WWW or What I’ve Been Working On Wednesday - Staying Calm

Trying to stay calm, that’s WWW. Had a call from my doctor yesterday. The news was not great. I have cancer. Trying to stay calm. Went for an appointment with her today to discuss what the next steps should be. Just trying to stay calm. It is the most common of female cancers and the most treatable. That’s good. Will need to have surgery soon to remove the offending organs. OK – still staying calm. Why? Not “why me” but why am I being calm about all of this? Because I know who holds tomorrow and I know who holds my hand. I know my God has my back and His purpose for this is for good. Jesus told me years ago that everything was going to be okay. I believed Him then and I believe Him now. He has never ever failed me. And so I am calm and secure knowing that I am in His loving hands.

Because of this though, I have not achieved a lot for this Wednesday’s post. 

C is for Circle Flash Card

I plan to have my “C is for Circle” flash card finished so I can damp stretch the three cards in time for finishing them on Friday.

I’ve unraveled my laces and trims so they no longer look like this:

but are being stored neat and tidy like this.

Tidy laces and trims ready for storage

I finished a scarf for my grandson using some leftover fleece with a basketball design on it. He really doesn’t like wearing scarves or hats so I haven’t gotten a good photo of him with it yet. But I will.

Jaden and his new scarf

The last thing on my desk is all of the journaling/organizing books and handouts my daughter has given me for this year. I really want to start filling out these tools but keep putting it off. That is why they are now spread out on my table along with some washi tape she has given me and some colorful pens I bought recently. I’m trying to tempt myself/ encourage myself into getting started. Once I start I will be into it. Funny how that getting started seems to be the hardest part.

Journals, worksheets, pens and tapes

Happy Wednesday!

Rose 

Well it’s Saturday!

I missed posting my WWW - What I’ve Been Working On Wednesday.

And I missed posting my FIF – Finish It Friday.

I haven’t been working on much this week so I wasn’t into posting my lack of progress. I really should have worked on a few items that I would like to get finished, they may have even been fodder for my FIF this week. But I didn’t. I did do some stitching on a quilt I’m putting together for Wounded Warriors. I picked up the “kit” at one of my Friendship Stitchers gathering and have been slowly working on it. I discovered that it didn’t contain the correct amount of pieces for the design so I need to check my stash (and maybe buy some fabric to supplement what I have! LOL and excuse to shop for fabric!!) And I did have another order of button yoyo flowers from my Etsy shop that I needed to get in the mail. But that’s about it.

First of four flash cards

When Friday rolled around I kept thinking I could finish my first set of geometric shape flash cards. But when I looked at it I would not be able to finish them on Friday because I needed to damp stretch them once the embroidery was done and that would take overnight to dry. So scratch that. 

Then I thought about doing a fleece scarf for my grandson that I had planned to do from some leftover fabric from this project. 

Grandson with his sleeping mat for school

But that didn’t get done either. I know I’m not the only one who has days where the time just seems to drift away and not much gets done but I don’t like having those days very much.

So I think I’ll try and make up for it today by moving a few projects forward in preparations to getting them finished.

Oh yes and my daughter contacted me with another project she would like me to do so we have some planning and prototyping to do for that.

Just Keep on stitching!

Rose 

September, October, Where Did You Go?

So I was going to blog in October about how September just came and went. Now it’s already November so September and October have both appeared and vanished for another year.

My original intent was to blog about the past revisited. It started with a  request from my daughter to make a costume for my grandson. He had been invited to a woodland themed birthday party and she wanted a gnome outfit for him.

Ok I can do that after all when she was little I made her a Pilgrim outfit, a butterfly and a Snow White costume. The Pilgrim outfit I had a pattern to guide me, the butterfly was made from a craft magazine pattern and the Snow White was just my own creation using what I had at hand. When she was a butterfly I realized I didn’t have anything for her brother who was still at the crawling stage. Then I spied and old ugly green sheet (think 70’s) and whipped up a caterpillar outfit for him. When she was Snow White I made him into a Prince Charming again at the last minute.

