Stitching Progress

Just a fly by to show you my stitching progress.  I had planned to post yesterday on my day off but somehow the day got away from me.  Just want to thank everyone for their wonderful comments on my last post and to those that wanted my conversion on the Quaker Noel I will certainly share that with you when I get a free minute.

Have a great day and take care till next time!

Julie


Elizabeth

Tuscan Rose

Give Thanks  (Plum Streets newest freebie)

A Dental visit, Stitching finishes and Sock Monkeys

Thank God that's done!  I've said it before and I'll say it again...I do not like the dentist.  Today was the second half of my dental cleaning.   I was so bad about going the last couple of years (I have a reason) that they didn't have time to clean them all the first time.  So today found me in the chair for the second time in 2 weeks. And to make matters worse, I not only had to finish up the cleaning but I had to have a cavity they found in round one filled today also.  Normally, despite my hate/hate relationship with the dentist, I go every six months for a cleaning.  But a couple (or more)  years back I needed a root canal.  And even after the root canal, I still had pain.  So they re-did the root canal...twice.  Still had pain.  I finally went to a different Dentist and he replaced the crown which alleviated most of the pain.  But not all.  After another trip to an oral surgeon, it was decided that the tooth behind the one with the root canal, also needed a root canal.  And still we have pain.  Not so much in the tooth but in the gum tissue itself.  You'll have to  excuse me for not wanting them digging around in my very sore gum tissue with sharp pointy things designed back in the dark ages as instruments of torture, so when they said let's wait a bit to do your cleaning and let that calm down....I took them at their word!  Only it never did, calm down that is.  So I never went back.  Then I lost my crown after my surgery and I had to go in and have it glued back on and they cornered me.  Crap!  Guilt trips get me every time.  So now my teeth are clean and shiny but my face is immobile from the massive quantities of Novocaine injected into my gums.  I feel like I have drool running down my chin but when I check in the mirror I can't see any.  You'd tell me if I was drooling wouldn't you??

On the stitching side of things...I have been holding out on you.  A couple of months ago, I took it upon myself to stitch Bent Creeks Quaker Noel.  But when I pulled the colors I was not thrilled with Wood Smoke as the main color.  Soooo naturally, I changed it.  I decided to use CC Blacksmith Blue in place of the Wood Smoke.  I stitched on it whenever I felt like I needed to do something  other than Tuscan Rose, Elizabeth or Double Dutch.  But as I was stitching I kept thinking, yuck, I don't like all this blue.  If any of you have the chart, you'll notice that most of it is done in the one color with small accents here and there of other colors.  So I decided to change it up a bit. Okay, so I changed it a lot.  You can't tell me you're surprised about that.  It is me we're talking about and my changing things seems to be the norm!  Anyway,  I love it!   I am tickled pink with how it turned out.  Here's what the original looks like (all pics should be clickable)

And here is my version

stitched on 32 ct. Valor using most all the colors called for 

I  finally got Summer by Blackbird Designs framed up yesterday too.

And I stitched on Tuscan Rose last night for the first time in what seems like forever but didn't get enough done to show a picture.  I'll try to post one in a couple of days.

My in-laws came down this past Saturday to deliver birthday and Christmas gifts before they head south for the winter.  They took us out to Village Inn for brunch (yum!!) but before we left the house I snapped a pic of the girls since they were both dressed and presentable at the same time.  Doesn't happen often.  I was only allowed to take 2 pictures, only 1 turned out okay.  I long for the days when they would cooperate with me and my camera....

And I have to share this picture of Abby and her boyfriend.   I call it A Girl and her Sock Monkey.  It's my new favorite picture.  Too stinking cute!

Jordan's Mom made his costume for him and he wore it to the Nebraska game the Saturday before Halloween.  I gotta say I find Sock Monkeys a bit freaky and 6 ft. tall ones even more so but you have to admit, it took some balls to wear that costume to the football game!

You all take care till next time!

Julie



 

DONE!!!

I'm doing a virtual happy dance here since I can't do one in real life.  Double Dutch is done!!  Finished.  Completed. I was of course the last one to be done which just proves what I have said for a long time,  I am the world's slowest stitcher!  But it is done.  Back to Tuscan Rose and Elizabeth now.  I want to try to hold off on any new starts until I finish Tuscan Rose.  But I don't know how long I will be able to deny myself a new start.  BTW, did I mention Double Dutch is done??

