Category Archives: Carriage House Samplings

Year of WIPs Challenge

Posted on October 3, 2016 by Terri | 4 comments

And we’re off! I did get brave and created a YouTube photo video.

Here’s what I settled on for stitching, along with the progress photo as of Sep 30. Click to see full photo.

Scarlet Letter – Gratitude

Mirabilia – Fairy Moon

Examplar Dames – And They Sinned

Carriage House Samplings – Houses of Hawk Run Hollow

Mirabilia – Garden Verses

Goode Huswife – Book of Spells

Blue Ribbon Designs – An Expression of Gratitude

Plum Street – Hurt Not the Earth

Scarlett House – Coverlet Candle Mat

Little House Needleworks – Needleworker

This was actually my plane project for last week’s trip since it’s on 30 ct.

Mill Hill – Log Cabin Quilt

This was my first project to work on. I finished 10 hours last night. Love how it’s turning out but ended up having to unstitch about 2 hours worth because of mixing up the blues. Blah!

For now I’ll focus on Houses of Hawk Run Hollow and stitch it every 4th project. I’ll be creating a tab at the top to track progress.

Now I need to figure out what I want to stitch on next!

My quilting buddies are returning starting this week and I’m looking forward to returning to sewing with them. I’ll decide on my quilt/sewing WIPs once I figure out how often I’ll be sewing.

4 Comments

Posted in An Expression of Gratitude, And They Sinned, Blue Ribbon Designs, Carriage House Samplings, Coverlet Candle Mat, Fairy Moon, Garden Verses, Gratitude, HOHRH, Hurt Not the Earth, Little House Needleworks, Mill Hill, Mirabilia, Needleworker, Plum Street Samplings, Scarlet Letter, Stitching, The Book of Spells, The Goode Huswife, The Scarlett House, Year of WIPs Challenge

WIP Challenge 2016-2017

Posted on September 17, 2016 by Terri | 2 comments

I did something that has caused me to dig through this:

My BFF mentioned a few days ago that she was going to participate in a WIP Challenge, where you finished 12 or so WIPs. I didn’t fully understand how it would work since it was starting October 1, plus I have some huge WIPs and know I can’t stitch 12 of them in a year (on top of the sewing I want to get done) so I sort of filed it away in the back of my mind.

I was watching her latest flosstube and she brought it up again so I went hunting for more information and became intrigued. I think it’s completely doable! The gist is you stitch 10-15 WIPs by the end of December 2017. The boss lady of the challenge states that as long as they have 1 stitch in them come October 1, 2016, they’re WIPs.

I wanted to divide my 10 items by older WIPs and newer WIPs, so my list looks like this right now:

Scarlet Letter – Gratitude
Mirabilia – Fairy Moon
Examplar Dames – And They Sinned
Carriage House Samplings – Houses of Hawk Run Hollow
Goode Huswife – Book of Spells
Blue Ribbon Designs – Expressions of Gratitude
Plum Street – Hurt Not the Earth
Scarlett House – Coverlet Candle Mat
LHN – Needleworker
Mill Hill – Log Cabin

Houses of Hawk Run Hollow and And They Sinned are my two largest WIPs. I had already decided to go back to rotating through 4-5 projects at a time, and now I’m trying to decide if I want to go back to stitching in 10 hour increments on a design and then switching out or stitch for a week on something and switch out on Monday. Either way I intend to focus on Houses or ATS. So my weekly rotation may look like this:

Oct 1-2 Book of Spells
Oct 3-9 HOHRH
Oct 10-16 Needleworker
Oct 17-23 Expressions of Gratitude
Oct 24-30 Book of Spells
Oct 31-Nov 6 HOHRH
Nov 7-13 Coverlet Candle Mat
Nov 14-20 Gratitude
Nov 21-27 Fair Moon
Nov 28-Dec 4 And They Sinned
Dec 5-11 HOHRH
and so on until HOHRH is finished, then move ATS into that spot

Now that I have it written out this may be the better way to go. If I decide to do the time version it’ll be something like

10 hours HOHRH
10 hours Book of Spells
10 hours Needleworker
10 hours Expressions of Gratitude
10 hours HOHRH
10 hours Coverlet Mandle Mat
etc…..

We’ve been paired off with another member of the group and required to send monthly post cards as a way to encourage and get to know each other. I’m also excited about this as I’ve been sort of considering writing to someone once a month as a way to communicate.

Now I just need to figure in some quilting/sewing time and pull a couple of large WIPs and small WIPs and do my own quilting/sewing challenge during that time too.

