Come Look at My Jell-O

It is a brain.  I dug out my brain mold for Halloween. 

There is no progress on Little Bo Peep or First Stitches. 

But Gracie got Moonie's Harvest Pumpkin on Tuesday this week.  Considering that the Post Office said Gracie's Grandmother would not get it until Wednesday, that was pretty good.  She took it to Gracie on Tuesday.  When Gracie took it out of the box, she said that it was Moonie.  Not too bad. 

I pressed heat transfers onto 70 tote bags this week.  It was decided that I only needed to do 70 and not 100.  Another project down. 

My next project for Just Cross Stitch magazine arrived last Friday.  I made a wrong cut when I serged the edges and have to wait for a new piece of linen to come, maybe tomorrow. 

This is my next new project but it is going to be put on hold for a while.It is Dog House Sampler from Little House Needleworks.  I am substituting the white floss for the ecru floss because it will show up better on the linen I selected.  It will become another pillow for a child,  a little boy this time.  I had stitched all of the alphabet but had to pick out everything beginning with the third row.  I miscounted the location of the "H" so the whole row was off and I based the next rows on it, consequently they were off too,  It is almost like starting from the beginning.  I will have little time to stitch on it when the new linen comes from Just Cross Stitch.  I do stitch on it a little in the evening but some of the time in the evening, I have been knitting.

Yes, Christine, I commented on your most recent entry so I am writing an entry.  I was looking through the bogs I follow before I went to compose the entry.  There is lots to tell you so let's begin at the beginning.  I have four finished to make up.  I think I have never had that many at one time. 

My first ornament of the year.  Four years ago I made a friend Patience in the Christmas Virtues Series I by Thea Dueck.  I made it for the only person I knew at the time who would appreciate Patience.  It had significant meaning for her.  Each subsequent year I have made another Christmas Virtue, Faith, Hope, and now Charity. 

This is Moonie's Harvest Pumpkin Pillow.  It was made especially for a certain little girl named Gracie.  Gracie has some serious physical issues.  She had extensive surgery this summer to help relieve the issues.  She has a little black cat named Moonie.  I got this cute freebie pattern from her grandmother and decided to stitch it for her customizing it to more closely resemble Moonie.  Moonie has amber eyes and I know that the eyes do not go very well with the pumpkin.  Moonie also has black lips like my black cat Mooch but I made the lips pink because black would not show up very well; I already knew it would not show up well.  I tried using black thread with black blending filament for the nose which is black like Mooch's.  It did not show up so I stitched on a small black button.  I stitched in whiskers with charcoal gray thread because her whiskers are black like Mooch's; it is subtle but the whiskers do show.  I pieced the pillow top with red fabric because red is Gracie's favorite color.  And, yes, I know it does not go well with the pumpkin.  The name of the game is this is specifically for Gracie. 
The horizontal paisley stripes at the top and bottom of the top are leftovers from my sons' Siamese twins costume for the musical the high school did during their senior year; that was back in November, 1987.  They became the Siamese twins because they are twins, because one of them worked on the production crew for several years, and because they were seniors.  We called the character The Meezies and we still call the character The Meezies.  The fabric in the vertical stripes close to Moonie are from the leftovers of the Meezies' coat; it is the yellow diamonds on red.  We still have one of the coats and I wear it during the winter.  When one of the guys saw the pillow, the first thing he said was "The Meezies." 

Little Bo Peep is coming along.  This is the top and I think you can see some of the glitter in the stripe fabric.  For family privacy, I have blotted out her name and birthdate.  The top is still missing its ruffle.  It will be the dark pink fabric and maybe there will be a second ruffle of white eyelet. 

First Stitches is finished with all the beads.  I need to stretch it on some mat board and pop it into its frame.  Finishing these last two may be interrupted.  

I have to fuse a transfer on each of 100 tote bags for our church.  I am also expecting a new project from Just Cross Stitch.  Speaking of which my white poinsettia is in the current issue.  That is what I was working on when I broke my arm earlier this year. 

In the evenings I feel the need to stitch so I am working on a new design which will become a pillow for another child.  I will show that to you next week, maybe.  There is just too much in this post to do it now.  I am also digging out another XOUFO and lining up the threads for it. 

Little Bo Peep is done except for the child's name and birth date.  They will be at the bottom between the little blue flowers but I doubt that you will see them.  I plan to not disclose them in the interest of family privacy.  I have actually finished stitching them and have begun to piece the top. 

