Accuquilt Go Baby Give Away

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Check out Amystitches for 3 chances to win an Accuquilt Go Baby and 3 dies of your choice. 

Just Buzzz-zzin' Along

I broke down and stitched the Bee Man's hive.  I couldn't wait anymore and that's true to my nature.  Patience has never been a virtue with me and I guess I'm into "instant gratification".  Besides, I just couldn't wait!

And the artsy one. Look, I promised better pics, right?

I am on a personal mission to finish this before the 23rd because I have a 60% off coupon from Michaels  burning a hole in the bottom of my purse. I only have the bottom section and the bottom border to finish.  Wish me luck!

See ya soon!

Joanie

Alphabets and Summer Baskets

Hi kids,

Today, I took some pictures (click, they get BIG) of my finished and framed Alphabets and Blackbird Designs Summer Basket.  Finally, they came out nice.  I'm pleased with the framing and I am tickled pink with the frame. I'll let the pics do the talkin'.

 Alphabets

Merrily A. Beams

AVAS 946

32 ct Belfast - Cream

Don't you just love the red birds?

I don't think I ever showed you Summer Basket framed.  I got this framed at AC MOORE and never again will I go back there even if the framing is free.  It was mounted crooked and their were lint balls under the glass.  A disappointing job.  I like the frame though.

I loved the colors in this sampler.  So soft and faded. 

 Summer Basket

Blackbird Designs

GAST & WDW thread

30ct Weeks Dye Works linen - Baby's Breath

I dedicated this sampler to my Mom.  These are her initials.  She would have liked this sampler.  Especially the bands of sampler motifs.

 And the frame.

Well, that concludes today's artsy pics.  LOL!  I've got to run. I am the laundress today and I have clothes to hang out on the line and I want to take my walk before hell's temps return.  It's supposed to be 90 degrees here today.  Stay cool and hydrated!  Wear sunscreen and a hat if you are working in your gardens. Enjoy this day because it's what you're supposed to do. (This concludes our public service / safety announcement for today.)

Oh, I lost a follower...I hope it wasn't something I said or didn't say. Sorry that my world wasn't someplace you wanted to be... :(

Happy Monday, my friends. Thanks for coming by!

Till next time...
Joanie

Some pictures

I've been stitching in between haying.  I HATE putting in hay especially now that the temperature is one degree below hell's temps.  The bales are really heavy this year...upwards of 50-75 pounds and I struggle with putting them on the elevator.  Yesterday, one bale came crashing down off the elevator and hit the elevator motor knocking it out.  The DH was PO'd because we had to unload 75 bales into the barn and now we will have to handle them again to put them in the loft.  Today, he put in 150 by himself.  Officially, we are 1/2 way done with our 500 bales.  He will get more this evening. So hopefully we will have almost all of it done before the weather gets rainy.  Oh, he did fix the motor on the elevator.

So here's what I've been up to as documented by craptastic photos.

Progress has been made on Done By Me.  I am obsessing over restitching the really light color in the basket and in the flower urn.  It fades into the fabric.  But I can't find a shade or color that suits me.  (Sorry for the wrinkles, I pressed them but as you can see not well.  Pics should be clickable.)

In the Bee Man's Garden.  I am really looking forward to stitching the hive in satin stitch.  But I will do it last because I don't want the hive to get crushed by my hoop.  It's incentive to hurry up and finish!

 Actually, Ella has the right idea on this hot afternoon...maybe a nap is in order?

I got Alphabets back from the framer at Michaels...oh, it's gorgeous. You'll get to see that in the next post.  The pics I took are all fuzzy.  Grr-rrr.  I also stitched August from A Prairie Year.  Cute beehive. And I actually finished all of my Fourth of July things this year.  They are in the previous post. 

I really got to take my time with this photo thing.  You guys who set up beautiful shots just make me want to hang my head in shame.  Mainly, I'm in such a hurry to post that I don't take my time to do anything artsy with my pics.  Should I slow down, maybe?