And, I need to get this all down in my journal by September 30.

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Posted in An Expression of Gratitude, And They Sinned, Blue Ribbon Designs, Carriage House Samplings, Coverlet Candle Mat, Fairy Moon, Gratitude, HOHRH, Hurt Not the Earth, Little House Needleworks, Mill Hill, Mirabilia, Plum Street Samplings, Quilting, Samplers - Original, Scarlet Letter, Stash, Stash Busting, Stitching, The Book of Spells, The Goode Huswife, The Scarlett House, WIP Busting, Year of WIPs Challenge

Wherein I share my largest WIP of all

Posted on September 14, 2016 by Terri | 6 comments

the Dungeon!

PICTURE INTENSIVE!

This is part of my Lady Lounge/Dungeon. I’ve put my hands on almost everything you’re about to see except the two scary bins in my cross stitch area. Those will be my next sort, maybe. I really want to get my sewing table and cutting table completely cleared off first, but I seem to be using both of them for sorting through everything before I pile it in the guest room. My method probably only makes sense to me, but I am making progress my way, and that’s all that matters. 😉

If you’re standing inside and facing the door this is immediately to the right:

Quilt Fabric for all the things. FQ up to 2 yards. More than 2 yards and it goes on bolts (I get empties from my LQS). The bottom shelf holds pre-cuts.

Quilt yardage and bolts of 30ct Murano xs fabric

Quilt yardage (I need to get some more empty bolts) and bolts of 30ct Murano xs fabric

Cross stitch fabric and storage for some fibers

DMC and in the plastic bag is a bolt of 30ct Platinum Murano.

In front of my quilt fabric cabinet is this container of gathered books and magazines that need to be shelved. And another WIP! I didn’t realize what that was until I took the photo. Sigh.

When you turn right, there’s my sewing table, and the window that looks out the front of my house so I can be nosy while I sew. It is great light for the room since it faces south. They are cracked for the photo, but I keep the shutters closed if I’m not in there.

The top. Left to right: Featherweight and new travel case and in front of that is a box of “strings” for paper piecing. Pink containers have hex paper-piecing in them, and the blue basket has miniature Temecula Quilt Co quilt kits. Next is needles, pins, paper piecing stuff, threads that need sorting and storing. Letters that need painting and put on my wall. Phoenix Comicon stuff that needs sorting, tossing, or displayed on my cork board, and behind that is solid yardage that needs to be put in the cabinet.

Underneath the sewing table:

My sewing machine caddy, cutting mat, ironing “board,” that travels. To the left is a 3-drawer plastic bin that hold strips and stuff (that needs to be gone through) and behind is a basket full of quilt kits. I honestly can’t remember what’s in the brown box.

Close up of my strip bin. The blue containers contain squares and bricks.

Close up of all those quilt kits.

Instead of continuing around the room, let’s face the door again and turn to your left. (I’m avoiding that corner as long as I can.)

Cutting table top:

This is where I normally measure 10x then cut once and still freak out until I’ve measured what I cut. As you can see it’s another sorting spot. The pile on the right is what I’m working on right now. It has bolts (not on the bolt) of more Murano! The drawers to right are a couple of rolling bins I bought in Japan and I love them so much.

and underneath! The threads are my overdyeds on individual airline cable rings. Normally hanging on the doorknob of my cross stitch fabric cabinet. AccuQuilt Cutter and dies to the left of the shelves. The fabric bins on the top shelf and on the floor to the left hold scraps. One is specifically civil war reproduction fabric that I’m pulling from for my Farmer’s Wife Quilt. The other is everything else. The one on the floor holds a mix that I am going to go through, iron and use my cutting machine to make 2 1/2″ squares for a leaders/enders quilt. I’ll also be pulling strips from the drawer I showed earlier. The labeled plastic containers are MOST of my quilt/sewing WIPs.

Sigh. And now that corner. This is my cross stitch corner. Remember that picture of the boxes and boxes of stuff I have pulled out to sell. This is what’s left.