I have finished all of the stitching and have begun to stitch on the beads.  I have gotten as far as the beginning of the butterfly row. 















I was going to show you a finished Christmas ornament but I did not finish it today.  Instead I cut back a lot of the iris, did a significant amount of laundry, made applesauce from our apples, and watched the installation of our new garage door.  It is much more weather tight than the old door.  The ornament is stitching and finishing so quickly that I do not plan to show it in progress.  I can show it to you next week along with Moonie's Harvest Pumpkin. 

Chatting a Little with You

I am going to go back to the comments to my last post; there were some questions and comments that I would like to address. 

Faith asked if I started First Stitches in 2000.  Yes, I did.  I stitched the final stitches of Last Stitches on 31 December 1999 and the first stitches of First Stitches on 1 January 2000.  I continued stitching daily until I got to the butterfly row.  I needed to have a filler row to take up the horizontal threads that would be left when I rewrote the wording to read "First stitches of 2000" which would go with "Last stitches of 1999" on Last Stitches.  I completely bogged down on that and put the sampler away until this year. 

Annebelle asked if the projects are for myself or someone else.  First Stitches is for me and I have the mats and frame to go with those of Last Stitches.  I will hang them together where I can see them frequently and often.  Little Bo Peep will be pieced into a pillow top for the daughter of our nephew whom I will just refer to as our niece.  The pillow will have a tooth fairy pocket on the back.  I made a Little Boy Blue pillow for her brother. 

I answered Christine privately right after I posted her comment.  She lives in Cornwall and I needed to explain some general things about education in the US and specific things about the school district in which I live.  Kindergarten in the US is comparable to Y1 in Great Britain.

Now for where I am.  Monday mornings I go to school to help with one class of kindergarteners.  Tomorrow I get to have extra time with them.  They are going on a field trip to the local fire station to  learn about fire safety.  It is close enough that they will walk.  I will be a chaperone.  Please wish me well as I am certain they will be exuberant.  My son will be one of the firefighters conducting the lesson and I am certain my teacher will point that out to them as well as the fact that Firefighter Bill is the father of one of the children in the class. 

Little Bo Peep, except for her shoes and the hill are done.  I need to stitch in the sheep, the flowers, Little Bo Peep's shoes, and the tree. 

The design work is almost finished.  The end is coming into sight. 

I just forget

It seems to be very difficult for me to keep on track with my blog entries; that is even though it helps me keep on track with my stitching.  What have I been doing?  This morning before the sun rose, I walked 3.25 miles.  It was all uphill as I climbed out of the Mississippi River valley.  Now I am cleaning radiators; it is a messy, thankless task.  I really need to clean all of them before I begin to paint the three I have marked for painting.  I can only hope it improves our fuel efficiency during the winter.  Simultaneously I am working on the laundry.  It certainly is not glamorous work.  I love my kindergarteners; they are a lovely class.  We took them to an apple orchard for their first field trip.  They were extremely exuberant on the bus but noisy.  They did not yell or scream; they just talked loudly constantly.  We had a full bus with two classes in it.  By the time we got back to the school, it seemed like they had sapped every ounce of my energy.  It is good that their parents are much younger than I am.

I do continue to stitch. 

As you can see the arch around Little Bo Peep is finished and I have stitched in the sky.  

I continue to make progress on my XOUFO.  The stitching is going much easier and quickly since I finished the pansy row. 

A Little Stitching, A Little Painting

We have been painting.  Our associate pastor and her family are moving into the parsonage.  We need to paint.  So I have been painting.  My son, our senior pastor and I painted her future sewing room.  My son and I also did some clean up work.  All in all, it has been rewarding but tiring.  It has motivated me to think a little more seriously about the painting we must do.  This week I picked up a gallon of ceiling paint and a gallon of wall paint.  Because they blend one into another, I selected colors from a single paint card for the front entry, bedroom hallway, passage way from the front entry to the living room, and the living rooom.  The front entry is extremely small; the bedroom hall and passage way to the living room are confined and have no natural light.  So those three areas will be the lighter shade while the living room which is quite large and has south and east windows will be the darker shade.  I picked up the lighter paint because where it will be going are three small areas and the living room is so large it is scary.  I need to begin by vacuuming the corners and prepping the walls.  I think the radiators will be what I paint first.  They are such a pain to paint that if I have them done before I paint the walls, the painting should seem like a breeze. 

