Face On

Today has been a busy day.  The bathrooms are clean.  I've got my steps in.  I've added minutes to my phone.  I've been to the bank and the UPS store.  There are lots of things to take care of before I go to Williamsburg tomorrow.  I'm hoping the weather cooperates.  (NO SNOW!!)

Grace asked me to bring Harmony with me to Williamsburg. Harmony wasn't looking very pretty but I am still working on her.

She is bald!  She has a weak chin.  I hope to put a nice pearl necklace on her and some curls of hair.  Right now she doesn't look very happy.  She's more contemplative.  She's contemplating the meaning of life.

 I would like her to smile but she might look weird that way.  I got the pomegranate all done.

See the metal threads sparkling?
Harmony is starting to come together.  I may actually finish her sometime.

You know the drill, I will be gone for a few days.  I am looking forward to seeing friends and stitching.  What fun!  Of course, I will tell you all about it when I get back.
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Is It Sunday?

When there is a holiday, I lose the sense of what day of the week it is.  We've had a busy few days with DS#1 and DIL.  Thanksgiving was great and it was good to have a reason to make a big meal.  The preparation and clean-up is an all day exercise.  I didn't go walking on Thanksgiving as the turkey had to go in the oven by a certain time.  The food turned out fine and the turkey was not dry.  DIL and I went and visited the local Art Institute.  It was fun.  I hadn't been there is a long time (years!).  There was a faculty show on so I wanted to see art work from my old watercolor teacher.  We enjoyed the exhibits and had fun in the shop.

Yesterday we put DS#1 and DIL back on the plane.

So I'm back to my regular rut.  But not for long!  I go to Williamsburg this week.  It is the last big retreat of the year.  BFF and I are going to the Agecroft Museum and maybe the DeWitt Wallace Museum before we hit the retreat.  I haven't even started packing.

I have done some very fun things on Harmony.  I've got the columns and arch in.  Amy Mitten is so clever.

The grapes are done.

I've started Lesson 8.  Today I am going to tackle the pomegranate using some metal threads that I haven't worked with before.

This project is so much more than I realized when I started.  I'm going to be very proud of this when I'm done.  Amy Mitten has gotten me through it with the step-by-step directions.  As I've said many times, she is a genius.
Happy Sunday!
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Felt and Words

I got several felt bits sewn on the front of Harmony.  Her shoes are done.

The bulb thing under the flower.

The strawberries are done.  I could do them better.  If I were doing them again I would put in more red.  But they are okay.

I'm now working on the columns.  When those are done, I'm on to Lesson 7.  I'm making good progress,

I got the rest of the words stitched on the front of the trinket box.  The real tedious part is weaving in the background.  I need very good magnification and excellent light to do that.

The prune bread didn't turn out well.  I think I'll have to pitch it.  So I made pumpkin pie instead - and it is delicious.
I may not be able to post during this Thanksgiving holiday.  Have a fun turkey day and a relaxing weekend!
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Grass

I got the grass all done!

 Yeah!  That was the last of Lesson 5 now on to Lesson 6.  I have bits of felt to cut out and attach.  I am looking forward to the strawberries.  I love strawberries.

The park was much easier to walk in today.  Lots of the icy bits are gone.

  I was at Target this morning and it wasn't very busy (thank goodness).  I had to pick up just a couple of last minute items for Thanksgiving.  Now I am cleaning since we are having company. I have vacuumed and now I need to dust (not my favorite) and wash the kitchen floor.  Ugh.  Not my idea of fun.

 I am waiting for the oven to preheat so I can put in the prune bread.  I am the only one who will eat the prune bread so it really is for me.  It's my grandmother's recipe.  My MIL will be represented by the sausage stuffing and the trifle.
I'll have to work in some fun stitching later.
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Off With Her Head

I totally finished Off With Her Head.

 I used black Ultrasuede for the back.

I used a piece of Liberty fabric for the lining.  I wanted something with color in it.  This fabric feels very silky.

It was easy to sew on to the purse hardware.  You just sew through the holes.

The only thing I am not crazy about is that you can see the black stitches on the lining.  But there is nothing I  can do about that.  I'll live with it.

I like how it turned out.  And I am very happy to have it all finished!

I went walking in the park this morning.  It was quite slippery in spots.  The deciding factor was the temperature.  It was 26 degrees.  I can handle 26.
I've made some progress on Harmony's grassy hill.  I'll show you tomorrow.  Right now, I have some Turkey Day shopping to do!
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I Found It

I found my pansy.  I had been a bit discouraged with it.  It wasn't as nice and neat as I would like.  But it is good to put things down and come back later to re-evaluate your work.  I'm still not crazy about the shape but it will do.

 I made a leaf last night.  I am feeling more comfortable working with the Lacis and I think the leaf looks pretty good.

The sun is shining today.  We will be able to show Claire the snow on FaceTime.  She will love it.

I started the finishing of the Off With Her Head bag.  So far, so good.  I'll show you tomorrow how far I've gotten.
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Peacock Feather

I didn't know that my Harmony kit had a peacock feather in it.  Amy Mitten is so imaginative.  You fold up the tiny feather and couch it to the body of the butterfly.  How cool is that?

I am now on Lesson Five of Harmony.  Finally!  It is going very well.  I did several fishbone stitch leaves and I love how they turned out.

I also started the grassy hill Harmony is sitting on.  It is easy!  I thought it would be tedious but it isn't.

I finished the top of the strawberry biscornu.  But now I have the bottom to go.  Let's hope it goes faster than the top.

It snowed last night.  This is what it looked like when I went out my front door this morning.  It was just getting light.