Top shelf on the left holds my coveted SANQ hardback books. Wooden box magazine holders are in alphabetical order by designer. Most are just labled A, B, C, etc., but some of them are designer specific (Goode Huswife, Shepherd’s Bush off the top of my head). Second row also contains my hard cover French alphabet/symbol books. The left wooden basket holds small kits that I really need to dig through and do for some quick gratification (anyone else remember the Elegant Stitch Essie’s?). The right one holds Blackbird Designs, many of which are kitted Loose Feathers. The metal bins contain, in alphabetical order, charts that are printed/sold in 1/2-sized and smaller ziplocks – a whole lot of Little House Needleworks in there. Under the baskets are hardback quilt and cross stitch books, and the bottom 2 shelves are magazines. Mostly SANQ and JCS. The middle unit also contains boxes, containers, etc., for finishing. The glassed in cabinet contains books and I have purchased glass shelves and lighting to turn it into a display cabinet for some of my small pieces.

And then there’s this:

I know if I start digging through here I will soon have 50 WIPs. These two containers hold mostly kitted things I’ve received over the past couple of years in the monthly clubs I joined (I quit one of them after last year). The damask container also holds things from a weekend sewing retreat I went on 3+ years ago. These 2 containers really scare me. LOL

Still with me?

Oh look. I left to get something to drink and my editor came by:

I have my laptop set up on the dining room table for now. It normally sits on my grandmother's treadle machine that's on the wall that you haven't seen. That wall is for another day.

I love the look on her face. She’s a little startled that I walked in and she’s getting ready to jump off the chair she knows she’s not supposed to be on. I have my laptop set up on the dining room table for now. It normally sits on my grandmother’s treadle cabinet that’s on the wall that you haven’t seen. That wall is for another day.

And here’s where it’s all going for now while I sort it out in my Dungeon.

Ouch. Fuzzy picture. Sorry! This is my guest bed. If you come to visit me I promise you won’t have to sleep with all of this. In fact, please come see me. It will get me to put it away faster! That fabric needs to go in the few empty spots left in my cabinet. I’ve been trying hard to color sort it as I piled it so I can just pick it up and shove it on the shelves. The pile you see at the foot of the bed is kitted items I pulled out the other day that I no longer have interest in. Several of them were self-kitted which means I need to gut them and put the fabric and fibers in my cabinets and add the charts to the boxes of stuff to sell. The pile between the fabric and the pink zipper bag are quilt kits I’ve been working on. (Don’t you love that batik on top! I got it during a visit with Kathy when she was in Yuma last winter.) The blue basket contains finishing items. I brought it in here to keep from traipsing back and forth. Most of the stuff in here is actually quilting stuff, but behind the pink bag are a few stitchy items that got tossed onto the cutting table and they just need to be logged into my spreadsheet and sorted into its proper box.

So that’s it. My Dungeon. I really do love my room. It took me forever to decide on a color. As you can see I love IKEA. I’ve blogged about it before but the color matches a cart I bought at IKEA. I saw the cart and immediately knew that was the color my walls needed to be.

The only piece of furniture in there that’s not IKEA is my grandmother’s treadle. It works, too. I need to clean it up a bit, and probably find a spare belt for it, but I could sew on it if the zombies showed up. And I have enough fabric and thread to keep up warm with quilts, and maybe even sew us a couple of shirts 😉

And since it’s still WIP Wednesday after this super long post, here’s my latest Houses of Hawk Run Hollow progress photo.

It was dreary when I took the photo (we’ve had some late monsoon weather the last few days). I like to stitch across and work my way up. As you can tell, there’s a whole lot of blue in this block.

One more thing. These are the two designs I pulled from my kitted bucket the other day. I had intended to start one of them yesterday but completely forgot we had a baseball game last night, so that didn’t happen. Maybe in a minute? I have all my adulting done for the day 😀

The Goode Huswife – Book of Spells

Blue Ribbon Designs – An Expression of Gratitude

silks, wonderful silks!

If you’re still here, or actually here at all, thank you for visiting. If you have comments, be gentle. If you have questions, bring them on!

6 Comments

Posted in An Expression of Gratitude, Blue Ribbon Designs, Carriage House Samplings, Farmer's Wife, HOHRH, Puppies, Stash, Stitching, The Book of Spells, The Goode Huswife, WIP Wednesday

Dear Diary

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Terri | 8 comments

I’m sorry to have been neglecting you. It’s all this boy’s fault. I have had an amazing summer hanging out by the pool with a cold beer, going to the movies, out to swanky restaurants, socializing with all the new friends I’ve made, but now he’s gone back to school and I have time to catch up with you and get all my summer secrets down.

Back to my regularly scheduled schedule! Yay!

Over the past several weeks I have been spending a shit-ton of time in my Lady Lounge, Woman Cave, Sewing Room, whatever the heck everyone’s calling it these days. Lately I have felt like calling it Dungeon.

