Category Archives: Stitching

Discoveries

Posted on November 13, 2012 by Terri | 2 comments

Had a hair cut this morning. For the first time in my adult life I have tons of layers. My stylist blew it out straight and choppy. It’s kind of funky and I haven’t decided if I totally like it or not. I am, however, in love with the color. I’ll play with it some tomorrow with the straight iron. Mister says it’s very 60s looking. At least he did not say it made me look 60.

Worked on entering my half-sized charts today. I seem to really like Little House Needleworks and I have a teenie The Sweetheart Tree obsession! Of the 161 charts that I entered today, 26 were LHN, and this doesn’t count the ones I’ve already stitched. 23 were The Sweetheart Tree. Who knew! Well obviously I would have if I had done this a long time ago. The great thing about this is it’s showing me just how many possible ‘smalls’ I have to work on in 2013. By the way, am I the last person to know that The Sweetheart Tree is in Arizona?

Harley is getting better. The swelling has reduced, her eye is completely open again, and she has even been sassy with Jasper and running circles in the backyard. She still has a huge knot on the side of her head that’s very painful and Friday can’t get here fast enough.

Mister just left for his class tonight and I’ve finished inputting for the day so I’m dragging Haiku back downstairs and catching up on my DVR.

Tomorrow is Bag Ladies at Attic Needlework. I can’t wait to see all the beautiful items that have been donated for this year’s breast cancer fund-raiser auction. If you get a chance check out the newsletter at the link above. You will be amazed at the generosity.

2 Comments

Posted in Puppies, Stash, Stitch-together

Organization

Posted on November 12, 2012 by Terri | 6 comments

It’s just turned 3:00 p.m. here. With the exception of breaks for breakfast, shower, lunch, 2 15-minute email checks, and 2 15-minute blog reader checks, a half hour wasted surfing quilt fabric sites, and a couple of “important” interruptions by Mister, I have spent my day entering 439 charts into an excel spreadsheet.

Full-sized charts

I pulled my patriotic designs and Halloween designs put them in a separate piles to create a box each specifically for them, plus I pulled some charts that I want to work on in 2013 if they fit into my “goals” that I’ve been working on. I have also culled what I know no longer interests me (which is probably why it’s taken so long). I’ll be offering them up here before putting them out on the various Facebook groups I post on.

I still have a very long way to go, but at least I’m working on it. I finished sorting through my quilt fabric several days ago. Of course, this doesn’t include the fabric shopping I’ve done over the past couple of weeks. (It’s a sickness, I tell you!)

I’m waiting on some comic backing board to arrive and I’ll start better organizing my fabric. For now it’s folded the best I could get it to get the most to fit in there. The refolding won’t happen until after the first of the year though since my goal is to be finished getting my room organized before Thanksgiving so I won’t be too embarrassed if a couple of stitchers happen to drop in for some stitching and finishing fun.

6 Comments

Posted in Goals, Quilting, Stash, Stitching

Reflections

Posted on November 11, 2012 by Terri | 12 comments

WARNING! PHOTO INTENSIVE POST.

I cannot believe it’s been a year since I moved to Arizona. I have no regrets in doing so. While it hasn’t been perfect, I know that very few things are, and I cannot think of anything that has happened so far that has made me wish we had not made this decision. I am thankful that I wasted no time in jumping in and taking a quilting class as soon as I did, and that I showed up as soon as possible at Attic Needlework to participate in their Thursday night open stitching. I have made some wonderful friends this past year.

This time last year I was just sitting down for the 2nd time in our new home. Our furniture and 200+ boxes had been delivered, the delivery guys had surprised me by putting our bed together since they didn’t want me to have to sleep on the floor another night (I actually slept on a blow up mattress the night before), the cable guy had unpacked one of our TVs and hooked it up and made sure my internet was working, and I was searching the internet for the closest place to buy a refrigerator, washer, and dryer. I can’t remember exactly when Mister finally showed up to see our house for the first time, but I still remember how nervous I was that he wouldn’t like it! 😀

We haven’t done as much as we would have liked this past year, but we knew the first year was going to be a wait-and-see year for us while we got our bearings and learned to live the non-military life.