Anyway, stay cool, I'm going to put a few stitches into Bee Man while I wait for the DH to come home from getting tires on the truck. Come by again...you may be surprised at my creative photos next time!

Happy 4th of July!

Just poppin' in to say Happy Independence Day to all my friends here in the US. Today, we are chillin' and grillin'.

Later, we will be going to the community fireworks.  A low key day overall but none the less enjoyable.

Stay safe if you're playing with pyrotechnics and have a great day!

I Have A New Boyfriend...

His name is Adam but he has a girlfriend named Eve.  They live beneath an apple tree that Eve adores.  And I believe they have a charming pet snake that Eve shouldn't pay attention to but he's pretty persuasive! 
Yes, I've been bitten by the A&E sampler bug!  I'm up to my eyeballs looking for that couple and their pal, Mr. Serpent.

And I've been charmed by older patterns, now I'm on a Merrily Beams hunt.  Does anyone have a  know how many patterns she published? She published her designs under Merrily Beams, The Sewing Bird.

Now, to tie this together.

Merrily Beams published an Adam and Eve sampler.  And I am on the hunt for it for myself and for another obsessed A&E lover.  Gosh, we sound kinky, don't we?  Anyway...I've searched high and low.  Obviously very OOP but I'm sure it's spending time in someone's stash. And maybe, that someone is willing to quench the desire burning in the heart of this newly obsessed lover.

If you have that pattern and are willing to let it go for a reasonable price or a trade from my enormous stash let me know.

And, if you have any Merrily Beams that you want to send to a loving home, I'm that address.  Thanks for helping and I'll be back with update pictures. I'm making progress on the Bee Man and Done By Me.

Happy day!

I'm Ready For My Screen Shot, Mr. DeMille

Before we start, I have a favor to ask.  I am looking for a Cross-eyed Cricket pattern, Leaflet 171 called Green Thumb.  Is there anyone out there that wants to part with it?  I've got a ton of stash to trade or if you want, I can pay a reasonable price...let me know, K?

Now for the pictures...TA DAA!!!!

Here's my OLDEST WIP and it' now finished!  I can't believe that I waited over 25 years to finish it.  Granted, I had the unfortunate red candle incident but still...

 Alphabet Sampler

Leisure Arts #280

14ct. White Aida

DMC

 Alphabet Sampler Bottom

 Alphabet Sampler Top

This is the Merrily Beam's Sampler I'm stitching for Lee's "Older But Better" SAL.  You can see it in all it's 1980's funky colors.  But I like it!

 Done By Me - 1982

Merrily Beams

32ct Flax Linen

Recommended DMC

I worked a little on the Bee Man tonight - I've stitched most of the verse.  I really, really like this sampler and now, I'm looking all over the internet looking for more patterns with Bee Skeps. 

 The Bee Man's Sampler

The Goode Huswife

32ct Vintage Country Mocha

Lastly is I Sigh not for Beauty that I'm stitching as a year long SAL with Ellen Chester's With Thy Needle and Pen's group.  I'm hopelessly behind now but I have to be in the right frame of mind to stitch on her. I don't mind the arcaded border but those pomegranate flowers..oh my, they tax my patience.

I Sigh not for Beauty

SANQ

32ct Antique Ivory

DMC

And the Wips, that were finished a long time ago, soon to be made into pinpillows and pinkeeps:

 LHN Watermelon

32ct Flax Linen

Crescent Color Overdyes - Cotton

Ewe and Eye and Friends

Liberty House

32ct Lambswool Linen

Recommended Threads

So, that's all folks, I hope you like what I've done.  I'd write more but I have to go to sleep. I'm tired.  I've been up late going through job boards looking for work.  So far nada, zilch, and zero.  I've applied to a few local companies but I don't think I'm even going to get a second look.  Sigh.

Thanks for stopping by....love to have you visit!

Joanie Has NOT Left the Building

Hello all! You probably thought that I up and vamoosed!  But I did not.  I am still here.  I hope you are glad.