Since I moved here almost five years ago, during the summer I normally sew until the air conditioner kicks on then I head downstairs to spend the rest of my day sitting on my rear end stitching and reading. This summer, nope! We really have had time out of the house, but the time in has been spent on daily chores, stitching, and reading. I can’t remember the last time I unpacked my sewing machine.

Because….

I have not been able to settle in since I painted and reorganized!!! I feel like I have stuff spread out all over the place. I have tons of shelves and boxes and buckets, so I have plenty of storage space, but I evidently haven’t been using it wisely because I feel like things are lost, forgotten, and hard to put my hands on.

I had all these plans to start selling excess cross stitch over the summer – that I sorted out when I pulled everything for painting – that I know I’ll never get around to stitching because I’ve either lost interest in the item, it’s no longer something I like, the designer pissed me off, etc. I am my own LNS. Here’s proof positive of how much I don’t need. Boxes, boxes, and piles of stuff to be sold. Trust me when I tell you that is just a drop in the bucket. 😀

This past weekend I had dinner out with my partner in crime, Annette, and we talked about stash diving because there was something we knew we had but couldn’t find it. I have started bullet journaling and wanted to add in my WIPs and get back to some type of rotation, and I was sharing with her that I was procrastinating listing them because I couldn’t decide whether to just start writing them down, or to go through each one and sort them by either how old they are, or how close they were to being finished.

When we started talking about retiring I knew I would have no where near the funds I would want to kit up certain things with all the lovely silks there are out there so I gradually began doing that. I have 2 large fold-back-top Rubbermaid containers that contained some of my WIPs and some of my kitted items (either by myself, or purchased that way).

I finally bit the bullet and started digging through them today. Here’s what I found in the WIP department

Peacock Tapestry – Teresa Wentzler
Letting Go (Lusk) – HAED
Ann Holewll Sampler – The Examplarery
Quaker RR
Dimples Bugs RR
French Alphabet Sampler (I forgot I put it in there!)
Castle Sampler – Teresa Wentzler
The Fortunate Traveler – Teresa Wentzler
Earthdancer – Butternut Road
Tapestry Cat – Teresa Wentzler
Sleeping Beauty – Mirabilia
Patchwork Pieces – Nutmeg Needle
Asian Garden – Odds n Ins
Lady of the Flag – Mirabilia
Tsunami Sampler – Stickideen von der Wiehenburg
Christmas Elegance – Mirabilia
Peace – The Silver Lining
Christmas Wreath – Teresa Wentzler
Topiary – Teresa Wentzler
Garden Trellis Box – Linda Driskell from Just Cross Stitch magazine.

In one box! I know there are more because I have a beautiful chest downstairs that my friend Kathy gave me and I’ve started storing some WIPs in there. In fact, now that I think about it, all of the above 20 may also fit in there! Oh, and then there’s the ottoman I prop my feet on while stitching…you can store stuff in there and I know I have at least one WIP in there, ’cause I was just looking at it the other day. Geesh. Oh wait! Don’t forget my stitching bag that probably has 2-3 in there, too.

And here’s what was in the kitted box:

Autumn Queen – Mirabilia
Random Thoughts – Drawn Thread
An Expression of Gratitude – Blue Ribbon Designs (which I pulled out)*
Victorian Pearls – Sew to be Seen
Victorian Pearls 2 – Sew to be Seen
A Christmas Sampler – Midsummer Nights
The Book of Spells – The Goode Huswife (which I pulled out)*
The Spot Sampler – Margaret Bendig
Shakespeare’s Garden – LaBroderie
Queens Rule – Enchanting Lair
Castle Ridge – Teresa Wentzler (bought overdyed fabric to exchange)
Damask Rose Scissor Keep – Textile Heritage (gift)
Above the Clouds – Teresa Wentzler (bought overdyed fabric to exchange)
Mermaid of the Pearls – Mirabilia (special overdyed fabric)
Toccata Three – Drawn Thread
Cattleya Orchids – Terrance Nolan
A Token of Friendship – Merry Cox (an OOP which I could probably sell to pay off my house)
This is the Day – La-D-Da
My Son – Indigo Rose (should have pulled this one and may go back and do it)*
The Dreamer – Mirabilia
Quaker Diamonds – Rosewood Manor
Toccata Two – Drawn Thread
Toccata One – Drawn Thread
Quaker Samplings – With My Needle
My First Sewing Box and Scissor Fob – Stitching Parlor (which uses a Whitman’s Chocolate Tin I’ve tried to throw away a hundred times)
Souvenir Sampler – Drawn Thread
Village of Hawk Run Hollow – Carriage House Samplings
The Song They Sang – Carriage House Samplings (I even bought the frame for this one!!!)
A Parrot, A Leopard, A Lion – Scarlet Letter
Norwich Marianne Wren
James Wilson
Voice of the Shepherd – Told in a Garden
Teeny Hardanger – Sweetheart Tree
Brilliant Plumage – Teresa Wentzler

So, I evidently have a thing for Teresa Wentzler.