Our church youth program has been giving the confirmation students a fleece blanket when they are confirmed.  It is a reminder that as they wrap themselves in the blanket, the members of the congregation figuratively wrap their arms around them and stand behind them.  We stitch a patch of the United Methodist symbol on the blankets.  I stitched eight but the eighth blanket was flawed.  Fortunately I did not wait until the last minute to do it and we have ample time to arrange for an exchange. 

I have just barely begun Little Bo Peep. 

My XOUFO is coming along very nicely.  The row with the nine pansies took a long time and was very fussy to stitch.  The final parts should progress very quickly in comparison. 

Back to Normal

I have had a couple designs to stitch for Annie's Publishing.  The last one is in the post and is due to be delivered tomorrow.  I have had some time to decompress over the weekend. 
First off, I want to show you another finish. 

This is Blue Carnations by Thea Dueck, Victoria Sampler.  I have modified it to be a birth sampler and changed the colors.  They are the same colors I used to stitch samplers for each of her older sisters. 

I am very pleased to say that it and the wedding sampler shown in the previous post are now in the possession of their intended owners. 

It does not get much better than that. 

Not much progress on my XOUFO.  The UFO always is left out when I have a stitching assignment. 

My new project is Little Bo Peep, one of the Country Cottage Kids by Country Cottage Needleworks. 

I will make it into a pillow with a tooth fairy pocket for the daughter of one of our nephews

  Today is Cosmo's first birthday.  Unfortunately he is the definition of a bad boy.  His defenders say that he is not a bad boy just that he has no conscience and acts before he thinks, if indeed he can think.  I can tell you that he has put his claws in the curtains and made huge rips in them and that he jumps on my back and sinks he claws into it. 

Mister Mooch has permanently unfriended him.  It seems that Mooch does not like being swatted; does not like being jumped upon; does not like being bitten and chewed upon; and does not like seeing Cosmo in his food. 

Cosmo is now keeping his distance from Mooch. 

My Finish

The wedding sampler is finished and in its frame.  It was a struggle every step of the way but very much worth the effort.  Currently I am waiting to hear from my sister in law to make arrangements to deliver it to her. 

Back At Last

Okay, I just scanned through all the posts in other blogs since I was last here two weeks ago.  I finished a little project for Annie's Publishing.  I have no idea what they are doing with it because I think it is not for Just Cross Stitch.  In any case, it seems like it is all a closed subject because my check arrived in the post today. 
It has been a little difficult for me to settle back into my stitching. 

My last posted picture of the wedding sampler shows it completed but not in its frame.  That has been fraught with problems.  First I had to locate some 1/8 inch foam core because 3/16 inch is too thick.  I cut the foam core and laced the sampler to it.  I could not line it up squarely behind the mats; it just would not work.  With much frustration, I cut the sampler off the foam core.  With some help I hauled the mat cutter upstairs and set it up.  Please keep in mind that I have never used this mat cutter since it was given to me a number of years ago.  After spending half a day learning how to set it up and how to use it, it cut the foam core with lovely straight, even, and smooth edges. Ahhhhh, I thought, I will get that sampler on here so quickly and it will just jump behind the mats, not so.  I had to carefully manipulate the sampler but it is now taped to the foam core and looks rather even and square.  It has been sitting there of almost a week.  At first I thought I would just leave it taped in place.  Then I decided to stitch the corners and leave the edges taped.  Now I think I will also lace the edges in place.  I am not certain when I will begin but it ought to be sometime this week.  Please keep me in mind to silently urge me to resume the framing process. 

There is some nice little progress to show you on the birth sampler.  This week I plan to paint the dowel and finials for it.  Last week I picked up some lovely pearl cotton to make cording and a tassel for it. 

My very old UFO, otherwise know as XOUFO (Extra Old Unfinished Object) has been languishing.  I have only done a little bit more on the band of pansies.  But I did make a correction to the mats for Last Stitches.  The mats for both Last and First Stitches were made with a spacer.  As nice as it looks, it was not going to work because it made the back stick out way beyond the frame.  I knew I would have to take the mats apart to take the spacer out but I was very hesitant to do so because I feared ruining the mats.  I did try with the mats for Last Stitches and was successful.  I feel confident I can correct the mats for First Stitches when I am ready to frame it. 

