Looking Ahead and Back

Last week several of us met at Jeanette's for a stitch day and gabfest. It was a lovely way to spend a lazy day over the holidays. I got lots of stitching done on the Pumpkin Lane piece (more later) and got some ideas for what I might want to stitch in the future.

Barb, Marilyn, Jen1, and I all love Winter Rose Manor and all of us already had the chart so we thought, "Why not do our own stitchalong?".  I mined my stash for some possible fabric and headed to Kim's yesterday to buy the flosses I need beyond what I have in my stash. I did a couple of substitutions - a pinker shade (CCW Bella Rosa) for the house, and a whiter shade (Khaki Mocha) for the snow and basket.

The fabric is Picture This Plus 40ct Fawn - a piece from Kim's remnant box from a while back.

You see, one of my 'resolutions' is to use up as much of my stash as I can before shopping for more stuff. I only buy items to fill in the gaps - what I don't have for a particular project.

Another start I want to do is the Redwork Pears chart that I got when we visited Hobby House Needleworks. It's an Annie Beez Folk Art design. I purchased the called-for Cranberry Cocktail silk to go with it. Again, I will find a suitable fabric from my stash for this project.

It will be a very quick stitch.

There are lots of wool felt appliqué projects I'd like to work on. I never did work on any of the ugly Christmas sweater ornaments. Jen1 gave me a French General mini charm pack which are the perfect size for an English Paper Piecing project. It has all these beautiful patterns in the 2 1/2" squares.

I also have the 5" squares of Liberty fabrics.

Then there's a bunch of sewing I'd like to do. I could use some more project bags. Of course, I could finish some projects to free up some I already have...

I'd also like to make myself another project roll and something for all my cute Peanuts prints. I received more selvages from Sue and Jen1 so would like to create more items from them.

Yesterday I put the final stitches into the model for 'Houses on Pumpkin Lane' by Pansy Patch Quilts and Stitchery. I can't show you the last three houses yet but you can see how big a project it was to put them all onto one piece of fabric - 347 x 277 or 19.3" x 15.4" on 36ct. The first four houses are available from your LNS or the Pansy Patch website. Butternut House and Candy Apple House release to shops next Thursday, January 5, 2023. The last three will be available at Market the first weekend in March. They are sold individually but the layout and borders are a free .pdf download from the website. 

I started it about June 25 and I'm so pleased to have it finished before year end. I don't think I've ever worked so much on one piece in such a short time. Especially one this big. The called-for fabric is 36ct Sand by Picture This Plus.

I have another model I would like to get finished ASAP. Teresa Kogut sent it to me back in August and I've only been able to work on it intermittently.

The colours are very rich and very much in the palette that Teresa uses a lot.

Today also would have been my sister, Valerie's, 78th birthday. 

I have been thinking about her and her daughters a lot and know they'll be missing her terribly. 

I will be very glad to put 2022 behind me and look forward to lots of crafty pursuits, fun with friends and family, and a very Happy New Year and 2023. I wish all the same to you as well.

The Pressure is Off

I think I got everything done that needed to get done before Christmas. I was in a bit of a panic at the beginning of this week as I was still painting cards, wrapping gifts, buying last-minute items, composing and sending our annual Christmas newsletter, finishing an ornament for the guild's ornament exchange, and prepping for the holidays.

This is the ornament I stitched for my Secret Santa person. It's the Vintage Christmas Ornament by Victoria Sampler and was in Issue #34 of 'The Gift of Stitching' from November 2008. It's a digital stitching magazine that quit publishing in 2012 because of Internet piracy. All the issues can be purchased here. I used threads from my stash, white 28ct Monaco cloth, sparkly beads, and cording made from Perle cotton. There was just a little bit of Hardanger with the Greek cross in the centre.

You can see the rest of the ornaments we exchanged here. 