*I will be very unhappy in Heaven if I die and don’t at least start The Book of Spells and An Expression of Gratitude. Guess they’re getting added to my WIPs list next month.

Now, lest LNSs around the world freak out, all of the above does not mean I won’t be buying more as evidenced by the deliveries my mailman has made since my last post. I give you Exhibit C:

A new small portable stitching lamp, and needle organizer (can you say Teresa Wentzler?).

28ct Brash Jubilee for Ann Pegg 1877. Yep, I found some. I emailed the dyer asking advice for a replacement and she told me she had 2 FQs left. Miss Annette snapped up the other one. Partner. In. Crime. I tell ya.

Pattern, fibers, stretcher bars, and canvas for this lovely. I have had my eye on it for a bit and found out it was discontinued so I snapped it up.

I also purchased these cones of DMC from Joanns.com for Death by Cross Stitch by Long Dog Samplers. I’m leaning toward the copper on the right. I need to check my fabric stash and do a floss toss. I’m very tempted by the beautiful turquoise in the back but I’m afraid it’ll burn my eyeballs out stitching on a sampler this large. I do have a backup plan for it though 😀 If I don’t have a good piece of fabric in my stash for the copper I may use the red and order some 40ct white. Not to be worried about now though as I cannot start it until next month at the earliest because I am going out of town next week.

I am stalking my postman for Brooke’s Books Wizard of Oz.

So see, shopping when I shouldn’t be, or don’t need to be.

And I have quilt stuff coming in too.

But! This post has gotten so long and my phone is currently charging so I can’t show you what the top of my guest bed looks like. It’s covered with fabric, patterns, etc., from the quilt side of my room AND fabric, fibers, and fabric from the cross-stitch side of my room while I go through the buckets and baskets mentioned above trying to reorganize and sort into a better working order for me. I’m slowing myself down because I have to look at it, and touch it, and remember when I bought it, before sorting it into a pile to place it better in my room. I’m dreading getting to two particular stitching containers because I have lots of already kitted small things that need to be added to that list up there and put into that Rubbermaid container (which is full!). I know I won’t get it put away any time soon as I still have some excavating to do, so I’ll share a photo next time I post.

I forgot to show you some stitching!

Since my last post I have finished my Sugar Skull by Mill Hill

And my version of Be Thankful by Country Cottage Needleworks

and block 7 of Houses of Hawk Run Hollow by Carriage House Samplings (currently working on block 8)

Now I’m off to write my WIPs in my Journal and do some stitching. Maybe tomorrow I’ll dig the rest out of their hidey holes.

8 Comments

Posted in Ann Holewll, Carriage House Samplings, HOHRH, Mill Hill, Mirabilia, Quilting, Scarlet Letter, Sewing, Stash, Stash Busting, Stitching, Teresa Wentzler, WIP Busting

Not a very productive needle weekend

Posted on September 2, 2014 by Terri | Comments Off

Thinking back over the past 4 days, and can’t believe how much I didn’t get done needlework wise. I think I spent more time out of the house this weekend than in. I did manage to finish my portion of my friend’s round robin

and I managed to make my working copy of the SamSarah mystery piece.

The only time spent in front of my sewing machine, though, was stuffed animal repair and reattaching the carrying strap on Mister’s canvas bag he takes to school. Jasper and Mister are ecstatic. Mister, of course, said it was a very productive needle weekend. Terri thinks otherwise, since this means I didn’t get a Wild & Goosey block made 🙁

Comments Off on Not a very productive needle weekend

Posted in Carriage House Samplings, Stitching, Wild & Goosey

Tagged Bonnie Hunter Wild & Goosey, SamSarah 2014 Mystery

Secrets

Posted on November 16, 2012 by Terri | 7 comments

How good are you at keeping them? It’s hard for me sometimes. Look at the secret I discovered tonight!

7 Comments

Posted in Carriage House Samplings

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.

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

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!

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

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!