Trying Something New

I am almost ready to go on my Road Trip. I skipped exercise this morning so I could get everything taken care of. I'm excited!
I sewed all the blocks of the baby quilt together yesterday. (I need to iron it!) I like how it looks. Now what? I have to get some filler like quilt batting or Warm'n Natural stuff. I have enough fabric to back it and put on borders. But I have never quilted a quilt on my sewing machine before. I usually just tie it with yarn the easy way. So I thought I would just try a sample and see how it went. I have been watching those sewing shows on PBS and wanted to just try it. So I got out a quilting foot, the one that has the circle on the end and I put the feed dogs down and tried quilting a heart. Well, it was very slippery and the curves were a little wild.(center heart in the photo) So then I tried my walking foot, somebody on one of the shows said something about using a walking foot so since I have one, I thought I would try it. It was very slow and hard to maneuver around the curve.(right heart in the photo) So then I thought how about seeing what would happen if I use the quilting foot but with the feed dogs up. That turned out the best. Most control over the shape. It still is a little slippery but doesn't look too bad. I tried some free motion quilting this way too. Not too bad. (left heart in the picture) It will be way harder to sew a big quilt but I think I will try.
I finished the heart on the afghan and started a small motif in the square beside it.
I have a bunch of stuff kitted up to take with me to the classes. I don't know if I will have time but I have something if I need it.
Time for fun!
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Progress

I picked the fabrics for the baby quilt. I dug out all the possible fabrics from my sewing room closet and laid them on the living room floor for a viewing. Then I separated them into muted and bright. I knew I would choose muted - I always do. I picked out the fabrics I liked. I tried to get a theme going. The theme seemed to be pink and yellow and striped. So I narrowed it down to 6 fabrics and started cutting. Ironically, all the fabrics I selected were from my stash. I followed the pattern more closely this time so I wouldn't mess it up like last time. Then I ironed and sewed and cut blocks. I only need 20 (four rows of five). So now I have all the blocks sewn. Now I can lay them out in a pleasing arrangement with the help of the pattern and start sewing the blocks into rows. That's a lot of progress for one day. I know I am going to like this quilt better. It definitely looks like a baby quilt.
I worked on the heart square on the afghan. I messed up and got one stitch too low on part of it so I'm having to take it out and restitch it. ARGH. I can finish that square up today. The little flowers will make this square really sweet.
I'm going on a road trip tomorrow! I am getting excited. I should pack today. I'm going to a Lucet class in Dayton on Saturday and Hare Pyns class in Cincinnati on Sunday. I will see my BFF and a few people from Celebrations. I am riding with the teacher so it will be great fun to talk to her. I'll tell you all about it on Monday.
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Decision Time

Two things to decide today. I am going to choose the fabrics for the baby quilt. Which means I will have to pull junk out of the closet and make a big mess in my quest for baby fabric. The next thing I have to decide is whether to Spring Fling or not. I need to sign up ASAP if I want to go to a stitching retreat next April with Thea Dueck of Victoria Sampler fame. It sounds like fun and I want to go. The problems are: It is two weeks before Celebrations which I will probably go to and it costs money. Actually anything you sign up for costs money. But when will I ever get a chance to have a class with Thea Dueck? She lives in Canada.
I have been teasing you by not showing my Big Project. Finally, a picture of what I am occasionally working on: Carnation, Lily, Lily, Rose. It is a painting by John Singer Sargent. It will be pretty big when it is done. It is also solid stitching. Most of the stitches are done blending floss colors. So far it looks nice (not like my 7000 stitches where you can't even tell what it is). I don't have very much done, just the upper left corner.
I found it!!! The chart I have been looking for is called Wandering Vine by Shepherd's Bush. I thought, "I haven't checked my table (that is right beside me as I stitch) for that chart". So I dug under a pile of floss and Voila! There is was! I couldn't believe it. The chart was within arm's reach all the time. Good Grief. Now where is that pearl cotton? With a look through two of my thread drawers, I found it in a ziplock bag. Perfect. Now I can finish it. I worked on it last night and finished the house square. The verse square comes next but I don't like the verse so I may leave it blank for the baby's name and birth date.
We have a rainy day again today. But I don't care, I'm busy making stuff.
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Vision