I can now reveal the ornaments I stitched and mailed a couple of weeks ago. Holy Night by Barbara Ana. I used gold beads for the stars, HotFix 'jewels' for the snowflakes and stitched a Rhodes star.

I had coordinating fabric for the back.

I used a beaded border around this one. It's from the 2005 Christmas issue of Just Cross Stitch magazine. I corrected the key signature.

Not surprisingly, all the finishing items were from my stash - fabric, cording, threads, beads, etc.

The niece I stitched this for loves 'bling' so I alternated cross stitches with HotFix jewels in the border.

Next year I must get my finishing done sooner - perhaps dedicate a day in November for the task?

I sewed some gift items for some of my stitchy friends but, of course, wrapped and gifted them before remembering to take photos of them. Suffice it to say they were well received.

I have already ordered a bunch of 2023 charms. 

I only baked one recipe this year - my pressed sugar cookies. There was no green and red candied peel left at the bulk food store when I got there so I used quartered green and red candied maraschino cherries. They tasted really good on the cookies.

I gave all but a few away.

Next week we hope to get together for a sewing/stitching day. Once Christmas is over, we can relax a bit. The days leading up to Christmas is a very busy time so it will be nice to have it all behind us. 

Skip and I have been invited to a friend's place for Christmas dinner so I don't have to worry about preparing a dinner that day. Scooter will be with his mother and that family. We will see him again in the new year. I owe Skip a birthday dinner from a local, fancy restaurant and have a seasoned, spatchcocked chicken in the freezer just waiting to be thawed and cooked. 

We have been thoroughly enjoying spending the evenings in front of our wood-burning fireplace and Christmas tree, streaming videos. I get quite a bit of stitching done on the models I'm working on.

Almost all the ornaments on my tree were handmade. I love turning off all the lamps and sitting in the glow of the electronic candles (on the left of the mantle) and my tree lights. Such a cozy feeling.

Skip is STILL having tests done. I believe there will be at least one more before they determine what treatment he'll undergo. It is really annoying to be in this holding pattern for so long. 

That aside, I hope to get a LOT of stitching done over the next few days. 

I wish all my readers lots of joy over the holidays however celebrate the season.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, Festive Festivus.

More Cards and (Relatively) Local Yarn

I've spent the last couple of days painting, bedazzling, stamping, and crafting Christmas cards.

I did a couple of patterns that I painted last year and a few new ones.

Not a single one is original thought.

They all were inspired by YouTube videos.

I like that they don't take a lot of time to paint. I have a very short attention span for things like this.

They look so spiffy with HotFix jewels and some metallic paint.

I cut the watercolour paper to fit card stock card blanks and envelopes. 

Skip and I have been watching the vlog of a shepherd from SW Ontario throughout the pandemic. Her YouTube channel is Sheepisly Me and as I write this it's lambing time - my favourite time of the year. She has several groups of ewes so lambing occurs about every 4 months.

The last couple of years she has sent the shorn fleeces to the Mariposa Woolen Mill to be processed into rovings and yarn. The sheep are bred for their meet, not their fleece but the mill does a lovely job creating lovely, soft yarn. 

Mariposa also dyes the yarn to Sandi's specifications and this year the theme was 'Blue Christmas'. I missed buying some last time she offered the yarn for sale but this time I set my alarm and managed to score a skein of the 2-ply worsted in the 7 minutes before all was sold out. (Sandi has 867,000 subscribers to her channel so I had a lot of competition buying some of her yarn.)

It arrived in the mail today and is lovely.

I'm looking for the perfect pattern for 100m of worsted weight variegated yarn. A hat would be nice.

Making Cording

I saw Vonna Pfeiffer's new video on a different way to make cording which works for very long strands. Her previous one is also very good.

I use the Kreinik cord drill she uses 

but one could also use a single beater on a hand mixer or a drill to twist the strands. I've used both quite effectively.