This past month has been a busy one for both of us. Mister finished one of his classes which is a good thing since his studio art class has increased his homework load. He’s still loving it though! He’s already registered for next term’s classes.

We finally were able to replace my beautiful 370Z that was totaled last year. When I chose that car it was a toss up between a “toy” or some “muscle.” While searching for my new car this year I drove almost every car I could imagine myself wanting, but ultimately I chose the “muscle” I didn’t choose the last time. My new car arrived a couple of weeks ago. I am so in love with her!

Dressed for Halloween

I finally put Haiku away and went back to Rose Quaker. While I’m still not stitching as much as I was it’s been nice to stitch on something I’m enjoying. This week will find me back to Haiku though, as I rearranged my living room last week because of new furniture purchases for the family room, and I now have the perfect spot for Haiku to reside. I really am very, very close to finishing it.

As mentioned, we purchased a new sofa, ottoman, and two chairs for our family room, from IKEA. I heart that place. I could completely furnish my house there! I chose a linen colored sofa and ottoman cover and the chairs are grey and linen checked. I’ll finish out the room with some red accessories for now. It’s a little weird sitting in the chairs as I’ve gone from snugglers (as my stitching chair) to a regular sized chair. My new stitching spot is probably going to be at the end of the sofa since I can’t stitch without my feet propped up 😉 and there needs to be room for a puppy or two when I’m stitching or reading.

Yesterday, I went with Annette to the Holiday Quilt, Craft & Sewing Festival put on by Rusty Barn. It was much smaller than the quilt festival we attended there this past January but there was still enough there to catch my eye. While I put back about as much as I bought, I still managed to bring home some really nice things. I was looking specifically for 3 things: (1) fabrics to make a red and white; and black and white table topper quilt; (2) fabric to make a traveling holder for my cutting mat and rulers; and, (3) a small wool penny kit. This is what I ended up bringing home with me:

MITI scissor fob. Yes, the white and pink beeds really “moon” glow in the light.

ASU colorway pin chicken

A couple of painted wooden signs for my stitching room.

Since I ~~don’t need another new hobby~~ have so much spare time on my hands, I also brought home:

A beaded needlecase kit in purple, gold, and black.

Beaded necklace kit in purples

Bees wax, beading thread, and 2 nippers (1 for my quilting table)

Beed organizing box

Chain Maille bracelet pattern

I did manage to find fabrics for my red and white quilt, including a backing fabric and a cute red and white Christmas tree wall hanging kit.

Fabrics for red and while quilt

Red and white Christmas tree wall quilt

I could only find backing fabric for a black and white quilt and I may end up tea dying this and creating a black and cream quilt instead, depending on what other fabrics I find in the future.

Backing for black and white quilt

I didn’t find the penny rug kit I wanted, but I didn’t leave there without purchasing a couple of “wool” related items.

Wool pin cushion with old spring to mount it on

I am sooo in love with these wool ornaments!

Wool Christmas ornaments

Because I promised myself before I went that I wasn’t going to buy any more patterns, I bought this one

Halloween wall hanging

and this one

Small wall hanging

I’m deluding myself into thinking I can get all this done before January when the next Quilt Festival arrives.

Oh, and one other purchase. I found a sterling greyhound charm. They are so very hard to find and I snatched it up to wear around my neck.

After all that was done I hung out with Annette at her house for about an hour before I went and had dinner with Cathy and her husband. She was in town for a class at Attic Needlework and because she has such excellent taste in new cars, the two of us wanted to do a face-t0-face. It’s always nice to finally get to meet online friends in person. We talked for so long after we finished eating that we were both embarrassed to see how many people were standing in the lobby waiting for a table! Oops.