I want to thank everyone that's commented, emailed, prayed, encouraged and generally put up with me this past month.  I am so grateful for the advice and general feel good comments from you.  I treasure you all! This month hasn't been stellar but I could count on my stitchy-bloggy friends to lift me up. And you certainly did lift me up!  THANK YOU!!!!

I am actively searching for work in my area and the surrounding 50 miles but pickin's are slim.  I applied for 3 jobs today, one that I am over-qualified, one that I am under-qualified and one that I am partially qualified to do.  I'm crossing my fingers that someone out there will look at my resume and see that, YES! she can be trained! Or, OMGosh we have a live one and YES! we want her. 

Did you know that resume writing has become a game?  Most jobs are posted online and there's a definite strategy to applying and then getting past the keyword searches.  I'm finding out that every resume that I post must be customized for the particular job and must be filled wth keywords that are listed in the job posting.  Otherwise....it's BAD news for your effort.  Like the potential employer won't even look at your resume because there weren't the right keywords to get past their auto-scans.
I have to tell you, I'm pooped.  Today, I tried to upload a resume to an online job board and it took almost 45 minutes to fill out a their application to upload it.  There were things I purposely left off my resume, specific dates of employment (I gave date ranges), salary history, things that would let the potential employer know that I was an "older" worker (which is bad news cause employers perceive that you come with BAGGAGE from your previous employer and MAY be change resistant and become a problem child for your new employer). It was mandatory to fill those fields in on the application to upload the resume and employers looking at my resume once uploaded would see that information.  If I didn't fill them in I couldn't proceed to upload. I finally got smart and instead of putting in actual values, I put in spaces. HA!  Take that online job site! If I made one mistake in inputting my information, POOF, all my stuff was gone and I had to start over.  I was more than frustrated.  But eventually, I got the resume posted.  Tomorrow, I get to do it all again because I tweaked it tonight.  I'm going to need to have a large, strong cup of coffee and the ibuprophen handy.

I know that this is a stitching blog and it's woefully without pictures or any information about what I'm working on.  I am finishing up the 2 exchange gifties that I owe and I've finished my oldest Wip. From, get ready...1986!!!  It took me an hour.  Can you believe it?  It's a sampler from a Leisure Arts pamphlet (280) called Keepsake Samplers. I needed to personalize it, do a little back stitching and add the date.  I know why I put it away, years ago, I stored it in a drawer along with red candles (the HORROR!) and some of the pigment bled onto the Aida (yes, it's stitched on Aida.  I was a newbie, thank you very much) and I didn't know how or what to do to get the stains out.  The stains were close to the stitching and I was afraid to do anything about it.  So it got relegated to the very bottom of the WIP heap.  Lost and forlorn.  Fast forward to 2011 and to the invention of the Tide bleach pen. A careful application with the narrow tip and oh my!  The red stains are gone!  I did a happy dance around the kitchen and then promptly gave the sampler a bath in Orvus.  Once dried and pressed it's ready for it's framing.  Oh, and for the record, now all my stitching is carefully stored away from anything that could bleed, puke or leave stains on it.

And, I pinned and laced Alphabets today.  It's going to Michaels to get framed tomorrow.  I have a 60% off coupon and my birthday is next week so I thought I'd splurge (but not too much) and have it framed.  I stretched it because unfortunately, the last 2 pieces I let them stretch were terrible.  I have to take them both apart and re-do them.  The stretching is crooked and not tight.  The samplers are puckering.  I'm going to have to be in a patient mood to take them apart and re-stretch them.  Bah.