I wish I could imagine what something will look like before it is done. I went to two fabric stores yesterday looking for baby quilt material. I didn't quite find what I was looking for. It looks like the popular material for baby quilts is The Cat in the Hat prints. I bought some material - enough to make two quilts. But I'm not sure it will turn out like I want. So I went digging in my material stash (not to be confused with my stitching stash). I found some other material that might do. I know on Divine Design, Candace chooses some object and brings in colors that go with whatever she chooses. But I haven't found that "thing" to be the design core of my quilt. I laid everything out on the living room floor to see what looks good. I have a mixture of soft colors and bright colors. I think I should stick to one or the other. My sister doesn't like the yellow stripe but I do. So it is still mulling around in my head. There is a sweet animal print that I may go back and get. It would fit in the bright materials group. I want the quilt to be identifiable as a girl quilt so I really need some pink in it. Maybe I have too many prints. Maybe I should do a block and see how it looks. Still thinking...
I finished stitching Das Fledermaus. The moon turned out fine. I haven't done the backstitching around the edge. I also haven't done the back. I am still thinking about that too.
I had a hankering to work on The Big Project. I just wanted to put in 100 stitches which is one square on the chart. I made some little progress. Sometimes I am just in the mood for this project even though it is going to take years. It has twenty five pages of charts. Am I crazy? Don't answer that.
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Finishing Stuff

This week I have been working on finishing some projects. What ever happened to the English Tapestry Sewing Box you ask? Well, it has taken some time but I finally have it done. Well almost done. I have to get a little tulip shaped thread ring for the clasp. The stiffening for the box comes from Skirtex on the body and mat board on the sides of the box. The skirtex was too long when I bent the body of the box around the sides so I had to open a seam and trim it up. Each part was sewn to a lining piece and then I sewed the body of the box three quarters of the way around the sides. I think it looks nice. But to hide a multitude of sins, I put twisted cording around the edge. I'm glad I stuck with it and finished the project.
I also finished the Berry Thief companion. The directions were pretty good. I had a little trouble with the berries on the end of the twisted cording. The first pieces of felt I cut would have made plums instead of berries - way too big. I cut them down two more times until I was happy with the size. Then I figured out a way to cover them with the beads. I put two on at a time. That worked out well. The bag doesn't close as tightly as I would like. It is supposed to hold buttons but I think the buttons would fall out as the top doesn't close completely. It is interesting that there are snaps on the pockets that connect to the bag. Over all, I am happy with this finishing too.
I was busy yesterday with making a quilt top. I want to make a quilt for the new baby. When I got it put together, I wasn't happy with fabrics that came from a set of fat quarters. So today I am going shopping for baby fabric that I like. I have to remember to get some lights and darks. It only takes 6 fat quarters. I had a problem with the pattern. I didn't read it completely and cut up all my fabric so I came up short when I needed a long strip. So it was good to have a trial run. I would like to applique some birds here and there on the quilt too.
Time to go shopping!
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Trip: Day Five

So on Monday morning we went to the airport and turned in our rental car. That strange robotic object is in the San Jose airport just before you go through security. We went to our gate to catch the flight. There was the cutest oriental baby sitting on a blanket on the floor, playing on an ipad. He couldn't have been much more than a year old but knew what buttons to touch. It was too cute. The only word he said was "uh-oh". Just as our plane was backing out, it jerked to a stop. Uh-oh. We pulled off the runway and mechanics were working on the plane. After a while we went back to the gate. After another while (hour at least) they let us get off the plane. Parts were needed for the plane and a new crew. They were being driven down from San Francisco which is an hour away. The delay grew from 2 hours to four hours to six hours. We didn't know whether to wait for the plane to be fixed or to rebook. The line of people waiting to rebook was very long and very slow moving. We knew we couldn't make our connection back in Minneapolis. To complicate things, there were no hotels available in Minneapolis. If the plane really did leave after the six hour delay, we would get to a place with no available hotels at 1:30 a.m. So we ended up staying at a hotel in San Jose for the night and taking the 6:30 a.m. flight to Minneapolis. That hotel made us appreciate the Hilton Garden Inn. So after a 4:30 a.m. wake up call, we got to the airport and made the uneventful flights home getting in at 3 in the afternoon a day later than we expected.