Before I go finish creating my wonderful pot of chicken noodle soup, I’d like to ask that anyone still reading my blog say a small prayer for my HarleyQuinn. She has a cracked tooth that has gotten infected and created some horrendous (I am not exaggerating) swelling in her face. Yesterday she could barely open her left eye 🙁 and the major concern is that she will swell so badly that it can cause her skin to split. She has already been to the doctor and they warned us of this swelling but it’s still not easy to deal with. She is taking antibiotics and pain meds, and seems to be acting like she’s not in any pain, but it is oh so ever painful to look at her. The earliest we could get her in to have it pulled is this coming Friday and for those of you who remember our Bandit, you know how stressed out all of this is making me — so maybe you can include me in your prayers as well.

I promise to not take so long to update again. I had some drama-mama stuff happen on facebook with my family this past week over election issues and I find myself not wanting to play there very much for now. Facebook posting has caused me to neglect my blog and I feel really bad about that.

12 Comments

Posted in Decorating, Quilting, Stitching

Surprise!

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Terri | 2 comments

Happy fall, y’all! I cannot begin to say how many times I have sat down to write, then got distracted by something else. That something else has usually been stash that needed to be sorted, catalogued, or put away; and, sometimes, stitched on 😀

Today marks the 1 year anniversary of my last day as an employed person. This past year has seen so many changes in my life and they must have all been pretty good because as I sit here writing this I cannot think of any horrible thing that has occured.

I have traveled more this past year than in many years combined, both near and far. I am looking forward to where the 2nd year of my “retirement” takes me. I have also stitched and quilted more than I ever have and am having a blast (when I’m not feeling guilty about it).

The next phase of my crafting is about to begin with my framing some of my own smaller finished needlework. I have been gathering the equipment needed, and even have some frame moulding. It’s now just a matter of getting over my “what if I mess it up” jitters and make that first cut.

What have I been doing since my last post? This!

Carriage House Samplings’ “Americana.”

CHS Americana 5/25 - 6/9/12

Little House Needleworks “America”

LHN "America" 6/9 - 6/17/12

Sheepish Designs “Betsy”

Sheepish Designs "Betsy" 6/17 - 6/25/12

Blackbird Designs “America”

Blackbird Designs "America" 6/25 - 7/8/12

I had intended on stitching patriotic designs all the way through until September 11, but changed my mind and decided to go back to my other WIPs. Soooooo, I also finished Mary Wigham

Mary Wigham finished September 1, 2012

Mary is at Attic Needlework being framed. I don’t remember off the top of my head when I started her and I didn’t stitch on her exclusively, but I did track when I worked on her. It took me 51 days to stitch her. I converted the recommended DMC to Gentle Arts Sampler Threads. There are a lot of memories attached to her 😀 The Olympics, test driving new cars, attending a stitching weekend with Attic Needlework (wait until you see what I’m working on from that!), Mister starting college, a trip back to California to see Son and visit Melissa and see Darla.

I took a reading break after Mary Wigham them picked Dimples Designs’ “Haiku” back up on September 17th. I originally started it January 2004 during a Guilt Free stitching sprint, put him away for a long time, picked him back up the beginning of this year, and put him away again. I am very near to finishing it but have to make myself stitch on it since there are other things I want to be working on.

As you can tell I sort of gave up on WIPacolypse (and Theme-a-licious). Not the stitching, just the checking in. I am one of those people who can’t keep up with moon phases — hard to believe I’m a moon child — and believe tracking should be done from the 1st day of the month to the last day of the month. I am continuing to stitch on my WIPacoplypse pieces though since they’re pieces I love and want hanging on my walls. I know 2012 is not quite over but I’m keeping in mind already what I want to accomplish in 2013, and I’ll probably maintain some sort of WIPacolypse type list and intersperse it with smalls since I have so many and I want to work on my finishing skills.