I wanted to make cording that looked like that two-colour butcher's cord and thought #10 crochet cotton from my stash would work well. I didn't have enough DMC floss so this was a very acceptable substitute.

Thin yarn like sock yarn would also work well.

I also had a spring clamp which I often use to anchor the block of wood into which I screwed a cup hook. This works with Vonna's older cording video instructions. For the newer technique you simply need to clamp the ends onto something with the clamp. No need for a cup hook.

I used two strands of each colour. When cranking the cording drill I count the number of turns I do on the one colour, then do the same on the other colour. When the two colours have been joined, I crank in the other direction about half the number of turns. 

In fairly short order I had made 4 long strands of bi-colour cording. Here's a little bit I snipped off after wrapping an item I'm getting ready to mail today.

I had everything on hand so didn't have to go out and buy decorative cording. If you do a lot of gift wrapping or ornament finishing, I do recommend you invest in this cording drill. 

OR

If you happen to have a fringe twister, it would also work to make cording. (pictured - Leclerc fringe twisters)

And now to head out and mail my parcels.

Semi-stealth Finishing

 Today I completely finished finishing four of the Christmas ornaments. I can't show the fronts but can show the backs. 

The cording is the same colour as one of the colours on the front.

The backing fabric matches the colours of the stitching very well and has a wintry sentiment. "The true warmth of the season..." and "Today is a good day to be thankful...".

I was fortunate to find backing fabric that perfectly matched the beads on the front. Reds can be hard to match. This was a spool of cording I had in my 'finishing' stash.

This cording was also a purchased spool. I covered the join at the centre back with a HotFix jewel. 

I just need to get these in the mail to their respective recipients.

I have one more stitched ornament to FFO. I may try something a bit different. I have only 2 - 2022 charms left. Phew! That was a close one.

First Christmas Decoration

Yesterday I set up my little Christmas candle 'pyramid'. It's not a tradition or memento from my childhood, I only bought it in 2019 at the Christmas Market in the Distillery District in Toronto. It came with 4 candles which burned right down after a couple of lightings. Replacement candles (10mm) were hard to find or ridiculously expensive so I substituted tea lights and it works fine. If you turn up the audio, you will hear our mantle clock ticking and the light tinkling of the bells on the pyramid.

Today I will get some of the sewing done I need to do. Hopefully I can accomplish more tasks and show on here the ones that aren't secret.

This year I'm not going to sweat what doesn't get done. 

Lots of Stitching I Can't Show You and Late Night Activities

I have not done a post in weeks. It isn't because I haven't been stitching. I have been stitching like a fiend for an upcoming deadline and have had little time to do anything else. I just can't show it because it's for Market in March.

I did sign up for the Jingle Ball and finally got to meet Teresa Kogut via Zoom at her live chat tonight. Only 20 people were online (as opposed to over 600+ at her meet and greet last night) so I figured I'd have a chance to introduce myself. 

I didn't have my camera on initially so only my name was showing. Teresa noticed it so I turned my camera on. Hopefully we'll get to meet in person some day. It was so nice to actually chat with her.

I'm going back to stitching the model for her when I get the current one (#8 of 9 for Pansy Patch Quilts and Stitchery) done or close to done.

I did a bunch of ornament finishing but I can't show them either as they are gifts and need to get mailed off. I will definitely take photos and post them after Christmas. For our guild's ornament exchange, I have the piece stitched, I just need to FFO it.

I have some sewing I want to do as well. I'm going to have to set up my sewing machine in the dining room again to get that done.

The last couple of weeks we we've been busy with Skip's appointments. Only one more procedure for him next week then hopefully his treatment can begin. We have been rather enjoying cocooning at home. It isn't much different than what we've been doing during all of COVID. We haven't really made any Christmas plans - it will be low key - but I'm definitely going to festoon the house with much of my Christmas finery.

I have a bunch of Christmas baking I would like to do as well. 