I'm working on a  piece called "Done By Me" from Merrily Beams.  Lee of Lake Stitcher challenged us to stitch a piece from our stash during our birthday month that is Older and Better.  So, to further explain what this is, here's Lee's explanation:
"In order to keep reminding myself about the whole "older, wiser, more gracious and better" thing, I'm going to do a little stash diving and pick one design that has been around since my very early stitching days. You all know which ones I mean. The ones that you bought in 19whatever and loved and never got around to stitching. And every time you decide to weed out your stash, you wonder why you never stitched it. Well, I'm going to choose one of those. Maybe update the fabric and thread choices a little, but at heart it'll still be an oldie but goodie. And I'm going to try to finish it before my next birthday".
So that's what I'm doing.  Done By Me was published the year I started stitching.  That would be 1982. I decided not to change anything about it, not the DMC 1980's colors or the fabric. My only update will be to include the year 2011 to it which will require me to shrink down a bird in order to put the date in.  That's it.  It's stitched in those rust, mossy greens, mauves and steel blues of the 1980s, such a throw back but somehow a little contemporary.  I'm enjoying stitching it, oddly enough.
And, I've kitted up some LHN ornaments, worked on some July 4th Wips from last year and got out some things to finish.  Oh, finish. There's something I don't do often.  Is the moon blue?

OMGosh, I've written a novella.  Sorry kids, I guess I had a lot to say.  Well, tomorrow, I WILL take some pictures.  And actually post them.  I'm glad you all stuck around for me.  I hope you'll come back to Joanie's World cause you never know what zany thing is going to happen to me next.  Who knows, I may get a JOB!   Woot.

Feathers in the Nest's Giveaway

Pop on over to Jennifer's blog and check out the very patriotic pattern she's giving away tonight.  She's giving away, Blackbird Designs, America the Beautiful. 

3 chances to win...be her follower, post about someone you love who's served in our military and just comment on the post. 

http://feathersinthenest.blogspot.com/2011/05/blackbird-design-americana-giveaway-is.html

I'll be back shortly with some pictures of my stitching, so stay tuned!

Memorial Day

This weekend, we remember everyone who's served or is serving in our Military.  As a proud Mom of a 2nd Lieutenant in the Air Force, I want to express my heartfelt gratitude to every serviceman or servicewoman who answered the call to defend and protect us and our country by putting their lives on the line daily and for the sacrifices they've made to honor their commitment to the United States.  And for their families too.

These folks are the true heroes of our country.

I am proud to say that many men in my family have served.  I am honored by them and I thank them.

In June, Mike will deploy to Afghanistan.  He will be there for 5 months.  Although he tells me where he's going is safe, well, it's AFGHANISTAN.  And in my mind, nowhere in Afghanistan is safe.  As his Mom, I will worry and each day that he's there, I will put him and the men and women serving along side of him in God's hands for safety and protection. 

Please join me if you would, to pray for them and for all who are serving in the military.

Blogger is being a pain again and won't let me upload pictures from my hard drive.  So you will have to wait to see what's been cookin' on my needle.

Wishing all of you in the USA a wonderful holiday weekend. 

THANK A SOLDIER!

I'm Still Here - I'm Surprised!

Sorry for the lack of stitching posts and the lack of pictures.  I'm still coming to terms with my recent "life change" and it's been a bit rocky.  Yesterday, I got out for a bit and that seemed to cheer me up.  I bought some quilting fabric to back some ornaments and I had breakfast and lunch with a  couple of friends.  It was a good day over all. 

On Monday, I wanted to throw in the towel.  I spent over an hour reading on how to sign up for unemployment, only to find out at the very end when I submitted my claim that I was placed in the wrong category.  45 minutes later and listening to eleventy dozen recordings, I finally got a real live person who proceeded to tell me that my name was not removed from a particular database from years ago when the company I worked for put us all on Shared Work.  Because I was in their system, I was automatically placed there.  I was given another phone number to call and another 45 minutes later, listening to another gazzillion recordings, I got a real live person who corrected the error but told me that it would take 24 hours to take effect because the system had to re-gen.  Ok.  THAT started my first morning, when I was in a panic because I don't have a job and I am so stressed out, crying every few minutes. 