The only other thing I really want to have finished is the stitching on Fairy Moon. If all I have left to do is bead by the end of the year I’ll be a happy stitcher. She will be going to a framer and I’d just as soon not have her sitting around after I finish her because how I want her framed will probably cost me a fair bit and I don’t want to spend that money until after January since right now I’m spending my money on furnishing the house a bit more. I’m installing a new chande over the dining table and at the top of the stairs, buying new furniture for the family room, and rearranging some of the other furniture. I’m also getting ready to paint the downstairs powder room and I want to get my piano refurbished if possible.

So. There you have it! I’ve made a couple of changes on my stitching page but all in all I’m a happy person!

2 Comments

Posted in Carriage House Samplings, Finishes, Haiku, Mary Wigham, Retirement, Samplers - Repro, WIPocalypse

May’s report, June’s goals

Posted on May 31, 2012 by Terri | 2 comments

Before I get started I need to give a huge public “thank you” to Melissa. Right after the first of the month my blog decided to take a nosedive. It was a PITA in the beginning. By mid-month I could no longer post any photos and as the month wore on it turned into a catastrophe. I couldn’t even log in. This past week I threw myself at her feet and begged her to help me. She was kind enough to get it straightened out for me. It was not an easy fix, and I think I owe her my blogging life.

A lot went on in May for me, but because I couldn’t access my blog in the past couple of weeks, I’m sure I’ve forgotten more than I remembered. I settled the lawsuit I brought against the woman who hit me last year; we’ve been having record heat here and M and I have been thoroughly enjoying our pool; I got Hannah Beeby framed and she’s hanging all by her lonesome in the middle of my family room wall (I haven’t unpacked my other large pieces yet); I have finally settled into the perfect routine for me and because of it am getting a ton of guilt-free quilting and stitching accomplished; I started walking consistently. That’s all I can remember right now!

My goals for May were fairly simple and I accomplished more than I thought I would:

Get the rest of my fibers put away (DONE)
Get started sorting my fabric (DONE)
Get back to rotating on:
1. Petite Mexican Sampler (finish it?) (FINISHED IT)
2. Fairy Moon (YES!)
3. Haiku (DIDN’T TOUCH IT*)
Continue with Rose Quaker and Mary Wigham on their respective stitching days (YES*)
Piece 4 more quilt squares (YES)
Finish quilted stitching bag (my Theme-a-licious project for May (NO)

*I forgot when I set my monthly goals that Memorial Day was coming up. Last year Jean published in the Attic Needlework May 2011 newsletter that she stitched on patriotic pieces from Memorial Day until September 11th. I have a lot of designs that contain the American flag, or are otherwise patriotic, and I thought this was a wonderful idea. Last year I chose 2 medium sized designs and it took me until about the 2nd week of October to finish the 2nd one. This year on Memorial Day I started Carriage House Samplings’ “Americana.” I’m very close to finishing it…perhaps just a couple more days of stitching. I have a second design pulled and will probably have no problem getting it finished before September 11, and then I’ll decide what to do next…continue with patriotic stitching or get back to my rotation. For now, though, I have stopped working on my rotation and I skipped yesterday’s stitching on Rose Quaker. I still haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to work on Mary Wigham today/tonight at Thursday stitchin.

While I had my stitching bag down for my Theme-a-licious project for may, I did work on my other quilt class projects. I keep forgetting to bring my stitching bag upstairs to make those few stitches! It sits by my chair holding my project bags and waiting to be loaded with my other odds and ins I take to stitchins. It’s happy where it is! LOL

I do have WIPacolypse progress to share but that will have to wait for another day as I have places to go and things to do today 😀

What do I want to do in June?

Finish sorting my stitching fabrics.
Get started sorting my quilting fabrics.
Continue with my patriotic stitching.
Piece 4 quilt squares
Work on Haiku for June’s Theme-a-licious.
Paint my bedroom.
Buy new bed.

My quilt class ends in June. I have enjoyed it so much and have gained confidence in reading patterns, choosing color, and piecing. I’ve purchased fabric for a small table top size quilt and am looking forward to starting it after I catch up with the rest of my quilting.

M finally heard back from the Veterans’ office at the university and has started his registration process.

