As Seen in the Paper

From the Baltimore Sun, a story of people recreating history with needles and thread. Read here.

The three women, part of a core group of about 10 needlepointers, are stitching the second of the three tapestries, each 3 feet by 6 1/2 feet, in a needlepoint project known as the Annapolis Tapestries.

And really? They needed to point out that tapestry needle are dull and there's no risk of newbies bleeding onto the canvas? How cute is that?

End of Year Confessions

Let's start with the good news. The day before Christmas Eve I was able to spend a few hours in my room reorganizing. The major overhaul will happen in January when I return home. Elfa's on sale at the Container Store - which I have been waiting for since the last sale - LOL.

And though I had to go in the room on December 24th to locate some scrapbooking supplies for my DH at which point I knocked a bag full of supplies that I still haven't picked up, I was able to walk into the room on Christmas day and pack up a few projects to bring with me to New Hampshire. And I might have stashed a bag or two of things there for safekeeping. Still it looks way better than when I posted those ugly photos of my mess. 


Thus after a happy Christmas day, the next morning we woke up at o'dark thirty and packed up the car with presents and hit the road. The good news, hardly any trucks on the road and greatly reduced traffic. The bad news, lots of grandparents driving home doing 45 in the left hand lane of the interstate with their blinkers on and a twelve dollar charge to cross the George Washington bridge. 


I only managed to finish 6 of my 15 Crazy January Challenge. I've got a couple of them with me here, but I doubt I'll finish them before January 1st. I don't regret participating in this little experiment. I love what I did finish. And everything I started last January will just roll over into 2012's WIPocalypse, the details of how I'll be doing this won't be able till I get home in January. 


Yesterday I drove right past Yankee Cross Stitch without stopping. Bet you never thought I could do that. 


Well, there really isn't anything I need right now. OR WANT. Wow. Stop the presses. That's news!


Or maybe I should confess that I still have to order my Stitch of the Month kit from the Scarlet Thread and I have another secret which I will confess to.


And I'm telling you this because some of you might want this one, too. 


I signed up for Amy Mitten's Friesland Winders' Keeper. See it here. Don't forget to look at the other two versions


I have not stitched anything by Amy, but I might have a pattern or two in my stash. I love her Autopsy of the Montenegrin Stitch book. 


Between Stitch o' the Month, the Kimono class and Ms. Mitten's, I think I have a pretty full dance card. 


Lastly, January is coming. And with it comes the fun of a retreat weekend in Ocean City, Maryland. I will have a stash enhancement opportunity as I have a gift certificate that I won at Seminar to spend at Salty Yarns. 


2012 is shaping up nicely! If I don't get back here before December 31st, I'd like wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas

The sun has set not long ago. We're all still reading and playing and contemplating pie. 

A lovely, joyous day.

Christmas Eve

Just the three of us this year. Our daughter is with her grandparents in New Hampshire. 

Dinner is finished and the dishes are done. And we're sitting here watching A Charlie Brown Christmas - the show that killed the production of aluminum Christmas trees. Not necessarily a bad thing. 

We'll be leaving in a couple of days to head north ourselves. 

No snow there either. 

Not that I'm complaining. 

Last year, I took my first stitches on my cajun Santa on Christmas Day. It's finished and hanging on my tree. 

 Kitty always has fun on any occasion that calls for unwrapping. 

Merry Christmas everyone!

A Finish And...

A finish and a start? 

Let's begin with Forever in Blue Jeans. 

Yeah for me! 

The real question is now how long it will it remain an unfinished finish? The plan is to make it into a purse with a beaded fringe. The potential hold up - am I experienced enough to do this myself? A question that will not be answered any time too soon.

And immediately after clearing a UFO from the closet, I started a new project. ROFL!

What am I thinking? 

Anyone recognize it? (No fair answering if you see it later today at Thursday stitching group.)