Adding insult to injury, all the plumbing under my sink came loose and I didn't know it.  When I started to wash dishes, I felt water splashing on my feet.  I thought, the dog is pee-ing on me!  No wait, she's not even in the kitchen, she's watching Livy. (Daisy guards our cat, Livy, like she's her prized possession).  Apparently, when our contractor hired out to complete the plumbing, he hired someone who didn't know what he was doing.  In the process of putting the plumbing together, this person stripped all the pipe connections and just used plumbing tape to hold the joints together.  5 years later, tape failure!  When I opened up the cupboard doors, I found an inch & 1/2 of dirty, stinky water in the bottom of the cabinet. Everything was wet.  You could have sailed a boat under there.  I just sat down on the floor and sobbed. 

6 hours and $500 dollars later, my plumbing was put back together and 3 shutoff valves in the basement were replaced.  The plumber did some preventative maintenance, we knew one of the valves was leaking but he replaced 2 more because they were in bad shape.  He also told us our water heater (that's 25 years old) is dying.  CHA-CHING!!!

I am finding that I run a whole range of emotions and they change constantly without warning. The weekend was just tears. Monday was raw emotion. Yesterday, I was pretty happy.  Today, I have feelings of doubt that I will find a job.  I face the task of writing a resume and searching for something that "fits".  I have a lot of support but I have to keep myself positive. Sometimes that's hard for me. I miss the routine of work. Even though my job was stressful and I worried constantly about retaining it, I find myself rattling around here, going from one thing to the next.  I can't concentrate for long periods of time and looking at the process of finding work seems like a tall mountain.  I know that it gets better with time.  I'll establish a routine and things will fall into place. 

Everyone I've talked to told me to take my time and not rush into anything. Regroup, detox.  Find myself because after working for so long, you lose "you".  I feel conflicted about it because I am so used to taking action. That was my job, when I had a job.  Fixing things.  Finding solutions.  Taking control. Taking corrective actions.  I feel like this is totally beyond my control. And for someone who has a desire to control, this is very difficult.  I keep praying for guidance.  For help to find my way through this "out of control" (in my mind's eye) time.

I have stitched a bit on Bee Man and the exchanges that are so late now.  Sorry kids, they will come.  It's just gonna take a bit of time.  I'm trying to stick to some sort of routine, walking, horses, cleaning, stitching.  My tangerine room is almost done.  I have to make curtains which I think will begin to happen on Friday.  I am sorting through things and putting stuff away. 

Anyway, I won't have pictures to post until next week.  The DH is visiting his family in PA and he's got the camera.  I'm hoping to have a picture heavy couple of posts for you soon.  I thank you for allowing me to pour out my heart to you.

It's good to have all of you.

Friday the 13th and I've got a Lot of Time on my Hands

Friday the 13th certainly lived up to its reputation.

I got downsized today, laid off, fired, use whatever euphenism that you choose.  I've joined the ranks of the unemployed. 

Perfect.

On a bright note, I have all the time to stitch, right?

Check out the Prim Giveaway at...

Jeanne at Hamilton House, http://greyhousesamplers.blogspot.com/, is having a great giveaway if you are into prims...beautiful treen ware, buttermolds and candles...

Hello!

Well, another week has gone by and I don't have a lot to show for it on the stitchy front.  I've been struggling a bit at work which make it hard to concentrate on stitching in the evening because I am so spent mentally when I get home.  All I want to do is be a cucumber.

I do have a finish to show you.  Alphabets is done!  Here it is in all her color corrected glory! 

Alphabets

Merrily Beams

AVAS 946

32ct Antique White Belfast Linen

She is a beauty!  I am saving my shekels to get her framed!

I also am getting impatient to finish up my craft room.  I have been bugging the DH to hang a curtain rod and put up my shelf for the last 3 weeks.  It will get done in his good time, I guess.  If I wasn't such a chicken and could take the heat from the DH, I'd finish it up myself.  But it's not worth the aggravation and the grief.  My hallway and balcony areas are still clogged up with my stuff.  I really want it put back in the room cause I WANT to use it!

