitching!!! 

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi


 

A Couple Weekend Finishes.........

I made a couple small pillows this weekend with two pieces I had stitched on the 52/60 count linen. The first is a freebie from Blackbird Designs called Her Sampler-1796.  This was the first piece I did on this teeny tiny linen and, if using the correct needle and plenty of light/magnification, found it wasn't too awful hard to do.

The other pillow/pincushion is my recently stitched Good Intentions by Kathy Barrick.

I kept them both on the plain side--just adding the rick-rack band, and they are ready  to reside in my special "wormy" chestnut box. I bought this at the Mountain Heritage Festival in Harpers Ferry, WV a couple years ago and it's been waiting patiently for some residents. 

worm holes in wood

 

 I did finish another in the Chalk series, July, and am moving along on the Long Pocket class piece.

 Going to be settling in this evening to watch the Oscar's. Not sure why, as I haven't seen many of the movies at all, but it's always fun to see the fashion on the red carpet and dream a little dream of the likes of George Clooney. And...it's a great stitching opportunity!

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!

Stasi

 

A little progress on the pre-stitch

I finished stitching the needle case and now will move on to the actual bag. I'm liking this triangular shaped edging stitch--how about you?

I'm waiting for the phone guy to come and help us figure out what' going on with our internet. Every time we get on the treadmill to walk, our internet goes down.  We googled this issue and lots of people had the same problem. Some bought a special surge protector that "blocks" RF signals.We bought one...didn't work! Called the phone company (we have DSL) and they've never heard of that problem but are sending out a tech. I sure hope he can figure it out. Wish us luck!!!
 
 Thanks for stopping by and your"twisted threads" of friendship!
Stasi

And the Pre-Stitching Begins.......

Even though I'm finished with the needlework challenge on FB, it continues with a  stream of beautiful work flowing down my timeline. This has been so enjoyable and motivating. But now, reality is setting in and I've got to get moving on the pre-stitch for my two Sherri Jones classes in April. I started with the Long Pocket first and followed Sherri's suggestion to begin with the smalls. Here is where I stand as of today:

Pin cushion and Scissor Sheath on bottom; start of needle case on top

I've learned a new stitch, the Peruvian loop stitch. I'm not sure it's been executed correctly, but it is acceptable at this point. 

I've also finished another in the Chalk series--June. I've been flitting back and forth between these two projects as the Long Pocket is a bit more tedious and I need a break every now and then. 

In my recent organizing mode, I came across a wedding sampler I had done for my hubby and I back in 1981. Now, at the time, this was 7 years after we were married. Now, almost 35 years later, I finally framed it!! There has been a definite love-hate relationship with this piece. When I stitched it, the budget was a little tight and I remember buying my floss from a catalogue...very cheaply. So, in this case, the old adage was definitely true...you get what you pay for!!! I washed the piece (first and last time I've ever done that) and the pink in the ladies gown ran all over the place. I tried to get it out and made more of a mess. It was put aside and forgotten about until many years later. 

When I stumbled across it again, I had read an article about this problem. They suggested to keep rinsing and rinsing and rinsing until all the errant dye was out. This actually worked for the most part but I still had some telltale shadows. Again, it was put aside for some years. Then, the light bulb went off and I decided to tea stain it; this solved the "shadow" issue. But for some reason I again put it aside. I think that's because I had "evolved" in my stitching and didn't really care for the colors, aida, etc.. So, when I ran across it recently, all mounted and pinned, I had a little change of heart and decided to finally frame it (I've had the frame for eons). My thinking is, this is a good way to document how my stitching has evolved and it's a part of my needlework history. So here is the sampler in all it's glory......or not!!! :)

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship!
Stasi

 
 

DAY 7 Needlwork Challenge

DAY 7   My final piece is A Town House Sewing Case by Gay Ann Rogers. This was an on line class with the Shining Needle Society back in 2009. I hose my ow color for the house.

DAY 7     Here is one of my favorite all time pieces.....Regal Bee by Theresa Baird of Heartsease Samplery. This was a challenge since, at the time, there were no finishing instructions. Luckily, I had taken enough classes to figure it all out. I was tickled pink to win a blue ribbon at Woodlawn in the blackwork category with this submisson.

This is the final day of the needlework challenge--it's been fun!

Thanks for stopping by and your "twisted threads" of friendship! 

Stasi

DAY 6 Needlework Challenge

DAY 6 This is North Country Sampler by the Drawn Thread, stitched in 1997. I changed up the verbage a bit!

DAY 6 This is a class piece from Merry Cox. I stitched it in 2012 in honor of my first grand daughter. It is called Le Nouveau Palais Royal.

One more day! Thanks for stopping by and your"twisted threads" of freindship!

Stasi