Mary finished hers a week or more ago.  Is this not gorgeous??  Trust me when I say that my picture does not do it justice!

Mary also finished her Anniversaries of the Heart.  She brought it to stitching yesterday so  I snapped a picture.  It's now been added to the pile of stitching I need to frame.  It's beautiful now but she chose a gorgeous frame for it and I can't wait to see it all done.  Such a special piece.

I made a Scissor bird this week to match the Tessa Scissors.  I'm not a big fan of  primary colors so I can't say I'm totally in love with it but I think it's perfect with the scissors.  Now she just needs a scissor fob to match.

Have you ever had someone take something you said and twist it so it bears very little resemblance to what you actually said?  I have recently had this happen and I have to say I'm a bit sick to my stomach over it.  Now I'll admit, I should never have opened my mouth in the first place, and believe me, I won't make that mistake again but I would have thought that women over the age of 50 would be above that kind of thing.  But apparently not.  So lesson learned.  Lips are zipped.

I'll leave you today with a piece I just finished framing.  The stitched piece,  Salem Sisters by Plum Street Samplers,  was donated to the shop by Carole.  Thank you Carole!  

I need to go do something about supper and my washer just buzzed at me which is my cue to get up off my butt.

Take Care till Next Time!

Julie

Writers Block

I think I have writers block.  Or more likely I just lead a very boring life at the moment and don't have the ability to make the mundane and boring sound exciting and fun!  Either way, this will most likely be a somewhat uninteresting post but I didn't want to wait to post until I had something really good to post about because who knows how long that will be?

First up, in an effort to get 'er done, I am focusing all my stitching attention on Double Dutch.  It's coming along as you can see but really not as quickly as I would like.

Did you all check out the Online Needlework Show??  What did you see that you liked?  I went through each shop and found only 1 thing I wanted for myself but then I had to knock myself upside the head in order to bring myself back down to earth.  I mean really, I so do not need another BAP in my stash.  Especially one with 100 colors of floss.  Seriously?  Why am I attracted to things like this??  And the Name...The Tree of Life.  More like Death if I were to try this.

In my head I can see it stitched up over one on 40 count using the tent stitch.  It.Would.Be.Stunning.  I.Would .Be.Stupid.  Perhaps if I keep telling myself that I might even believe it.

Now for a framing project I recently finished up at the shop.

This sweet little southern gal brought in some buttons right after my surgery that she wanted to have shadowboxed.  The buttons were originally attached to the uniforms of civil war soldiers.  Specifically from the states that seceded from the Union. Some were in perfect shape and some not so much.  It took me a while to figure out how to attach them without doing any damage.  Some had shanks and some did not so stitching them on like you would a button was not an option.   Glue is never an option so finally I decided to use netting wrapped around each button, then pulled through a hole in the mat and attached on the back side of the mat/foamboard combination.    The next hurtle I had to jump was getting it all spaced out correctly.  That took some time too.  Finally I was ready to assemble it all.  You can't tell from the picture but the top mat is raised about an inch above the bottom mat.  It was very time consuming getting everything attached the way I wanted and put in the frame but it was well worth the effort I think.  The buttons are in the order of when the state seceded and the two nipple like objects on either side of the belt buckle (reproduction) are bullets.  Those suckers weighed a ton.  I would not have wanted to be shot with one.  Well really,  I wouldn't want to be shot with any bullet or projectile but you know what I mean, right? :)

Dan is back to working on the kitchen again.  He has finally caught up with his bird orders.  Good thing too since I think we will be hosting Thanksgiving and right now I don't have anywhere to put anyone since he has been using the dining room as his workshop for the kitchen.  It's also time to start thinking about our Village Open House.  We were planning to add a waterfront this year so I have been slowly buying a building here and there but no waterfront has been built yet.  It has occurred to me that the Holidays will be here before I know it and I am still not moving very well.  Decorating will be a several week project because if it so basically if we want to be ready, I need to start putting up the trees long about November 15th.  At the latest.  Yikes!   So sometime in the next 3 weeks, the kitchen needs to be completely done, the old refrigerator needs to be moved out of the library so I can clean and be able to get a tree in there and a waterfront needs to be built.  Did I mention in order to move the fridge, the garage needs to be cleaned out????  We are so screwed.