Things we learned in California:
There are too many people in California.
The economy in the San Jose area is more than fine.
It is not good when a plane jerks.
Going out to eat can get old (and expensive).
The weather is wonderful.
Google is the coolest place ever with the smartest people ever.
Three time zones away is hard to adjust to.
Home is the best place.

DH and I are very glad to be home and back to our regular schedule. It was great to see son#2 and DIL. We will go back out there after the baby is born.
On the way home I worked on Das Fledermaus. It is over one on a light purple material. I didn't put the eyes in because the symbol on the chart for the eyes looks very much like the symbol for the body. I'll go back and just work them over the stitch that is already there. The eyes are a sinister green. I don't have exactly the right thread for the moon. It is supposed to be blending filament but I only had that color in #4 Krenik braid. I'll have to see how it looks, if it shows up enough.
After getting back this week I have been working on finishing up some projects and starting a dress and a quilt. I'll show you my finishing tomorrow.
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Trip: Day Four

DH and I went over to son#2 and DIL's where the boys watched Man U play Chelsea and then football. DIL took me shopping! Yeah! That was our reward for going to the Computer History Museum. We went to a fancy mall near Stanford. It had beautiful flowers outside. I wanted to go to some stores I never get to go to. Sur La Table, Paper Source, Williams Sonoma, Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus. Why do I like kitchen stores? I try to cook as little as possible. I guess it is like guys. They love having tools but not actually using them. I got some perfume and creme rinse from Neiman Marcus and a free bag with samples. Paper Source had a kit to make some cute paper flowers. We went to see the baby furniture in Pottery Barn Kids store. Oh so cute(and expensive!) I saw a darling quilt. I think I could make one like it. We also got some cupcakes from Kara's Cupcakes as DIL said they were the best. I got a dozen minis. No, I didn't eat them all. I got a selection for all four of us. Although I knew DH wouldn't eat any. They were very good. But now I am cupcaked out.
After a nap we went to dinner at Scratch again. I had the Shepherd's Pie and a regular rootbeer not the liquor kind. DH learned a lesson: be careful about telling a cook in California to use his judgement in how to cook the fish. His salmon came raw. So he sent it back and, long story short, we got free desserts. We said our goodbyes to DIL and son#2 as we were leaving the next day.
I stitched yellow bird. I started out going over two but it seemed crude and huge. So I took it out and did it tent stitch over one with Country Road premium floss from Hand-Dyed Fibers. It is nice and small. I don't know what I am going to make it into yet. I've got one more thing to stitch on the way home.
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Trip: Day Three

Now it is Saturday.
First we went to the bakery where DIL works. She decorates cakes. Of course we had to try some of the goodies. I got some cupcakes, cookies and a fancy dessert. Then we went to their house where DH planted the geraniums we bought. Then we went to the Computer History Museum. I wasn't sure I wanted to go but I'm glad I did. It was more interesting than I expected. I liked the special presentations that they had. One was demonstrating Babbage's machine. An old guy (graduated in Physics from the U of Chicago, he was probably famous) explained it all. He was entertaining. The top edge of his underpants ended about 8 inches above his belt. DH saw a book in an exhibit that he used in college. We saw the machines and computer cards like we used to work with at college. We felt ancient. Son#2 saw a Speak and Spell like he had as a kid. Then there was a talk by two old guys from MIT who invented "Space Wars", the first video game. They are docents at the museum. Then it was naptime again.
We went to a fancy area for dinner. The economy is doing just fine by all that we saw on this trip. We went to three eating places. Dinner was at Gordon Biersch. Then beer at a dive called the Rose and Crown. The walls were beat up, the floors were beat up, the tables were beat up and the seats were beat up. I didn't really want to touch anything. I guess the big attraction is the variety of beers they offer. It gets really crowded late in the evening. Then we went to a place that was more civilized for more beer (iced tea for me, thank you very much).
I decided to do the other mitten in the JBW leaflet. It was a much more open design. I used the same floss and fabric but did a cross stitch instead of a tent stitch. The design didn't look right with just tent stitches. It turned out cute too. I bought this leaflet after seeing a mitten on someone's blog. But I don't remember which one I saw. I'm going to do yellow bird next.
Tomorrow I'll tell you about Day Four.
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Trip: Day Two