The puppies are still providing great entertainment and love and are staying relatively healthy.

I have a long weekend getaway planned with Karen and am really looking forward to it.

2 Comments

Posted in Carriage House Samplings, Framing, Goals, Hannah Beeby, Quilting, Stitch-together, Stitching, Theme-a-licious, WIPocalypse

Hermity weekend is almost here

Posted on May 15, 2012 by Terri | Comments Off

I don’t know why I get so excited about joining in on the International Hermit & Stitch Weekend. I rarely go anywhere anyway! 😀

But it’s happening this weekend and I plan on spending my time quilting and stitching when I’m not cooking or swimming 😉

I’ll also be hanging out at Attic Needlework part of Sunday for Sampler Sunday. It’s such a fun day seeing what everyone has been working on.

I have finished Petite Mexican Sampler and started Hannah Gilpin 1800. I’m having blogging problems again so can’t post photos now but they’re on my Facebook page.

Comments Off on Hermity weekend is almost here

Posted in Hannah Gilpin, IHSW, Petite Mexican Sampler, Stitching

May goals

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Terri | 1 comment

My needlework expectations for May are:

Get the rest of my fibers put away
Get started sorting my fabric
Get back to rotating on:
1. Petite Mexican Sampler (finish it?)
2. Fairy Moon
3. Haiku
Continue with Rose Quaker and Mary Wigham on their respective stitching days
Piece 4 more quilt squares
Finish quilted stitching bag (my Theme-a-licious project for May)

All of the above is doable as long as I don’t get sidetracked 😉

1 Comment

Posted in Goals, Quilting, Stitching, Theme-a-licious

April Report

Posted on April 30, 2012 by Terri | 8 comments

It’s been a rather fun month for us. We’re continuing to settle in. The weather has been excellent and we’ve been spending a lot of time in the pool. We purchased a new BBQ and patio furniture and are spending our mornings and evenings on the patio. I figured out this morning that our WiFi is strong enough out there, with all the doors and windows closed, that we’ll be streaming our iTunes and satellite radio out there so I’m going to start stitching out there in the mornings. This makes the puppies happy since they love running around chasing birds, lizards, and each other.

I’ve spent a bunch of time playing in my room. Still a long way to go but at least now I can sit at my workstation and sew.

The most fun has been working on my WIPocalypse pile while watching baseball and hockey. Before I show my WIPocalypse progress, I’ll share a picture of Harley from last night’s hockey game. When the Coyotes score, there is a howl played over the loudspeakers. We, M and I, have started howling with it and the puppies have taken to joining in. At the end of last night’s game we were howling and I got a snap of Harley doing her Coyote impression. I know I’m biased, but she’s so darn cute when she does it. Her little howl is so high pitched and “soft” you have to really listen to hear her, but you can tell she puts her whole heart behind it.

Now, on to the stitching:

Finished Hannah Beeby!

Got a whole lot done, then undone, then done on Petite Mexican Sampler:

I had completely finished the tree on the right when I discovered it was one stitch over on the right 🙁 It had to be frogged and put away since I was so upset. I have picked it back up and will definitely finish it in May.

I don’t normally participate in stitchalongs since they feel like obligation stitching to me but two Facebook groups I’m on are having stitchalongs on designs that I already had planned on starting, so on Wednesday last I started Rose Quaker. It feels like a quick stitch and I’m loving the colors:

It was very tempting to keep going but I wanted to start Mary Wigham for Thursdays. I had messed up on Petite Mexican Sampler on Tuesday, and I let her sit screaming next to my stitching chair while I stitched on Mary Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

I am loving the subtleness of the colors and I think GAST Salmon, the top motif, is my new favorite color.

Hannah, Rose Quaker, and Mary all definitely qualify for April’s Theme-a-liciousness, too!

All that stitching has left me with a full TUSAL jar for April.

You can see the different layers 😀 I’ll be adding a bit more to it this afternoon, to finish out the month with Petite Mexican Sampler stitching.