Gonna call this good.  Thanks for all the comments on retreat and hello to the new followers!

Take care till next time!

Julie

Fall 2011 No Frills Retreat Recap

I promised a post on our Fall no frills retreat and although I am a bit late with it, I try to always keep my promises so without further ado, let me Welcome you to the Prairie Creek Inn!

To give you a bit of history on the place, this home was purchased by Bruce, the innkeeper and his wife for the low low price of  one dollar.  It was then moved from it's original location and placed in it's current location.  The house was then completely gutted and rebuilt so basically it's a new house inside an old body.  The inn has only been open for business for a couple of years and is still a work in progress.  The original farmhouse on the property was  also moved, it now resides behind the main house and is called "the cottage".  It too is a work in progress.  Cabins are being planned for the future out by the lake which is only a short drive down the lane.  Even though things are still being worked on, the inn and it's surroundings were beautiful and we all had a wonderful time there.  In fact, we can't wait to see all the changes next fall when we return for No Frills 2012!!

Here I am, waiting anxiously at the curb for my ride to pick me up.

Mary Ann, Connie and I started our retreat adventure with a stop at Omaha Fixtures.  The three of us rarely get a chance to be away from the shop at the same time and with the expansion of the store we decided to take the opportunity and look at some display possibilities.  Then it was on to a shop meeting at Noodles.  This was my first trip to Noodles (i don't get out much).  I ordered the Macaroni and Cheese, it was okay but Panera's is much better.  But I digress, after lunch and a lively discussion about Spring retreat, we arrived at the Inn around 2:00 p.m.  It was a gorgeous fall day and the weather was predicted to be beautiful all weekend.  Bruce came out to the car and and helped us unload everything after which he gave us a tour of the house, showed us how the elevator worked, set up the tables and chairs and helped get the extension cords run for the lights before leaving us for the day.  The rest of the gang started to arrive an hour or so later.   Here's Sandy looking all lady of the manor on the porch swing.

Connie was in love with the little elevator in the house so she took charge of ferrying everyone up and down and getting them settled in their rooms, showing them the bathroom locations and getting them back down to the main floor without any mishaps.  Our own personal concierge and elevator attendant!  All weekend, every time someone needed something from upstairs or down she'd pop up and volunteer to get what they needed just so she had a reason to take the elevator!  After checking in, everyone quickly settled in to their stitching and before you knew it, it was time for supper.  A couple of us brought homemade soup and the rest filled in with snacks and such.  With our bellies full and the kitchen cleaned up it was time to settle back into stitching for the evening.  Long about 11:00 people started to drift off to bed.  I managed to hang in there until midnight or one but that pretty much did it for me.

Saturday morning Bruce had breakfast ready for us around 8:30.  Here's Bruce working on breakfast.

After we ate we got back to the serious business of stitching.  Here's a sampling of some of the projects being worked on.

Connie Jo working on a Pine Mountain design:

Connie Jo came to retreat with her 2 sisters-in-law.   Sister-in-law Denise was working on a Little House design called To bee or not to bee.

Sister-in-law Deb was working on a La-D-Da design called Trick or Treat.

Mary Ann was working on Double Dutch by The Sampler Cove:

Connie was working on a Country Cottage design:

Mary was working on the Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart, she has stitched them all on one piece of linen and has personalized each block.  It's very cool.

I worked on Elizabeth

I didn't get pictures of everyone's WIP's but Sandy was working on these cute little sled ornaments that you will see later, Lois was working on a White Willow Stitching butterfly, Doreen worked on a Halloween design and a Siamese cat design that you'll see later too.  Linda was working on a piece she is giving as a wedding gift, and Sue was working on a birth sampler and a Halloween chart.
 
I can't begin to tell you how much fun all these ladies are.  Every last one of them is unique in their own way and a delight to know.  I know my life has been much richer since they have come into it and I would be truly saddened if they were no longer a part of it.  Now they might tell you differently but that is how I feel about them.