We woke up early and had some time to kill as DIL had an anatomy scan scheduled for this morning. I decided to go to the Lace Museum. We found our way there but it wasn't open yet. I saw a Quilt store nearby so I looked round there for a while. It was fun. I bought some material for a baby dress and a "jelly roll" for a lap quilt while DH waited in the car. The Lace Museum opened. It is just one room in a strip mall. But I got a great tour from an older lady. It was very interesting but I had to go as son#2 and DIL called, DH was also waiting in the car. We got to see the latest scan of the new baby. She is going to be adorable. We think she has son#2''s nose, which is cute. DH wanted to stop and get some geraniums to plant in their yard. Son#2 and DIL picked out the geraniums they liked and we went to see their house. It is a nice little duplex in an older neighborhood. They have a covered patio and a lemon tree in their small back yard. I was very impressed with son#2's garden. It is only about 12 inches deep by the sidewalk to their backyard. But he is growing tomatoes (cherry and beefsteak), squash, cucumbers, basil, mint, peppers, strawberries, beans.

Then we were off to see Google. It is such a cool place. On the way we saw one of those cars that drives itself. Google is way bigger than I imagined. Many many buildings. It was fun to see the Google bikes. They are painted bright colors and are available for people going across the Google campus. The people are all young and many are nerdy looking. Many different languages can be heard. There is innovative stuff all over. We ate at the main cafeteria. The main cafeteria has many stations and you can get a big variety of stuff. The Friday special was the General Cho's(?) chicken. There is a big salad bar. There are lots of desserts and ice cream bars. I had a local specialty "It's It", I think it is called. It is an ice cream sandwich with oatmeal cookies dipped in chocolate. Yum. And yes, everything is free. You can take as much as you want. It is said that 110% of Google eats there every day. We passed coffee bars and soft serve ice cream machines scattered throughout the buildings. We couldn't go up to son#2's office. It's off limits. Security is really tight. I had fun getting all kinds of stuff at the Google store. I got a Cookie Monster Google shirt and some socks among a lot of other stuff. We took pictures with the android version sculptures and tried to find a big Google sign to take a picture with.

What a busy day - but we weren't done yet! We decided to go to the Winchester Mystery House. We took the tour which was very interesting. We walked more than a mile through the house and the tour was over an hour long. That lady was crazy. We walked the grounds. They are getting ready for a Halloween tour and there were bodies hanging from trees and other gruesome sights.

Time for a nap for all of us. We had a drink (I had iced tea) at a bar before we went to dinner at The Cantankerous Fish. We wanted to see if the bar was going to show the soccer game on Sunday morning (no). I don't remember what I had for dinner, but for dessert I got the gelato sampler. It had Kahlua, Cherry Almond and vanilla scoops. Yum. Whew, we were very pooped - again.

I finished one of the mittens from JBW designs. I used Dragon's Heart Hand-Dyed Fibers premium floss over one. I like how it turned out.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about Day Three.

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There is no Place like Home

I'm glad to be back home and I feel almost recovered and back on Eastern Time. We had a great time and I got a little bit of stitching done. On the way out to California I sewed the backing on Holly and Ivy. Then last night I put on some twisted cord. It is now all finished.

Here is what we did on day one of our trip:

It was great to have time to get a few things done before we left at 2:30. The flights out to San Jose were fine. I thought the flight from Minneapolis to San Jose was so long. I wanted to stand and stretch as it seemed to go on forever. But we made it fine to the San Jose airport which appears to be brand new. It is not that large of an airport but everything is bigger our airport. We got our rental car. I had signed up for a Hyundai Sonata. But they were all rented so we got a Kia Soul on the recommendation of the girl working there. DH said it handled well. By the time we were ready to drive to the hotel, it was dark. Navigating a new busy place in the dark is a challenge especially with some poorly placed signage. We sort of got lost. We pulled into City Hall and called son#2 and he guided us to our hotel. It turns out that we were about 100 yards short of the street we were looking for. The Hilton Garden Inn was very nice and we enjoyed staying there. Son#2 and DIL came to our hotel and we all went out to eat at a very nice place. I wasn't keen on eating as it was about midnight our time. We ordered a cheese plate appetizer. I tried some new things on the plate: blue cheese (ugh), carmelized fig (didn't have any flavor except the carmel). I ordered a root beer float - the liquor version. It was awful, I could hardly drink it (too much booze). I watered it down a lot and it was almost drinkable. SH ordered the Shepherd's Pie. It was the best Shepherd's Pie I have ever tasted. The meat was savory. We visited and decided what to do the next day. We got to bed about 2 a.m. our time. Long day. I am embarrassed to admit that I was so tired that I didn't even brush my teeth.