Anyway...I'm leaving you with 2 pics of the real heads of our household,  Sweetie and Livy.

 Sweetie

Livy

Oh and before I leave, I want to wish all the Moms a blessed and HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!  Enjoy your family!  Hugs to everyone!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter! 

My Lord and Savior is risen!  He lives!!!

Another Newsy Post

Another post without pictures.  It's raining.  AGAIN.  It's rained almost daily for 2 weeks now.  I am water logged and vitamin D deficient because there's no sun.  I posted on facebook this morning that I was going to Lowes and buy materials to build an ark because that's how much rain we've gotten.  And you know, it's not even a warm Spring rain.  It's a cold, bone-chilling, windy rain.  The kind that gets into you and no matter what you do, you just can't get warm.  For goodness sake, last night my friend and I went out for dinner and when we left Panera we could see our breath!  People it's APRIL 23rd!  Umm-mm...a little warmth, please??

On the stitching front, I finished Alphabets!!!! YAY me!  It came out wonderfully! I'm so happy to cross another Wip off the list.  That makes 4 for the year.  A record.  Now, I'm working on ISNFB and This Is the Day.  I originally was going to stitch This Is the Day for our main bathroom because I painted it Lemon yellow and I thought the colors would look nice in there.  Well, the yellow just about burned the retinas out of your eyes so I toned it down to a Butter yellow.  Now TITD is going in my Tangerine room.

Oh, I'm giving Alphabets away now that I've stitched it.  If you want the pattern, just say so in this post's comment section.  If I have more than one person interested, I'll draw a name. 

Oh, and I've discovered I like Adam and Eve Samplers.  I never did before but seeing everyone's A&E samplers made me look a little closer at them.  And you know what?  I kinda like the guy and gal and that sneaky snake.  I came across a couple of nice patterns in my SANQ magazines so I put them aside to maybe sneak in one after I get another WIP done.  There's a really nice one that Ruth Ann Russell charted that I found in an issue of SANQ.  That's short listed now.  And have you seen the latest sampler from Brenda at With My Needle and Thread?  Oh, Ann Sandles-1846 is just beautiful! 

I love the border and I especially love that Adam and Eve are clothed!!


Yesterday, I cleaned the carpets in my Tangerine room in anticipation of putting back the furniture today but the carpets are still a little damp.  So instead, I continued to rip out patterns from my magazine collection.  I reduced 10 years worth of Antique Needlework & Sampler down to a 1" binder.  And I've been ruthlessly tearing up my JCS too.  It's actually liberating to do this!  I am feeling like I can breath again.  I never really thought of how suffocating my stuff was until I decided that I needed to actually use that room instead of making it another place to store stuff.  I think I'm going to be able to ditch one of the pantry units I had in that room.  I've got plans to buy 2 bookselves and ditch a couple of drawer units too.  Then I hope to put an upolstered chair in there so I can actually be comfy to stitch in there when the DH decides to watch another hour of Fox News or the Military channel. 

So,  I guess until the sun comes from behind the clouds, you all are just going to have to be patient with me for pictures. 

I want to wish all of you a very Happy Easter and Passover too.  I hope tomorrow, the buns brings you a ton of chocolate and jelly beans.  Or a ham.  LOL.

Thanks for coming by, I really enjoy your company!

Random Thoughts on a Dreary Monday Afternoon

Random thoughts as I count down the minutes until I can go home....

I ate an entire bag of Dove chocolate eggs. Yes, the ENTIRE bag and now I feel ick. My bad. Tasted good while I shoveled them in my mouth. Now? Not so much. And I'm waiting for the eventual sugar crash. I have a doctor's appointment next week too. He'll just be thrilled when I get on the scale and am up 7 pounds from last year. I can't wait for the lecture and the threat of dire diseases because I can't resist chocolate-y goodness.  (Oh my, I just figured out the number of WW points in that bag of chocolate- 42!!!!  I'm screwed...lol!).