Last night I thought I'd replace the burned out bulb in my clothes dryer. It took me over a week to figure out where the light was and it was a total pain to remove. I couldn't find any local stores that had replacement bulbs (10W) so ordered a pair from Amazon. They did not offer only one bulb. Good thing, too, because the first bulb I struggled to put in didn't work. Rather than trip the power breaker for the dryer which would have plunged the laundry room into darkness,  I pulled the dryer out to unplug it. Some stuff fell off it and other stuff beside it fell down and made lots of noise. Of course, I started this project at about 11pm and Skip and Scooter (visiting for the weekend) were already in bed upstairs. I had to reassure Skip I was OK after some of the crashing noises. 

Have you pulled your dryer out of its spot lately? I don't remember ever cleaning under there in the 26+ years we've lived in this house. So of course, I had to vacuum, then wash the floor where the dryer had sat. I finally got the second bulb in (and it worked - yay!), the floor clean, the fallen items picked up, the dryer plugged back in, and the dryer vent cleaned out it and reattached, and the dryer and back in place. Phew! That was a real workout. Boy, do I ever have a lot of stuff to clean out of the laundry room. But that will be another time.

The other Amazon purchase I made when I ordered the light bulbs was a moisture tester for our firewood. If you burn wood that is too wet, creosote will build up in the chimney and can catch fire. I got the thing to work and was pleased to see the firewood I had just brought in from outside was dry enough to burn. When I actually started the fireplace tonight, it had dried even more so we had the perfect level of moisture for our cozy fire this evening.

Here I am again composing this at 12:30am. Hopefully tomorrow I can tackle a couple of tasks on my to do list and cross them off.

I'm Back

Skip and I flew down to south Texas on Tuesday, October 25. That night I had to take him to the Emergency Department at the nearest hospital - 40 minutes away. He was admitted that night after some testing and remained in hospital for the next 9 days. We got home last Saturday, November 5. All in all it was a very harrowing experience but I was somewhat comforted while Skip was in the hospital, knowing he was in the best hands possible. We are hoping our travel medical insurance will cover everything. Don't ever leave your province without travel medical insurance. It's not expensive and can save you literally millions of dollars of medical bills.

Since our arrival at home we have been taking it pretty easy alternating with making our way through medical channels here to try and begin the treatment that he needs. Skip's energy is low after all the days in bed in hospital and I'm pooped from all the stress and managing everything. Our lives are not completely our own any more.

Our friends and neighbours have been so supportive. And thank goodness for cell phones and the Internet. 

I had to cancel the Toronto Guild of Stitchery retreat at the Nottawasaga Resort this weekend. there will be other retreats.

I did, however, get some stitching done either at the hospital or in my hotel room and today, finished the 5th house in the Houses on Pumpkin Lane, designed by Lori Pengelly of Pansy Patch Quilts and Stitchery.  Today she sent me the sixth house to stitch the model for her and I'll get it started tonight or tomorrow.

I have a couple of Christmas ornaments I want to fully finish so I need to buy a couple of skeins of DMC for that. There are also a couple of ornaments I would like to stitch for gifts for this Christmas. We'll see how that goes.

No photos on this post. Hopefully next time.

Lids A-Poppin' and Drying Herbs

I processed the 2 pecks (small bushel baskets) of Cortland apples this afternoon. They've been sitting for over a week since I bought them. No sugar was needed as this added ripening time makes the applesauce naturally sweet. The apples were nice and big so there was far less peeling and coring than if they were smaller.

My efforts yielded 8 jars of applesauce plus a little bit which will just go in the freezer. 7 of the jars fit in the water bath and the 8th one will also go in the freezer. All the lids popped - no duds.

While the applesauce was in the water bath, I did another rapid test. Negative again. YAY!

I will test myself again tomorrow morning - 6th day after exposure to my asymptomatic friend - and if negative again, I'll attend the reunion brunch after all.

