Category Archives: Stitching

Licious-ness

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Terri | 6 comments

I didn’t give much thought to joining in on Heather’s Theme-a-licious-ness since I thought you had to stitch on all the categories during the year. Since I’m rotating, I didn’t know if I would be working in a particular project during the given month. I’ve decided to give it a try though, just to see if it’ll work. I’ve started a new page with her monthly themes and will add in under each month what I’ve accomplished. I’m not expecting to have something for each month, but I may just surprise myself 😉

I’ve already spent about an hour and a half on Petite Mexican Sampler this morning. When I first started stitching the border I had a huge panic moment because the gold border didn’t stand out again the fabric with one strand nearly as much as it did on the spool. I’ve since added the olive and light olive tones and it’s looking better. I’m trying to use as many colors as possible really quickly to see how they’ll look. If it’s a fail it’ll be easier to rippit and start over on something lighter. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that doesn’t have to happen though 🙂 since I think the silks are delicious and already have an emotional attachment to the fabric.

Here’s my December ort jar. There’s a whole lot of Hannah Beeby and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow in there. Looks a heck of a lot more better than a lot of the previous months 🙂

December 2011 Orts

I bought the small Yankee Candle candles this year and burned them while stitching. It was a fun way to discover new scents and I plan on reusing them each year. I’m going to “decorate” them up this year. 2011’s orts will stored together in a paint can container with the paltry 2010 orts.

2012 Orts

January-February-March-April

May-June-July-August

September-October-November-December

6 Comments

Posted in Petite Mexican Sampler, Stitching, Theme-a-licious, TUSAL

Happy New Year

Posted on December 31, 2011 by Terri | 5 comments

Have you ever noticed when you thank someone, and use their name, it makes them smile? I have been experimenting with this off and on the past couple of months. I am going to start reading name tags more often.

I am very happy today is the last day of 2011. While I know it could have been a whole lot worse, and many, many people did have it worse than I did, 2011 was not kind to me. I am not going to dwell on it a second past midnight tonight. What I am going to dwell on are the good things I want to happen in 2012.

Here’s a before picture of my January 1 start 😉

Petite Mexican Sampler
40ct Lakeside Palomino
Au Ver a Soie “Soie d’Paris” silk

I’ve been sneaking looks at the Eagle cam the last few days. The nest is being constructed but I’ve yet to see either of the Eagles. This evening, though, I was blessed with the view of a tiny field mouse flitting here and there! All I could think was she/he better get a move on before someone shows up and makes dinner out of her/him 🙂

Tonight M and I are staying in and gorging ourselves on Pollo, Pork tamales, salsa, guacamole, tortillas and rice. There will probably be beer and margaritas involved, too. Most definitely there will be some Whipped Cream Vodka and hot chocolate 😉 Don’t know if we’ll make it to midnight or not, but here’s hoping! We’re watching football right now, but I think I’m going to ramp up the other TV and get him to watch a movie for the rest of the evening.

I also found 1 more WIP so I’m up to 35. My kits stand at 26 but that’s only because I haven’t finished adding them to my spreadsheet.

I’ve been enjoying catching up on my blog reading and seeing everyone’s stitching year in reviews. It’s been making my clicky finger itchy though 😀

The fireworks have started around here. The dogs aren’t exactly sure how they feel about them. It is a little strange living in the desert and having fireworks going off all around. They were illegal for personal use in Oceanside.

Tomorrow I’ll post my ort jar for December and my whole year collection. I’ll also post a progress picture of Hannah Beeby since the light is so dreadful in my house this late.

5 Comments

Posted in Hannah Beeby, Petite Mexican Sampler, Samplers - Original, Stash, Stitching, TUSAL

Another week gone

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Terri | Comments Off

It’s amazing to me how little I’ve gotten done since my last post! 😆 I still have 20 boxes to unpack, although I only have 2 that have not been opened.

I made it to Attic Needlework for their Thursday evening stitch-in. Didn’t spend a dime either!