It's beautiful but it is also cold and wet.  The snow makes me appreciate my warm cozy house.
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Finishing Lesson 4

I finally got around to working those tuffs of grass on the front of Harmony.

Once I couch the outline here, I am done with Lesson 4.

 I haven't peeked at Lesson 5 yet so I have no idea what comes next.  The embroidery for Lesson 4 went pretty well.  Embroidery is not my forte, but I am very happy with how it all turned out.  Maybe it is small enough, you don't notice the imperfections.

It was cold went I went walking this morning.  We are expecting several inches of snow tomorrow.  Ugh.  I guess it could be worse.  I may have to walk at the Y in the morning.  Although DH says it will just melt and be nothing.  We'll see.

I started the slow weaving of light blue in the background of the letters on the trinket box front.

 This is slow going since it is over 40 count.  After a while I get confused with the over/under and have to take a break.

I am cleaning off the dining room table since we are having company next week.  I got out the Thanksgiving runner and threw away a bunch of the unused Halloween candy.  If I don't like the candy, it just isn't very good candy!

How did it get to be Friday again so soon?
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Vacuum Cleaners

Sometimes I just don't think I have enough stitching to show you. Yesterday I stitched a strawberry.

So I thought "What do I talk about?"  Well, I've been thinking a lot about vacuum cleaners.  Let me explain.  I really have been trying to clean up my sewing room after reading the book "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up".  It gave me a different perspective on my stuff.  I decided that DH was right, I have too much stuff. It's taken me 43 years to finally admit that he is right.  I have too many kits. I was trying to get that big bag of stuff I bought over the last two years all sorted out and put away.  The book says to put everything in one big pile first.  Just so you know what you have.  I had totally forgotten about 40% of what I have.  I didn't put everything in one pile because the pile would be TOO BIG!  I just wanted to get rid of that big bag on the floor.  Some of the stuff I was given at a retreat.  I don't really want it but it was free.  It seems like at every retreat we get a bag of some sort.  It is really hard for me to throw away a perfectly good bag.  But I don't need twenty of them.  I am in the (bad) habit of buying certain designers when ever they come out with a new design.  While I was cleaning out I decided that I WILL NOT BUY ANYTHING THAT I DON'T LIKE.  DUH!  I will have to love something before I buy it.  I know that sounds like a no-brainer, but I have purchased a lot of stuff I don't even like.

Then I thought about the kits that I have.  They are like vacuum cleaners.  They cost about the same and they are cluttering up my sewing room.  Do I need a hundred vacuum cleaners?  No of course not.  This must be how DH sees my stash.  Tons of vacuum cleaners taking up space.  So whenever I see a new kit, I will ask myself, "Do I need another vacuum cleaner?"  Do I love it?  Don't even get me started on vacuum cleaner attachments (scrims)!  With all the money I save by thinking before buying, I could be driving a Lexus.
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Shopping

I've been shopping!  Santa wanted me to pick out things he could give me for Christmas.  That is a fun task!  Shopping is time consuming and sometimes a bit frustrating when you can't find what you are looking for.
This morning it was Macy's, Michael's and Target.  I'm going to get the stuff I couldn't find online.
I forgot to wear my FitBit this morning.  Rats, I get no credit for my walk.  (That's my excuse Aunt Mary and I'm sticking to it!)

My stitching is very slow at the moment.  I am still embroidering background elements on the front of Harmony.  I've got a couple of tufts of grass to get done today.

I got some more on the trinket box front.

I have slowed to a crawl on the Mermaid Tapestry.

I also ran across the BAP.  I have the first page of the chart done and am starting the second page.  You can't tell what it is yet.  (a John Singer Sargent painting)  I like working on it but it is very time consuming as you combine two colors of floss for each symbol.

I am counting down the days until Thanksgiving.  DS#1 and DIL are coming to visit!  Time to make prune bread again.
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Luci

When I went to a class this last weekend.  I took my new gadget with me.  It is a Luci light.

  It is solar powered and small and light so it fits in my sewing bag very well.

It lasted about 6 hours.  I thought these lights were so cool that I got one for DH too.  I've been waiting for the electricity to go out so I could see how it worked.  Of course the electricity hasn't gone out so I've been wanting an opportunity to use it.
You blow it up.

 It has three settings: low light, brighter light and flashing light and off.

 It worked pretty well and you can manipulate it to get the light directed where you want. You can lay it on it's side if you want.

 It also has a handle on top so you could hang it like in a tent when you are camping.  I never go camping.  I'm a princess and princesses need full bathroom facilities available at all times.
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A Book

I'm a lucky duck.  DS#1 and DS#2 sent me Amazon gift certificates for my birthday and I have had fun spending them.  I saw a book review on Mary Corbet the other day.  So I went looking for the book on Amazon even though it is available from another place.  It was more expensive on Amazon but I spent a while looking at other embroidery books.  I ended up ordering this one:

I love the butterflies.

They look simple enough that maybe I could make them.  The directions are in the back of the book.

I went digging yesterday.  I wanted to make some more progress on my trinket box.  This is the design that I want on the front and sides.  It is from the same sampler as the top design.

I stared it a long time ago.  So I went looking for that and found it.  I put it down when I was having trouble with the queen stitches in a flower.  This is stitched on 40 count.

But now I want to do the whole front, back and sides in one long strip.  So I'm starting over.  I basted the sections and started in the middle of the front so I can adjust it to fit as I go.  (I'm an optimist obviously)

We'll see how it all works out.
It's Monday and my bathrooms are clean.  I saw at least 8 deer this morning as I was walking.  It is a lovely day and the sun is shining.
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