Wishing I was home stitching. I am almost done with Alphabets. Only one more bird, a cherry and the bottom border to stitch. If I put my mind to it, I could finish it up tonight but I need to stitch on something else so that will have to wait. Hey, it's only been a Wip for almost 3 years so what's a few more days or a week?

I Sigh Not for Beauty is making me sigh....actually, the sampler is making me curse. A really nasty frog has attached itself to this sampler and won't let go. I messed up those pomegrante flowers and had to rip out 2 of them and I misplaced one of the vines coming off the border. It's been a struggle, but I shall overcome! I love the sampler too so that helps.

I got Lucy Minton and Her Sampler back from Michaels. Her Sampler looks ok but I can't help but think of the crooked hacked off fabric stuffed behind the frame. Lucy Minton has "issues". Michaels left out the spacers. I got that fixed. And she's stretched a little wonky. The woman who stretched her pulled the linen to the right so the linen weave slants. It bothers me a little because if you come up close to the piece you can see it. Is it something I should have redone? Maybe. But I've learned a lesson, I will stretch my pieces from now on. Or maybe insist that Heidi (the framer that I like) frames my pieces exclusively.

Check out Woolwoman's blog for a pic of what she won for my "I'm Sick of Winter Giveaway"....the piece I made her came out sweet...

I painted my craft room tangerine. Yes, tangerine. It's the coolest shade of orange. My DH thinks I'm nuts. But I love that the room glows. You should have seen me moving all the goods out of the room. It was like a clown car. things just kept pouring out of it, filing up the hallway and the balcony. It was embarrassing and my DH was astonished at all MY STUFF. It's been sorta suffocating but I vowed, as God is my witness, that when I reassemble the room, I will be able to stitch there, paint there and not feel like it's crushing me.

I started to disassemble all my magazines, keeping only what appealed to me, mainly the sampler patterns. I felt like I was committing a crime ripping up Samplers and Antique Quarterly magazines, but people, I've been collecting them for at least 10 years and I think I can reduce that 10 year collection to a binder or 2. Please don't be hatin' me for defacing those magazines. Oh, and I threw out about 10 years worth of Martha Stewart Living too. And I have Country Sampler magazines, Country Home, Mary Englebriet, oh my...can I qualify as a hoarder? I am looking forward to getting the room back together, organized and calm. The sheer amount of stuff in there actually made me nervous. I am having the DH put up a shelf close to theceiling so that I can put my "toys"on. Looking forward to having them up off the tops of the cabinets and desk.

So, if the weather would cooperate, I may be able to snap a few pictures. I don't know when I will be able to though, it's cold and rainy here....there was SNOW in the air yesterday. I don't think Winter wants to unclutch us yet.

Oh, how I want warm weather....

And one last thing....a question about storage of linen and WIPs.
 
How do you store your excess fabric and WIPs?  I was storing my linen in a dresser but when we moved it we noticed that 2 of the 3 drawers were falling apart.  My DH isn't sure he can fix them so I may have to find an alternative method of storage.   What do you do?
 
And my WIPs are stored in hugh ziplock bags, with the fabric, pattern and fibers.  I have "ahem" many and they are stuffed in a few baskets.  I'd like to store them in one place neatly.  How do you store your Wips so they are accessible but "out of sight?
 
Anyway, enough rambling....thanks for coming by!

Pictures...as promised

Here are the pictures that I promised. I am annoyed at the color, it's so off.  Even trying to mess with the contrast and the brightness didn't help.  Today was the perfect day to take pictures too, the light was flat so I thought that the colors would be more true.  But the color is off.  Nuts.