Son and Girlfriend arrived early Saturday morning. We spent a whole lot of time doing nothing while they were here. Son has been working 60+ hour weeks and he napped quite a bit while he was here. No problem to me, it was nice just to have them here. I feel like Girlfriend is more of a DIL each time we’re around her. She’s so good about texting and emailing me and I’ve given up on trying to not like her! 😆 They’ve been a couple for 5+ years and I still get an “eek” moment when I think about that, since that made her still 16 when Son met her. He had just turned 22! There was one thing I noticed while they were here. They are always laughing! I think she has had to be the adult in her family for a long time and I think Son is as good for her as she is for him, since she straightened him out 😉

Their visit was way too short, and they left late Monday night since Son had to be to work on Tuesday.

M and I headed out shopping on Tuesday and came home with our Christmas presents. (We always wait until after to get good deals). He bought me a chandelier for the laundry room. I absolutely love it!

We got him a WiFi BD/DVD player for our living room and we’ve been streaming Netflix and Amazon since he got it hooked up. The puppies are enjoying it as well since they love sitting on top of us while we’re watching movies in the dark. Right now we’re watching Firefly.

Annette came to visit this past Wednesday and we opened my stitching fabric boxes to find a perfect piece for my January 1 start, Petite Mexican Sampler by The Samplar Works. It’s stitched with Au Ver a Soie “Soie d’Paris” silk, on 48 count “Napery Light Examplar” Lakeside linen but I (we) decided on 40ct Lakeside linen Palomino.

Since she’s left, that box has been screaming at me to come back and play! 😉 I purposefully left the fabric boxes to last because I knew I’d want to dive into them. So far I’ve been strong and left them alone, but I feel myself weakening.

I’m still tweaking my WIPocalypse list for 2012. Not so much the WIPs, although I did add in Hannah Beeby, but the new starts. (In addition to the Petite sampler above, I’m thinking of adding in Queen of Hearts by Twisted Threads.) I went through my two “retirement” boxes and pulled out the WIPs so I could list them (again, thanks to Annette). I ended up with 34. That seems like such a low number to me. I just knew when it was all said and done I’d have 50!

I’ve also started listing my kitted items. They are taking a bit more sorting since some of them are lacking fabric. I know I have the perfect piece in my stash (again, the box is calling). There are a couple that are missing embellishments (I know they’re in my “bits and pieces” drawer. While I’m listing all of them, I’m sorting them into separate piles based upon what they’re missing. Once I get them all sorted, I guess I need to start back through the pile and decide if I’m still interested in stitching them. I have always been pretty picky about what I kit before I stitch, so I’m suspecting there will be very little weeding out. I do, however, refuse to cut any fabric until I’m actually going to stitch.

All of the above was my taking a break from putting things in their proper home in my stitching room. I got to the point where I felt like chucking it all since I was so tired of organizing. I’m over that now, and am back to spending time organizing after I get the rest of my “chores” done and before I sit down to stitch. Keeps me from feeling guilty about not doing it while I sit there doing “nothing.”

I’m still working on Hannah Beeby. I’ve completed all of the top “letter” rows and am more than half-way through the 3rd motif on the top row.

I’ve also decided to participate in some exchanges this year. I’m hoping to get into the Fair and Square group since I think those will be perfect for working on my sewing machine making pillows, ornaments, and other smalls.

Comments Off on Another week gone

Posted in Hannah Beeby, Movies, Stash, Stitch-together

Same old, same old

Posted on December 22, 2011 by Terri | Comments Off

Slowly but surely it’s getting there. I am very tired of unpacking (have I said that already?) but we’re down to the nitty gritty. Yesterday we got the extra linens unpacked and sorted, the 2 final wardrobe boxes unpacked (I need to sort through for the giveaway box), my quilts put up and some more shelves arranged.

Vietnam Vets picked up several boxes this morning so our garage is less cluttered, I feel good about not throwing perfectly good “stuff” away that I no longer wanted or needed, and now I have room to declutter more! I think they come through the neighborhood once a month. I do know they mail out notices with collection bags about 2 weeks before they pick up.

I hung the first things on my office walls yesterday. My new 2012 Anne Taintor calendar (which is already marked for 2 needlework related getaways), 1 stitched piece, and 2 prints I was given as a going away present from the paralegal job I had in South Carolina 20+ years ago. I also finally got my desk cleaned off (I was starting to pile everything on it that didn’t have a place to go), filed for unemployment, and just continued the organization march all around.