Tomorrow I'll tell you about Day Two.

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I'm Off

This is just a "drive-by" posting as we are nearly ready to go. I chose some easy projects to take with me. My travel stitching is just simple stuff. I was embarrassed at the guild meeting to show what I was working on as it was so mundane - a Prairie Schooler ornament from last year's Just Cross Stitch Ornament issue. Once I lost a needle on a plane and I still feel guilty about that. So the projects I chose have only a few colors and are small. I have:

Forget me nots in Stitches Fledermaus Scissors Fob. (a bat)

La-D-Da's Yellow Bird that I want to stitch with Hand-Dyed Fibers. Somebody on their blog said this was boring so I hope stitching it in overdyed floss will make it more interesting.

JBW's Red mitten also with Hand-Dyed Fibers

I am finishing the Berry Thief companion. I made the twisted cording which turned out very well. I wish I could remember how Sherri Jones told me to sew on the twisted cord. I took out some of what I sewed on as it wasn't as neat as I wanted. Maybe I'll do better today.

I am also sewing together the Holly and Ivy Ornament. I think it would look nice with twisted cording as well. I don't like how the birds' beaks and legs don't show up very well even though I used the silk colors it called for. Whatever.

I have had many people wish me a good trip. Thanks so much for your good wishes.

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Getting Ready

I enjoyed finishing the guild kit yesterday. I think it turned out so cute. I started on the finishing of the English Tapestry Sewing Box. I picked the lazy way. I sewed the linen to the lining on the sewing machine as much as I could. I have turned all the pieces right side out and now have to whip stitch the openings. Then I have to hand sew the sides to the main part of the box. If I were really ambitious, I would have stitched a design on the sides and the bottom. But I was sick of going over one. So it is what it is.

I finished stitching the back of the Berry Thief companion. I stitched the same design that was on the front. So now it needs finishing too. I read the finishing instructions and they are pretty straight forward. Jackie DuPlessis is an expert finisher and is clever in her finishing designs. I think it will be easy to finish this one.

I still have to finish the Holly and Ivy ornament too.

But who knows how much I will get done today since I have to get ready for my trip. I see laundry, ironing and packing in the works for today. Also, I haven't kitted anything up yet. I can't possibly go anywhere without some stitching to do. The leaves are starting to turn color here. I'm not ready to see summer go!

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Finishing

I must do some finishing today. I went to the fabric store and got some fabric for lining the English Tapestry Sewing Box. I can't believe how many ugly retro fabrics are out there. I like pretty fabric not ugly prints. Anyway, I finally found one that would do. I even went to the other fabric store in town just to make sure there wasn't anything better available. There wasn't. I guess my fabric is a funny color blue as it was really hard to find a compatible color. I looked at the dupioni silks as well but didn't find anything there either. I'd love to visit Delectable Mountain store sometime to see what glorious fabrics they have. I bet they would have the perfect one for my box. But I have never been to Vermont. I hope to go there next time I go to Celebrations in New Hampshire.

I finished stitching the kit I got on Sunday at the KSSG meeting. Fun! Now I have to finish it. I bought some wool felt to fill it with. I need to iron the ribbon and then I can hand sew it to the edge of the front and the back.

I went back and worked on the white flowers on the border of the Berry Thief companion.

I have to kit up some stuff to take with me on my trip Thursday. DH brought up the suitcases so we'll have to pack soon. It is supposed to turn colder today. Cooler would be nice. My camera just ran out of juice so I'll post some pictures later, after the battery has been recharged.

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Great Start

I've had a great start to the week and it is only Monday! I had a fabulous time at the Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild meeting yesterday. I was an hour and a half early. I didn't want to depend on Google maps estimate of how long it would take me so I left early. Google told me it would take 2 hours and 8 minutes and they were exactly right! So I sat in my car and watched people leave when church was over. I ventured in to find a bathroom and saw where the meeting would probably be held. Then I stitched in the car and waited for stitchy looking people to show up. There were somewhere around 40 people there. I met some new friends (Hi Judy) I was glad there were some snacks (lunch!). I loved seeing what other people were stitching. I saw CA Wells' Mermaid bag all made up. I have that pattern and wasn't sure I wanted to make it, but it was very sweet. I got to show off some of my stuff. And I got to see some new designs from my friend the designer. There was a drawing for a basket of goodies. (I didn't win but a very nice lady did.) There also was the opportunity to order some Nantucket baskets. I am a sucker for baskets. What I wanted most from the meeting was a little kit by my friend the designer. So during the meeting, I worked on that. I love it!