We had some finishes occur during retreat.  Some of them were legit and others were brought to retreat with just a few stitches needing to be placed so they could say they had a finish at retreat.  I'm not going to point a finger at anyone in particular but let me just say this.....CHEATERS!!!  I was not one of the ones with a finish  I'm sorry to say.  But Mary Ann stitched her little fingers off and was the first to finish the Double Dutch SAL that she, Mary and I have been working on.

Doreen finished 2 projects.  A Rovaris chart

and a Halloween design by I can't remember who

Sandy finished these little sled ornaments.  Just too cute!  Everyone wanted them.

Connie Jo finished her Pine Mountain design

and Denise finished her Little house design:

Lunch Saturday was provided by Mary and Doreen.  Mary brought the fixings for taco salad and Doreen the fixings for sandwiches.  YUM!  Saturday afternoon I took a break from stitching and went outside to enjoy the beautiful fall weather.  A porch swing, gorgeous view and the friendliest barn cat I have ever had the pleasure of meeting made those two hours the best 2 hours I have had since my surgery!  And that's in spite of the fact that I am horribly allergic to cats and paid the price for cuddling with him.  It was worth it though!   Linda took some pictures of me on the porch with the cat but she hasn't responded to my request for them so use your imagination please.

Saturday late afternoon found us at Lonestar Steakhouse for an early supper.  We needed to eat early in order for those that wanted to watch the Nebraska game to be back in time for kickoff.  It was nice to get away for a couple of hours, and supper was delicious!  One thing though, why in the world would you give a new waiter a table of 12 women???  12 obnoxious women at that!  Poor guy didn't stand a chance.

After supper, the "fans" went down to the basement and watched the game while the rest of us stayed upstairs.

While we were stitching I happened to mention my daughter was looking for a red trench coat for her Halloween costume and was wondering if anyone happened to have one in a size 6ish.  No one did but Connie whipped out her IPad and went to Etsy.com and voila!  6 pages of red trench coats appeared.  I scrolled through them and found one I thought might possibly work.  Called Abby, and told her to check her email for the link.  She approved of the the coat and the price and  since Miss Connie already had an Etsy account and a paypal account she went ahead and bought it for Abby and then Abby would just give her the money when it arrived. Awesome!   It was about that time that Sandy finished one of her little sleds and everyone was ooohing and ahing over it.  Sandy says oh, they have other designs too and I think I will order them.  She asked Connie if she could look at her IPad to see the other designs.  Pretty soon Connie is ordering the other designs for Sandy using her Paypal account.  Then the sisters/sister-in-law started asking Connie about her needlework stand.  Where did she get it, how much was it etc....the IPad comes out again and Connie finds the stands on Ebay.  Yep, you guessed it, Connie used her paypal again and bought the stands.  So now whenever someone mentions wanting something, we just tell them paypal Connie will take care of it!

The game ended in a loss so we drowned our sorrows in ice cream sundaes and cupcakes. The cupcakes were brought by Denise's daughter.  She works for The Cake Lady in Lincoln and man were those good cupcakes.  They were pretty too but I forgot to take a picture of them so you'll just have imagine their sparkly goodness!

I think everyone went to bed around midnight Saturday night.  Check out was at 11 on Sunday morning with breakfast being served at 9.  Most of us got up and stitched a bit before we ate and then we managed to scarf breakfast quickly and stitch a bit more before it was time to pack up and head on down the road tired but happy.   I think I can speak for everyone and say that we had us a rousing good time and we can't wait to do it again next year.

Back row left to right  Mary and Lois.  Middle row l-r: Mary Ann
Linda, Sue(peeking over Linda's shoulder) Sandy, Doreen, Julie
bottom row l-r: Connie Jo, Deb, Denise and Connie 

And that is the end of my retreat story.  I hope you enjoyed reading about it.  I'm sure reading about it is not nearly as fun as actually being there was though.  Maybe next year some of you  join us!

Take care till next time!

Julie

 

A post to tide you over while I work on a retreat post.

Helloooooo?   Helloooooo?   Helloooooo?  Anybody out there? there?  there? there?  

Yeah, I know, long time no post.  No excuse other than laziness I suppose.  Well, that and I just didn't feel like editing all the pictures from retreat.  I wish either my camera skills were such that my pictures didn't require editing or that my camera automatically edited the pictures for me thus saving me the time and trouble of doing it. See it really all goes back to laziness! Hello, my name is Julie and I am a lazy bum.