I have not finished Christmas decorations! 😕 I feel like I’ve been going in 3 different directions at the same time during my day. I need M’s help but I hate bothering him when he’s working on a different part of the house. Tomorrow is the deadline for me though since Son and Girlfriend are coming early Saturday morning. Besides, who wants to be decorating on Christmas Eve? Next year 🙄 I’ll have more time, and know where my decorations are.

Today I start my goodie baking. I’m making Pecan Pie Muffins to take to the stitch-together at the Attic tonight. Besides the fact that I think they’re delicious, this will be my first time at the stitch-together and I’m hoping if I bring them they’ll like me 😉 In addition to the muffins I’ll also be baking chocolate chip cookies, peppermint sugar cookies, peanut butter cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies. I doubt I’ll get them all done today, but that’s probably a good thing so I won’t be tempted to eat them all today. I’ve decided to just stick with cookies this year so I can tin them up and send a bunch home with Son and Girlfriend.

I’m still plugging away on HoHRH in the evenings, but I’m ready to put it down for awhile. I’ve been trying to tell myself that each block is a different design but that’s no longer working for me. I am just NOT a one-at-a-time stitcher. Yesterday I found the watch I use to time my 10 hour rotations and just got plain old giddy! Of course, I haven’t used it in so long the battery is dead, but that will be taken care of tomorrow 😀

Tonight, and probably for the rest of the year, I’m switching stitching projects. I’m going to take my much neglected Hannah Beeby. I started her March 2008. I noticed this morning that she was never added to my WIPs list 😕 Might explain why she’s been neglected, and also is just one more proof that I have way too many WIPs. Good thing I’m participating in the WIPocalypse (which, BTW, is up to 245 members!).

I’ve updated my Retirement countdown ticker. M has more definite information on his orders so what you see over there —–> is when his retirement is official. He’ll be headed to California on January 20th and returning home on January 31st or February 1st. I’m so happy he’s taking some of his leave time to surf with his friends. He probably won’t be going back to California until some time in June. That’s a very long time for a surfer to be without his surf. I know he’ll be filling in that time with more running tho. He’s not planning on doing any triathlons in 2012 (he’s volunteering for the Phoenix Ironman) but is planning on a marathon or 2. He hasn’t put on his running shoes the whole time he’s been here and I can’t ever remember a time during our 30 years of marriage that he’s gone this long without running. At least when he starts back his knees and ankles will be healthy!

Comments Off on Same old, same old

Posted in Domestic, Hannah Beeby, HOHRH, Retirement, Stitch-together, WIPocalypse

2012 Needlework Plans

Posted on December 17, 2011 by Terri | 3 comments

Now that I’m not working I’m really hoping that I can get back into my needlework rotation. I will be adding needlepoint, quilting, and perhaps beeding, into my rotation in 2012.

When I saw Annette’s post about the WIPocalypse SAL being organized at Measie’s Musings I knew it was just what I needed. Mel has a sign-up for a reminder to be sent to you a few days before your WIPocalypse progress post is due 😀

That last bit is especially important because I totally failed in the TUSAL department in 2011. I kept up with my orts, I just didn’t keep up with posting them on my blog! Not to be discouraged tho, I’m attempting the Totally Useless Stitch-A-Long again in 2012. I’ll have to figure out a reminder for myself so I’m a better poster.

I’ve already started on my list of WIPs that I want to include. I would like to finish 12 projects in 2012. On the items that will be framed, it includes the stitching only. On items that will be turned into ornaments, needlework accessory, or any other type of small, it will include them being completely finished out.