 

Stitching Update

Fabulously I did get to Tuesday Night Stitching. We were celebrating a birthday with cupcakes from Fluffy Thoughts - terrible name, isn't it? Every time I hear it, I think of Space Ghost. (Either you get it or you don't.)

And I got to see a very cute and extremely cooperative baby. Always a good thing.

And I mostly I got to stitch!

Hallelujah for that. 

This is where I am on my Viola Scissor Case. I was thinking I might finish this by Christmas, but now it's more likely that it will be New Year's Day.

 I found this project in my closet. I wanted to stitch on a canvas, but didn't want a BAP! This is Forever in Blue Jeans by Northern Pine Designs. I've made some changes and will make some more before it's finished. I love this piece and can hardly believe how long it's taken me to get this far. It will be finished as a purse backed with denim fabric. 


There's some huge crescents - count 1-64 with a five foot thread - that go in the blank space.

When I reached this point last night, that's when I put this down and picked up my scissor case. At 10 p.m. I knew I wouldn't be able to count that high correctly.

I'm still kind of lacking the holiday spirit, as per usual. Glad to know I'm not the only one. Some years it's worse than other years. But I could give up Christmas entirely if not for the fact that my husband enjoys it so. 

Off for one more round of shopping now. 

edit - blogger only published half of this post. I hope I've fixed it. What a pain.
 

Naughty or Nice?

He looks naughty, but he's really nice. 

Elvis loves Christmas. And birthdays. Anytime you want to toss paper around he's more than willing to join the fun. 

There's a gift or two or seven under our tree. I'm making progress. But somehow I'm still not having fun. 

I'm trying to learn to let go of the crushing expectations. I know the other people will adjust, but can I? 

Anyway. I'm not going to wrap any more today. Beef stew is cooking. I've got a cup of Polar Bear tea. Elvis is snoozing in his rocking chair. Time for me to find some equanimity courtesy of a needle and thread.

Catch Up

On Wednesday we had a lovely luncheon at Mt. Vernon. As always the Inn was nicely decorated and the food was fine. 

Our lecturer was Susan Schoelwer who is now a curator at Mt. Vernon. Previously she worked for the Connecticut Historical Society and is the author of

Connecticut Needlework: Women, Art, and Family, 1740-1840

which I have a copy of somewhere upstairs. 

In this past year I discovered family roots in Connecticut that I didn't know we had. I did get to ask Susan after the program if she knew of any pieces associated with that name in Connecticut and the answer was no. Though I dream of one day finding a connection to a historic textile, I really don't think it's going to happen. 

Of course we made the requisite stop at In Stitches afterwards and I may have changed my mind about my colors for the Kimono class. Just call me crazy. 

It seems that I get stuck with a color palette in my head sometimes. And thus the colors that I'm working with for a design of my own on canvas, have become the colors of my Kimono. 

Which is what happened to me with my Molehill to Mountain. We talked about block 4 last night at our chapter meeting. I have on this project - 1 completed block, 1 block 2/3rds finished, and 1 block barely started. I know I need to work on this piece more, but it's not a casual pick up. Takes me a bit to reorient myself every time I do pick it up. And that means I need to stitch on it a bit more often. It's not a good project if you're not in the mood to make decisions, I do know that. 

I'm at the social obligations winding down stage of December. We had a marvelous potluck yesterday with my Thursday group. Now I just need to do a touch more shopping and plenty of wrapping. I'm not losing sleep over any of it.

 

Time for Fun

Today is the day for the D.C. Chapter's holiday luncheon at Mt. Vernon. These have been very entertaining for the past two years and this year looks to be as much fun as in the past. 

I'm carpooling with a friend and we'll fit in a trip to In Stitches on the way home. I will be auditioning metallics for my Kimono class.

Did not get to stitch a single bit yesterday, but while power shopping I stopped for myself at the used bookstore and found a few interesting finds. They are still in the car so the info will have to wait.

A Life Well-Lived

I am sad to report that famed needleworker, Erica Wilson, has passed from this world.