First is Alphabets:

Alphabets

Merrily Beams

32ct Cream Belfast

946 AVAS

 I've got 2 more birds and then the personalization.  I hope that the personalization doesn't make me shove the sampler down into the depths of the WIP basket.  I'll have to get out the graph paper and figure this out.  And this sampler is not going to Michaels for framing. It deserves special handling. I'm going to take it to the the framer that my LNS recommends and  I hope that when they stretch it, the wrinkles will get stretched out.  I did iron this piece before I took it's picture but there's still a lot of wrinkles. Because it's stitched in red AVAS, it's certainly not colorfast so a warm bath is out of the question.

Next is a piece from With Thy Needle and Thread:

Needle and Pins Heart Pinkeep

With Thy Needle and Thread

DMC

35ct Flax linen

I bought an antique copper oil can to mount it on.  I'm hoping it comes out nice.

And there's In the Bee Man's Garden and I Sigh Not For Beauty:

 

The Goode Huswife

In the Bee Man's Garden

DMC

32ct Vintage Country Mocha



I Sigh Not For Beauty

C Street Samplings

DMC

36ct Dirty Linen

I'm not really far along on either of these samplers but I thought I 'd post them just to document their progress.  I'm enjoying I Sigh Not For Beauty.  I thought I'd hate that arcaded border but it's moving very fast and isn't tedious.  The Bee Man is a fun stitch.  It's my "go to" piece for the times I want to stitch something that's not going to require a lot of mindful stitching. 

And one other thing that I've noticed.  I'm stitching a lot with DMC again.  For the longest time, I'd stitch only with overdyes.  And of course, I LOVE silk but I'm finding myself reaching for those little baggies of DMC more and more. I'm liking how conveniently accessible they are (a quick trip to Michaels, ACMoore or JoAnn Fabrics and I love the colorfastness cause I'm not exactly the cleanest stitcher with 3 cats and a dog to deal with.  Things certainly go around full circle.  What about you? What's your "go to" fiber?

So tomorrow starts another week.  I always wonder what happened to the weekend.  They just go by so fast.  But the new week stretches out before us and I wish all of you a great one!  Take care and thanks for coming by my little corner of the world.  Have a great week, everyone!

Apologies all around

I'm sorry that I haven't posted more recently and I apologize to my give-away winners because I haven't mailed your goodies yet.  There was a bit of sadness here in the last 2 weeks and I've been working long hours.  I'm a bit behind, exhausted and wondering when we are going to turn the bend to happier, less stressed times.  It will be well.  Eventually.

I will be back with pictures shortly.  My stitching has been a life preserver (again!) and I've made progress on my Alphabet sampler and I've started The Goode Huswife's, In The Bee Man's Garden and I Sigh Not For Beauty by Fran Russell of C Street Samplings. 

In the Bee Man's Garden

The Goode Huswife

I Sigh Not For Beauty

C Street Samplings

I know, I know, I told myself NO NEW STARTS but I want a summer piece (the Bee Man) and I fell hard for I Sigh Not For Beauty.  There is a SAL for that sampler on Ellen Chester's, With My Needle and Pen group and it's not a lot of stitching during the month (even though I am a little behind) so I thought I'd be part of it.  I stitched my beloved John Foster with that group too.  It's manageable.

Oh! And as a treat to myself (and because I had an awesome 70% off coupon for framing at Michaels) I took Her Sampler and Lucy Minton to be framed.  I am a little apprehensive though, with this framing job this time around.  The lady who waited on me sorta scared me when she hacked off about 3 inches of excess linen on Her Sampler with a very dull scissors.  She asked if she could and I thought, "Well, yeah, go ahead, there's a lot of excess fabric to stuff under that frame" never thinking that she would cut the fabric so unevenly.  She saw the look of horror on my face and calmly stated that "no one would see it anyway".  Yikes!  I hope that she stretches the pieces straight...usually I do that honor just to be sure but I decided to let them do it before she took the scissors to the sampler.  Crossing my fingers..that the framing will be OK.

So stay tuned, I'll be adding pictures in my next post.  I am glad for all of you who stop by and HI to my new followers!

Just STOP!

We're in for another one....7-10". 

PLEASE....If you are praying for snow...

Please STOP!