So for now, in order of oldest to newest, I’ve chosen the following WIPs to work on:

Peacock Tapestry – Teresa Wentzler – started September 1999
Harmony – Serendipity Designs – has about 10 stitches in it – may be older than PT!
Haiku – Dimples Designs – started January 2004
Fairy Moon – Mirabilia – started October 27, 2004
QS Letting Go – HAED – November 19, 2005
Red Desert Scissor Pocket – The Cat’s Whiskers – started October 11, 2006 – needs finishing out
Quaker Needlework Treasures – With My Needle – originally started October 2006; picked back up January 11, 2010
Le Marquoir de Justine – started January 4, 2007
Houses of Hawk Run Hollow – Carriage House Samplings – started Janury 18, 2010; picked back up __________
Ornament
Needlepoint piece
Quilt

I am going to attempt to finish 2 WIPs before making a new start, unless it’s something I need for any classes I might take in 2012. I already know that I will be taking a quilt class for 5 weeks in 2012 (hopefully starting in January). I’m also going to look into take a beeding class, and I really want to get to know my sewing machine better 😆

Now I guess I just need to decide how long I’m going to spend on a piece before I rotate over to a new one. I’ll probably start with the standard 10 hours. For now I think I’m going to leave the cross stitch items in the above order and slide the needlepoint piece in somewhere in the middle. It’s very close to being finished 🙂

I haven’t decided yet what my new starts will be in 2012 other than I know I want to do some more ornaments. During my unpacking I came across a ziplock that contained several ornaments that I received during an ornament round robin I participated in while I was living in Okinawa (I left there September 2010). I thought they were left behind, but I found them inside a JCS magazine. I want to ornamentify them this year. I’m also thinking that I want to start Dimples’ Designs “Fuji” to go along with Haiku and get them framed together. The nice thing about this hobby….nothing is set in stone and I can change whatever I want to change when I want to change it.

So, I guess my next step is to start a page with my list and get the stuff unpacked and get some pictures made.

Then I need to get myself to the Library and see what type of audiobooks they have so I can “read” while I stitch 😉

3 Comments

Posted in Quilting, Stitching, TUSAL, WIPocalypse

One thing leads to another

Posted on August 15, 2011 by Terri | 6 comments

My lazy weekend from the last post turned into two weeks of a lot to do. My house is a disaster. I’ve been pulling things out of cabinets, closets, and drawers, and tossing, recycling, and giving away. Of course that should lead to putting things back, but it hasn’t.

I’ve been spending 1 week in each room of my house making myself love it or get rid of it. My bedroom and craftroom/office are the worst!

In my office, I have a path from the door to my desk and there are things piled all over the desk, boxes all over the place that contain things to pack, things to kit (and take with me short term), things to sell, and thing to give away.

It’s a wonder my dresser isn’t groaning from all the things stacked on top. I’m trying to go through all the drawers and get rid of clothes I haven’t worn in awhile and won’t need in the hotter climates of Arizona. It gets easier each day since I’m tired of looking at the clutter and have started tossing more in the give away bag (which sits on the floor between the dresser and the closet that I have to trip over every time I do laundry! 😆

I’m constantly having to clean off my dining table as it’s turned into a staging area for stuff M and I need to talk about, and the list we’ve started keeping of things that need to happen before, or shortly after, we move.

Plants are coming down, pots are being emptied, and some are being thrown away or given away.

We still have a storage facility that M has been weeding out over the past many months – my piano is in there, too – but we really need to get all of it cleaned out over the next 3 weeks.

Cooking the smothered steak mentioned in the last post, led to ~~craving needing~~ wanting fried chicken. Would you like my recipe? Buttermilk is involved 🙂 and I’ll share how I make mashed potatoes, too 🙂 I’m having leftovers for lunch today.

Hiring the realtor in our last post has led to us now having 17 houses to look at, and an appointment with our bank this afternoon to sign our pre-approval.

Looking at those 17 homes (online), and talking about maybe having to live in a furnished apartment short-time if we can’t find a home on our trip, led to my dreaming all night long about living in a 1 bedroom apartment with the puppies and crating them while I left for laundry or grocery duty. It was like watching a TV show! The puppies probably wouldn’t like it much.

My work getting really busy has led to my possibly working every Saturday (except this coming Saturday) until my last week. I worked this past Saturday and, other than being an idiot and forgetting to mail everything I did, it was wonderful to walk in this morning and know exactly everything I needed to get done today. Of course, that was before I saw the note, from #1 attorney, stating I needed to create a bazillion subpoenaes and go to Kinkos to get posters done for exhibits, and oh, yeah, make sure all of our depo transcripts are summarized. See….Saturdays.

Working this past Saturday, led to my not getting to go to my monthly stitchin, but M “nagged” me into stitching that evening and that led to a happy dance, which led to a new start.