Then this morning our contractor, Joe, came over to see the tiling we want done. I proposed the pattern I wanted, and he seemed to think it was possible. So he is going to call me later today after he talks to the expert at the tile store. We are an inch closer to getting the kitchen done.

The bathrooms are clean so I can stitch this afternoon. Fun!

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Holly and Ivy

I sewed my English Tapestry Sewing Box back together. (Doesn't it look nice ironed?) I could have fiddled with it, worked a couple rows of backstitches and then whipped them together making a hand stitched solution. But in the end, I opted for the easy way out, I sewed it on my machine. I wanted to get the interfacing ironed on and the fastest way to fix it was to machine sew it. So I did. I have to get the perfect lining material. They make some William Morris reproductions prints and I would look for something like that. But I don't think I'll find a compatible print. I think I am going to end up with a fabric that is the right color(s) with a minimal design in it like stripes or dots.

I am very excited because I am about to take off for the Kindred Spirits Sampler Guild monthly meeting. I have to drive over a 100 miles. So that tells you how much I want to go. I will see some friends there and I am taking some "show and tell" stuff. I am looking forward to getting a kit made just for the guild that I paid for last month.

Yesterday I worked on and finished the Holly and Ivy ornament from Drawn Thread. There a couple of mistakes in it as I misread the chart. But it looks fine to me. It sure is nice to work on an easy quick project after that over one ETSB.

Not much stitching to be had today but lots of fun.

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Disaster or I am an Idiot

I did indeed finish the interminable English Tapestry Sewing Box. I read through the beginning directions for making it into a box. I need to cut out mat board, batting, interfacing and iron-on interfacing. Part of the directions say to trim off 3/4 inch from four threads out from the stitched design. I didn't read the directions correctly and I trimmed the bottom which is not supposed to be trimmed there! OH NO! I cut it and it isn't supposed to be cut! What do I do? I guess sew it back together. What an idiot I am. Never try to start finishing at night. I know better than to do that. Duh. So I have to figure out how to fix it. All that work and I screw it up. ARGH.

I got the Drawn Thread order in the mail yesterday. So I can start the new ornament. I just have to find the threads. Sometimes I order the little pack of threads, but this time I didn't. I was bad enough just ordering the new designs. I may try to substitute using my Hand-Dyed Fibers.

I got some of the border done for the back of the Berry Thief companion button bag.

I've been to the Farmer's Market. No free range eggs today. They were sold out before I got there. I didn't buy much as we will be gone later in the week. (California here I come!)

Confession: After Pilates I went to the bakery for some buns and got a chocolate iced fried cake (fancy name for a donut) and I ate it on the way home. Bad girl.

I have to go figure out how to fix my mistake.

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I've Seen the Light

What good progress I made yesterday! I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! I finished the page 4 chart. Yeah! And I am half way done with the page 6 chart. I can finish it TODAY! I must have some obsessive compulsive gene that makes me stick with something even when I don't want to. I must make myself remember that I am the captain of my fate and I can quit if I want to. But it feels good to be nearly finished. It is a pretty design. Did I enjoy stitching it? No. I probably am better at stitching over one with all the practice this afforded me. I'm hoping the box goes together easily and looks nice and neat.

Once I get the English Tapestry Sewing Box done (today!) I can work on the back of the Berry Thief companion button bag. It is an easy stitch and will be done in no time. And then what do I do? I have that Drawn Thread ornament coming in the mail but it isn't here yet. What fun to think about what I can do next.

My Easy Beefy (Ground turkey) (low fat) Crescent Squares were very good. I could have eaten the whole darn thing but had to save some for DH when he came home from soccer.

Next Friday we will be in California! I want to have my picture taken next to the Google sign. Too bad there isn't a nearby needlework store. I have been joking with DS and DIL that I want to go to the Lace Museum. They think that sounds awful. Looking at Google maps, the museum looks be in a strip mall. We'll see if I actually get there.