I'm not finished with editing the  retreat pictures but the grumbling of certain people has finally irritated encouraged  me enough that I figgered I best post something on here in the meantime.

I can't believe it is already the middle (almost) of October.  I wish winter went by as fast as summer and fall seem to or maybe I wish summer and fall lasted as long as winter seems to. Either way, winter is just around the corner and I don't feel like it should be.  The shop is gearing up for the Christmas rush on framing, Dan and I are discussing the village open house and what changes need to be made.  I pulled him off the kitchen to get the birds that were ordered finished so I didn't have that guilt hanging over my head so once he finishes the birds he has to finish the kitchen or there won't be any open house this year.  The kids birthdays are all coming up starting with Amy's this Friday and the garage is still crammed full of stuff that needs to be gotten rid of so my car can fit in it before the cold hits.  I'm a little leery about icy sidewalks this year due to the continued pain in my ankle and foot.  Last thing I need is to slip and fall. I'm still in PT for both ankles and I am still struggling with pain.  I'm not able to stand or walk for very long so I am behind at work which stresses me out.  Our customers are used to a quick turn around and they aren't getting it.  So far everyone has been mostly understanding.  But I can see the writing on the wall the closer it gets to the holidays and the crap is gonna hit the fan then.  So lets put the brakes on and make October last for an extra 2 or maybe 3 weeks this year.  Everyone okay with that plan?

Been doing some stitching and working on birds.  My friend Connie loves everything Paris so I hunted and hunted for some Eiffel Tower paper to fill her request for a bird.  Took me a while but I finally found paper that I liked and was able to present her with her bird last week.  She'd been patiently waiting since March and thankfully she was thrilled with her bird.  I also made her a little matching needle minder to go with it.

I finally got around to stitching another of  Paulette's  Hare charts.  This time it was her Autumn Blessings Freebie.  Had to change the colors a bit (don't I always?) so the rabbits would show up on the gold fabric I chose.  Now to get it made into a pillow.

Double Dutch is coming along well.  I say that but I don't really mean it.  Seems as though I stitch and stitch and then stitch some more and still no progress is made.  I know progress is being made, it just doesn't feel that way and I am chomping at the bit to start something else!!  Sucks that I made a promise to myself that I wouldn't start another large project until I have finished it.  I did sneak in the rabbits though which helped and I am working on Bent Creeks Noel Row off and on which also helps and Elizabeth on the weekends but mostly it's been Double Dutch so I can get the dang thing finished!!!!! Anyway, here's an update for you.

The family is all doing well.  Adam has put in for a job back here in Omaha.  No offense to all of you in the DC area but it's just not his cup of tea.  It'll be a while before we know whether he gets it or not.  The bad part is he has met a nice young lady while out there and he feels bad about leaving.  She however, was born and raised in DC and has no wish to see what Omaha is like.  Abby is still working PRN at the hospital and going to UNO to finish her bachelors degree.  Her blond hair is now a dark auburn and last Saturday she added clip in hair extensions.  Add in a spray tan and when she walked into the shop I didn't recognize her at first!  She is celebrating one year of dating her boyfriend this month and announced that she thinks it's time for me to get to know him better.  Uh-oh.  Amy is doing well at UNL.  She's officially changed her major to pre-med.  She wants to be a shrink.  I'm a bit uncomfortable with that idea as I know that every word out of my mouth will now be analyzed.  I know I'm messed up but I don't need my daughter telling me so!  Fall break starts this weekend and  Amy is flying to Seattle to visit a friend up there. She's a bit nervous about it.  She has never flown by herself before and the last time she flew, she threw up all the way home from DC.  Hopefully this will be a better trip.  Dan is busy working on birds and all the other stuff I can't do yet like grocery shopping, yard work, and quite often the cooking and dishes.  He's been a real trooper and I don't know what I would have done without him!

Think that's about all I have for now.  Hopefully I will finish up the editing and be able to post about retreat this weekend.  I have both days off so barring any unforeseen activities we should be a go!

Oh, and Carole, if you read this you should definitely duck and run!  LOL!!!  Doreen, consider yourself head slapped!!  Remember I know where you two live.  Just saying...

Take care till next time!

Julie