Finished Red, White & Blue by Cricket Collection. Stitched with recommended silks, but substituted silver instead of gold, on Lambswool. I will be taking it, and another small design, in for framing this week.

Started A Wife’s Prayer by Erica Michaels. Using recommended fibers and 40ct Maritime White by Lakeside Linens.

The photos above were from my phone. Still camera shopping, passively, but shopping.

So, there should be more stitching tonight, and leftover chicken, and probably some laundry since I don’t want anything on my mind this coming Friday – Sunday except thinking about what a good time I’m having with Melissa and Darla while we are stitching at the beach!

As of today, I am 46 days away from MY retirement. That counter over there >>>>>>> is for M’s retirement.

’til next time!

P.S. Am I the only one who’s ready for football stitching???

6 Comments

Posted in Finishes, Food, House hunting, Stitch-together, Work

TUSAL and framing TaDa!

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Terri | 6 comments

I am running as fast as I can to catch up! I hope it’s not too late to share my TUSAL for April 3. It totally rocks, and you’ll see why in just a second.

It’s so full because I finished queenie and now she’s back from the framers!

Here’s a closeup of the frame. It has the same deep blue/green colors in it as the mat.

I have absolutely no confidence in myself when it comes to choosing frames so I always drag M along with me because he is so good at it!

I’ve been stitching on my ornaments and Houses of Hawk Run Hollow.

I haven’t posted about my weightloss journey because I haven’t had anything to share. About 6 weeks ago I stalled out. Last Thursday I finally saw the scale start downward again (-1.8#s) and if my home scale is anything to go by this week’s loss will be good, too!

6 Comments

Posted in Finishes, Framing, HOHRH, Mirabilia, TUSAL, Weight

It feels like Thursday!

Posted on March 23, 2011 by Terri | 2 comments

which means when Friday gets here I’m going to feel like I’m working on a Saturday 🙁

Since I still don’t have an iron, and I’m so anal (yes, Darla, I admit it, I’m anal about stitchy things! 😆 ) about ironing my fabric before I measure twice and cut once, I didn’t get to start on my ornament stitching last night. I was a good girl, though, and put all my Summer Queen stuff away before pulling out (the now no longer available) The Cat’s Whiskers Red Desert Scissor Pocket and stitching on it while watching/listening to the end of The Two Towers and beginning of Return of the King. I had forgotten that I purchased fabric and dupioni to re-create it in a blue-green version for some other Gingher scissors I had purchased not long after the 2006 scissor pocket design came out.

If I remember correctly, the reason I stopped stitching on this was because Melissa had sent hers off for finishing and the finisher had a hard time making it fit the scissors it was designed for. I am determined to do the finishing myself (the instructions look easy enough to follow) but I will be really disappointed if they don’t fit my scissors.

Gotta drag M out iron shopping though. Maybe tonight?

2 Comments

Posted in Stitching

Ta Da!

Posted on March 21, 2011 by Terri | 8 comments

Started September 6, 2009. Finished March 21, 2011. Happy Spring!

8 Comments

Posted in Finishes, Mirabilia

TUSAL and a pretty good weekend!

Posted on March 6, 2011 by Terri | 1 comment

I was very busy at work on Friday and it spilled over into Friday evening so I didn’t have a chance to post my March 4 TUSAL. I was gone almost all day yesterday, so I’m posting today.

I had a very nice time at my monthly stitch-in yesterday. Our teacher gave a lesson on creating cording (she made it look so easy!) and I finished the stitching part of Summer Queen. As soon as I got home I brought all my beading supplies into the living area.

The bad part of the weekend….my iron died. I pulled it out to get some fabric prepped for a sampler designed by above mentioned teacher to do some prep work for me and it wouldn’t come on. I’ve had it for almost 10 years (if not more) and I really loved the features. I asked in class yesterday for recommendations and am going iron hunting this afternoon or tomorrow after work.

We’re grilling steaks and baking potatoes for supper tonight. Can.not.wait! M excells on the grill.

He’s currently stretched out in the bedroom after a 40-50 mile training ride. He has 4 weeks to his half Ironman. I thought I was going to have to pass on next month’s stitch-in but it was changed to the 2nd Saturday.