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This Post is Boring

Same-old, same-old. Working on the same old stuff. The English Tapestry Sewing Box is coming along. When I looked at the whole thing as I was taking the picture, I could see that I have got just that doggone corner to go. One more prong thing, five flowers and some vines. My goal for today is to get the last prong done and to locate the five flowers to get ready to do them in one fell swoop. I finished the front of the Berry Thief companion. Now the dilemma, what do I stitch on the back? I am not fond of the dead tree. I have two things in mind: make it the same as the front or use the bird and strawberry design from the needle book I just finished. I am kind of leaning toward making the back and front the same.

I got my copy of the Just Cross Stitch Ornament Issue. I looked through it and found only about two ornaments I'd like to do. I am consistent with what I like, as the designers of the two ornaments I am interested in doing are among my favorites designers. I was shocked when a designer told me that she doesn't get paid anything for contributing an ornament design. She just gets a free magazine. Imagine what interesting designs Just Cross Stitch might get if they paid for the designs? I bet many more designers would participate too.

It is overcast today. I'm making "Easy Beefy Crescent Squares" from a Pillsbury Bake-Off cookbook from donkey's years ago. Only I am using ground turkey, lowfat sour cream, and low fat crescent rolls. That's what happens when you get old. You have to eat crap.

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Plugging Away

I was proud of myself for sticking with the English Tapestry Sewing Box. I really wanted to stitch on something else. I have been eyeing the Big Project. I just want to just put in one square inch on it. It is sitting on the floor at my feet and I have been wanting to pick it up as it must feel very neglected. I got all four flowers stitched yesterday as well as leaves on a couple of vines. So I made good progress. I have that ugly pronged thing in the middle to stitch on. That's what I thought I would work on today. Boy, if I could finish chart page 4, I would be very close to finishing. One of my goals today is to totally finish stitching the front of the Berry Thief companion piece. I just have little white flowers and a couple of letters to go. I can have that done by lunch.

A week from tomorrow we go to California. I should think about what I need to take and what I need to do before we go. It isn't a long trip. Just from Thursday night till Monday night.

Halloween stuff is appearing in stores. I bought some peanut butter kisses today. Yum. I probably have enough candy on hand to get me through Halloween. It is my weakness. That's why I'm not skinny.

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A Bird in Hand

The English Tapestry Sewing Box is so slow to work on. It doesn't even look like I did any stitching on it since yesterday. But I did. I got to the point where I could work on all four flowers at the same time but only just got started on the flowers. So my goal today is to finish the flowers and hopefully some of the leaves on the vine. The leaves actually go pretty fast. I finished the bird on the Berry Thief button bag. I like how he turned out. I decided to change the words a bit. Instead of "Buttons, bits & Berries", it is going to say "Buttons & Berries".

I took the tile samples back to the store and ended up taking the ones I want to order home again. I found out that the accent tile I want is available. It is a special order and will take two weeks, but I can get it. Yeah! But they want our contractor to tell them how much to order. So the next step is to get Joe, our contractor, to come over and see what we want to do. I have already called him and left a message but I'll call again. This whole kitchen thing is a slow process. We still haven't gotten to the floors yet.

It is much cooler today. What a change from having several 90 degree days to waking up to 45 degrees. Hey, it is half as warm. I'm so glad to be back to regular days doing regular things.

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Working My Way Down

I am working my way down on the English Tapestry Sewing Box. I finished my goal for yesterday. I got a big fat leaf done - and it was the last big fat leaf left to do. Then I got a bit done on two vines. When I get several vines done, I can do like four flowers at the same time. So my goal today is to get to the point where I am ready to stitch those flowers. Actually I would like to get the flowers done too. Hey, aim high.

I stitched on the Berry Thief companion just a bit. I want to get to the point of starting the bird. I like how that big strawberry turned out. On the pattern it is round, like a raspberry. I added a queen stitch here and there to make it more strawberry-shaped.

I plan to make potato salad today. If I am very ambitious, I'll make an apple pie too. It is a nice cool day here. It is quite a treat since we have had such a hot summer. It is finally comfortable to sit out on the back porch. Although, DH thinks it is cold.

The bathrooms are clean. All is well.

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