Nancy's Giveaway

Nancy of Victorian Motto Sampler Shoppe is hosting a giveaway to celebrate her birthday. 
Visit her blog to enter. 
The drawing will take place 14 August 2014.  
She is one of the most generous people around. 
Her products are extremely nice.  You would love to have something from her shop. 

A Little More Progress

Here is the birth sampler; for obvious reasons, I am trying to preserve a little anonymity for the recipient and her family.  The colors are the same as I used for the birth samplers for both of her older sisters.  Besides the name and birth date, I added the row of pulled thread work under the date to better balance the personalization with the rest of the design.  With a little bit of luck, I will be able to resume my stitching during the coming weekend; however, I will not be stitching on Sunday as we have an out of town obligation in the afternoon. 

The Wedding Sampler Advances Slowly

As I predicted, the post this week is very slim.  Probably next week too. 
The charts I am supposed to stitch for Annie's Publishing arrived this past Monday and I need to try to get them back in the post a week from yesterday.  Remains to be seen whether or not I can do it. 

But, the most exciting news is that I got the bride's initials last Friday and stitched them into the sampler before the model arrived.  Yes, the wedding sampler is stitched.  The frame and mats should be ready for me some time this coming week.  Remains to be seen when I can mount the sampler and pop everything into the frame. 

In a Holding Pattern, Sort Of

Except for the initials of the bride and groom, the sampler is finished and just waiting. 
I have added a lineage in the margin which will not show when it is framed to show my relationship to the groom. 
Yesterday I selected and ordered the mats and frame.  It was difficult to select the mats because there are not many peaches and apricots in the mats. 

Progress on my long overdue First Stitches is slow and only going to become slower. 
The row of square eyelets takes up some extra space that appeared after I made some modifications in the sampler bands.  I will most likely add something between the groups but will wait to make a decision until I have seen the finished sampler. 
From this row of pansies on, there will be no significant changes. 

Unfortunately, I will be setting this long suffering UFO aside for a few weeks.  My editor at Just Cross Stitch is sending me a little project with a very short turnaround time.  You know that I cannot share it with you until it has been published.  My blog entries will be a little thin after the packet arrives. 

Before I found out about the new project from JCS, I selected a new project to work until I got the initials for the wedding sampler. 
I had already taken a picture of it to share with you. 

I will start with Blue Carnations from Victoria Sampler.  It is going to become a birth sampler.  The colors that I will use are the same ones I used to make a birth sampler for each of her older sisters. 

Stitching Progress Report

The wedding sampler is coming along very well. 
The bottom has a line of eight carnations. 
Currently, I am waiting for the bride's initials.  I hope that she agrees to use three as I think that will look better than two. 

First Stitches is also looking good. 
My revised wording fits perfectly; I may add a few beads at the beginning and ending of the line. 
Currently I am working out the band of stitching to absorb the space left from the original wording and rearrangement of one of the other bands. 
This is proving to be a little more complex than I had originally thought.  Right now my plan is to stitch a band of pulled threadwork.  I need to stitch a little sample to help me better work out the right and left side placements.  Hopefully that will work well and then I can stitch it in. 

It is finished as in completely finished

My sad little wedding sampler is no longer sad. 
It is in its frame and ready to go to its intended recipients. 

Also, I have completed and returned the model I was stitching for Just Cross Stitch.  The thread arrived and I finished the stitching that evening.  I popped it in the post and it was promptly delivered yesterday. 

There is not a lot of progress on the new wedding sampler but in my mind, every little bit is an advancement toward completion.  Now I will be able to concentrate on it and my current UFO. 

Stitching and Waiting

 No work on the UFO for this week. 
Last week I misspoke.  There were actually four different fibers stitched in the wedding sampler. 
Now this week I have finished the verse and added Algerian eyelets in the partial border.  . 
I think I need to pick out some of the previous stitching because I allowed one of the fibers to become too worn and it looks a little unattractive. 

For most of the past week, I have been stitching but I cannot disclose what it is until after Just Cross Stitch publishes it.  For the moment, I have gone as far as I can with it until some more of one of the threads arrives.  That means a little time to work on the wedding sampler. 

Prgressing Slowly but Surely

This past week I received a new design to stitch for Just Cross Stitch.  I think that I will have to set aside my UFO project.  I am not yet certain if I have to set aside the wedding sampler too. 

As you can readily see, I have a little progress to show you.  The butterfly bodies are stitched in Waterlilies Meadow.  There are still two colors of beads to go in the wings;  I will add the beads when I have completed all of the stitching.  The band below the butterflies is worked in crossed corners stitches.  I substituted Grape Melange by The thread Gatherer. 