Skip spent the afternoon preparing our garden for the winter - digging up and potting the geraniums to bring in for the winter, ripping out the annuals, cutting down the perennials and putting all the plant material in the compost box.

While he was doing this I remembered I wanted to pick and dry the rosemary from the garden. 

I selected several branches, washed them, patted them dry and put them on parchment paper on a cookie tray and dried them in the oven at 175°F for an hour.

After that, the bits were nice and crispy and came off the stems fairly easily. I crushed them up a bit and put them in a labelled jar.

The woody stems are in the fireplace. It will smell great when we start our first cozy fire later this fall.

Haul

I've got a lot going on this afternoon so just took some quick pictures of the many items I purchased while on my road trip in the US. In no particular order:

At Hobby House WoolWorks (HHWW) I found some Teresa Kogut Stitchy Birds fabric and the cross stitch print from Blackbird Designs.

I'm all about the precuts, too. The bundle has many motifs I can use for my English Paper Piecing (EPP). And there's always a use for precut, white, 5" squares.

Hobby Lobby carries Zweigart fabric under their Artiste label. I liked the blue Murano Carre 32ct. and thought I'd try some 46ct in Oat and Ivory Bristol linen. Perhaps for some little wee samplers.

The 'Believe' book is really a container. I thought a stitched piece would work mounted on the top. There is a magnetic closure. 

Also:

• more fabric with small motifs for EPP
• a reel of red braid for finishing ornaments
• 3 magnetic needle storage tubes with labels for needle sizes
• some medium size button blanks - possible for punch needle finishing
• one set of acrylic, diamond EPP templates
• 2 Apple AirTag cases

Barnes and Noble had this nifty sticker book.

At Calico Gals I found more EPP templates and a pack of self-threading needles that I was running low on.

Calico Gals also had this template set for the Soleil pattern shown on the front. Enough paper templates to make two 'suns' and the two acrylic templates for fabric cutting.

Here are the 3 sets of EPP templates I got at Hobby Lobby.

Due to my expanding EPP materials, I needed another organizer.

At HHNW there were pears like this on display. This was a different pattern with three different ones. I also purchased the called-for Dinky Dyes Cranberry Cocktail floss. I haven't decided if I'll use it or my favourite variegated DMC 115.

I think I got this at JoAnn Fabrics. It has lots of ideas for what to make with small quantities of fabric like jelly rolls and EPP.

More:

• 28ct evenweave fabric from Hobby Lobby
• another pack of fat quarters with cute, small motifs for EPP
• 2 spools of EPP thread in cream and grey
• a pack of pearl buttons which I like to use for closures on my triangular scissor cases
• 2 skeins of DMC 115 which we only found at Hobby Lobby

At our final shopping stop, The Old Tattered Flag, I got a little wicker, punch needle tote basket. There were wider ones that rug hookers could use for their hooks and wool strips.

I liked the 3D feature of this pattern, Under the Blooms, but held off buying all the called-for Valdani floss as I knew I had a bunch in my stash at home. I did purchase a skein of  the called-for house brand Grungy Green. Turns out I already had four of the 5 called-for Valdani flosses and the Grungy Green. in my stash.

Now I'm on the hunt for the missing Valdani #8 thread O576 - Weathered Hay. I need two balls for the background of this piece. It might be a while before I get it though. Shipping is astronomical - more than the cost of the items themselves. I'm open to substitutions. 

All in all, it was a good haul. Lots of 'bits and bobs' I wanted for various crafts and projects. There's a remote possibility I can get the Valdani floss while I'm in TX but I'm not holding my breath. For now, I just need to get everything put away.

And a COVID testing update - I tested negative again just now. If I test negative again tomorrow morning I will be attending the staff brunch of the reunion this weekend at the school where Skip and I taught.

With all those negative tests and the chores that I wanted to get done (mail packages, vote, make applesauce, dry rosemary from the garden), I now turn my mind to getting ready for our holiday in south Texas.