8 Comments

Posted in Domestic, Mary Wigham, Petite Mexican Sampler, Puppies, Rose Quaker, Stitching, Theme-a-licious, TUSAL, WIPocalypse

My first hermity weekend report

Posted on April 23, 2012 by Terri | 5 comments

I thought I was going to be kicked out of the hermit club my first try when I woke up Friday without a single itch to stitch! I will blame it on the weather. We had record setting heat all weekend and being lazy, and the pool, was calling my name!

I ended up putzing around in my room organizing more (which always gets me wanting to stitch) and doing some of my quilting homework. I also made the mistake of playing on Facebook some and got myself sucked into two stitchalongs for the rest of the year.

First, part of my quilting homework:

I am not in love with the brown stripe. I tried 3 times to get it to work and gave up.

I love the churn dash block. It’s always been a favorite of mine and I’ve wanted to do a quilt with them for a long time.

Sunday was Sampler Sunday at Attic Needlework. While there are some repeat offenders 😉 the crowd for Sampler Sunday is always different than the normal Thursday evening crowd. We’re almost guaranteed to have a designer or two show and it’s fun to see what they’re working on for future release. I shared my Le Marquoir de Justine which I haven’t touched in forever, and my Petite Mexican Sampler (PMS) that I’ve made really good progress on:

Thank you to those who helped me decide what sampler to start next. I will be starting Hannah Gilpin 1800 as soon as I finish the above piece. Here is my floss toss for her:

The fabric is Colorscapes “Earthen” and the fibers are Dinky Dyes.

I’m looking forward to the two stitchalongs. Both pieces were in my stash. I did have to purchase fabric since I didn’t have the white needed for one, and the fabric I pulled for the other one wasn’t large enough. Mary is a wide-bottom gal! 🙂

The first one is Rose Quaker Sampler by Wiehenburg. I am using the recommended DMC since they are beautiful shades of pinks and browns and have decided to use 34ct Legacy White for my fabric. Legacy has such a beautiful hand. This will be my Wednesday piece since the stitchalong is called Wiehenburg Wednesday.

The second one is Mary Wigham by Needleprint. I am using Gentle Art Sampler Thread and 36ct Lakeside Vintage Navy Bean. This is an open stitchalong, meaning whenever I want, so I’ve decided to work on this one on Thursdays. I will also be taking this one with me to my stitchins.

I’m going to be spending the rest of this evening getting my Rose Quaker floss ready, serging fabric and working away on PMS 😉 unless we get back in the pool.

Oh, and it looks like my blog is back to normal. I adjusted the size of my market report photos and that seems to have done the trick.

Be cool!

edited to add that I noticed in the top block the bottom row was sewn on upside down and that has been remedied. That block is really on my blacklist now 😉

5 Comments

Posted in Hannah Gilpin, IHSW, Justine, Mary Wigham, Petite Mexican Sampler, Quilting, Stitching

Blog woes and needlework stuff

Posted on April 21, 2012 by Terri | 1 comment

I broke my blog 🙁 I don’t know what I’ve done but my right side bar is now showing up under my posts. I futzed with it all evening and I’ve done everything I can think to fix it, but one. We’ll see if that works, if not, I don’t know what I’m going to do.

I have not gotten all of my fibers put away. I still have a few odd ones and HDFs and DMCs, but they’re now separated into “designer” and now I just need to put them away. I haven’t figured out what to do with my HDF silks. I have many from when she first started her FOTM so the dye-lots are old. I am going to be installing peg board on the wall between my two cabinets to hang my fibers on. For now the already sorted ones are living on quilt ruler rings.

The only stitchy thing I accomplished yesterday was to empty my stitching bag from Thursday night. Today I need to work on my quilt squares for next Wednesday, but I’m hoping that won’t take all day. I’m working with triangles, though, so you never know with me. I had so much trouble with them on the other quilt. I have the charts I shared with you to put up, then I’m dragging out my sewing machine and getting to it.

Thank you for those of you who have voted on my sampler choice.