I have a little progress to show you on the wedding sampler.  There are now two types of silk threads and they are different shades of off white. 

A Little Progress

First let's look in on the UFO. 

The little motifs at the bottom will morph into five butterflies.  For some reason, they were very difficult for me to stitch; it was hard for me to keep track of the counting.  I was extremely relieved when I finished them. 

As I was stitching the butterfly band, I made a discovery.  I had completely forgotten that I substituted Waterlilies Meadow for the light and medium blue-greens in the garland with the roses.  I also checked and I am certain that I used DMC ecru #8 and #12 pearl cotton. 

There is a little progress on the wedding sampler.  The light has made the fabric look like it is an overdye which it is not.  The color is actually a solid from the manufacturer.  The actual color is extremely pale; it may be close to what is shown in the center. 

New Projects

After the two completions last week, I needed to find one new project and one UFO to finish.

The new one was easy.  One of our nephews is going to be married in September.  I am making a wedding sampler.  His mother, my husband's sister, suggested using light peach in the sampler.
The most recent issue of Just Cross Stitch had arrived a day or two before we found out about the wedding.  I was captivated by the My Heart Wedding Sampler designed by Karen Kluba of Rosewood Manner. 

Above the picture of the sampler is some light peach linen that I found in my stash.  Does it get any better than this?

Since the threads were selected for antique white linen, I had to substitute them out.  With the help of one of the needlepoint experts at Three Kittens, it turned out to be fairly easy. 

Below is a picture of the threads on the linen.

Now for the UFO.  That was a little more difficult because there are so many from which to choose.  The one that I finally chose was not even on my radar.  It's finish is long overdue.

It is First Stitches from Just Nan.  I had finished Last Stitches but First Stitches was languishing. 

First of all, I changed the wording from My Last Stitches of the 20th Century to Last Stitches of 1999.  That necessitated changing the wording of First Stitches from My First Stitches of the 21st Century to First Stitches of 2000.  The original wording is not correct because 2000 is really the last year of the 20th Century.  My wording is correct. 

With that change of wording, I ended up with a shorter sampler for Last Stitches.  I added a band to take up the space and ended up changing out a couple of the other bands.  I also substituted Meadow Waterlilies by Caron Collection for some of the green and Parfait Waterelilies by Caron Collection for some of the blue in Last Stitches.  I think that I need to show you a picture of the originally designed Last Stitches and my version. 

I have the same issue with First Stitches and had a difficult time finding suitable stitches to make up a band to absorb the additional space.  I had decided to substitute Grape Melange by Thread Gatherer for some of the purples.  I am not certain if I decided  to substitute Meadow for some of the green but I think that I will find a good place to add it.  Because I had so much trouble finding the specialty stitches, I put it all away and forgot about it.  It has now been so long that I have forgotten any previous substitutions and/or changes I might have decided upon.  It feels like I am starting over with a new project with the exception that I have stitched the top of the sampler. 

The band at the bottom of what I have stitched is not what was originally designed.  It was a bargello-ish satin stitch in dark periwinkle and reddish orchid.  My version is two rows of herringbone stitch in Grape Melange each overlaid by a row of herringbone stitch in off white pearl cotton but I think it might be creme silk pearl.  I need to search out whether or not I have some silk pearl that might be correct tucked away with my other silks and separately from the silks I had selected for both designs. 

I made many substitutions in Last Stitches, the final stitches of which were done on 31 December 1999.  I began making substitutions in First Stitches, the first of which were done on 1 January 2000; I think the are more to come. 

Buttons? Maybe a Zipper?

We have been looking for Cosmo's buttons but have not been successful.  We began to think that perhaps he has a zipper.  But the search has come up empty-handed to date. 

Look for yourself to see if you can find anything. 

A Real Life Kliban?

Do you think Cosmo looks like a Kliban Cat?
Here is a selection of Kliban Cats.  

In the first place these are all activities and poses that are typical of Cosmo.  Obviously Cosmo and the Kliban Cats are stripey cats.  Cosmo has a tendency to be a little plump, so much so, that we have begun to call him Pudge.   No matter what we do, he always looks pudgy; some family members think it is because he has short legs but I think his short legs have nothing to do with it.  When he sits down or lies down, his body spreads out; it just spreads out.  He, unfortunately, will never be svelte.