Oh Tutu I don't think so! Gnome prototype

So I finally got around to tackling the gnome. I had a rough idea in my head for this but I had to make a few prototypes first. I discovered he did not want anything around his mouth so the mustache I had planned was out. My daughter was a little dubious about how I was constructing the beard because I used a piece of stiff interfacing just to get the length and width. The hat I made was droopy and she wanted a pointy hat. So I made an insert of the stiff interfacing to make the hat stand up. The beard was made from an unused mop. I cut some strings from the mop and sewed/glued them to some twill ribbon. One end of the ribbon was sewn to the  hat and the other end snapped onto the other side of the hat. The hat was made from fleece so it had some stretch to it.

Mama and her little gnome

Then came the shoes which I had not planned to do but was requested the morning of the party. So back to the drawing board. They almost didn’t happen. We wanted them to slip over his regular shoes so I traced around the sole of the shoe and then came up with a way to encase the shoe with felt. I intended to put some wire to make the toe ends curl up but we wound up just pinning them with safety pins. The belt was made from some leftover vinyl I had and a buckle was made from the stiff interfacing.Everything else was store bought. I thought it came out pretty good for a last minute project. I’m still working on perfecting the shoe pattern. I’ll share it when I’m done.

The reason I was so late in posting this is I was trying to find the photos I had of my young children in their costumes. No luck so far so you’ll just have to settle for a picture of my grandson in his appearance as a little gnome.

The gnome in the garden

All photos courtesy of my daughter. For more on this project see her blog Little Girl Dancing!

Happy Stitching!

Rose

What Happened?

Wow it’s March already! Well we’ve been sick at our household. Not much fun. But I thought I’d better pop in here and let you know I have accomplished some work.

For Christmas I made a pair of fingerless gloves for a friend. Oops forgot to take a picture She also received a scarf. The gloves were crochet, the scarf was knitted. Both techniques I haven’t done for a while so it was fun picking up the hook and needles again, especially the needles.

Another Christmas present was a pair of extra-long fingerless gloves for my daughter. I crocheted that too! Again I didn’t take a picture. Plus they came out too small for her so I have to redo. She did get a boot cuff that fit. Oh and also a knitted cowl. I’ve made a few more of those. My daughter said hers also came in handy when she was sick she used it to keep her chest warm.

I also made a hat for my grandson and a crayon roll up. 

Crayon Rollup

He also got a dapper outfit (well a onsie) from his tutu.

Polka Dots and Stripes

I’ve been testing out a new embroidery project, scribbles and such in pendants. I’ll be posting photos soon and also have a new tip to share (maybe tomorrow).

Tiny Violets

And I’ve started working on another Crazy Quilt for the CQ2013 Journal Project. I’ve constructed all of the blocks first, all 12 of them. Now to get the first three embroidered and embellished before the end of March. I’m using my “Oh look, she colored everything yellow” project for this so all my blocks are black, yellow, and white. I’m liking it so far. I think I will practice a different family of stitches on each block as I need practice in that area.

Finally I’m still trying to sort and organize my “stuff”.

Happy Stitching!

Rose

Bye 2012. Welcome 2013!

Reflecting on 2012 it was a year full of pleasures, thankfulness, and love. Oh sure it had some bumps and disappointments and mistakes (my life seems to have a lot of these) but all in all I’d have to say it was a very good year for me.

Some of the pleasures:

Jaden

I loved having my grandson Jaden in my life on an almost daily basis.

Watching him grow, and change is delightful. Seeing the looks of joy, fun, amusement and wonder; hearing his unique laugh; seeing how much fun he can get out of the simplest of things; all bring a smile to my face and warmth to my heart.

Mama Marilynn

 Watching my daughter get a deeper meaning of what being a mother is brings back memories of when I first became one. Her writings still enthrall me and I encourage you to visit her blog: Little Girl Dancing and read for yourself. They are simple writings that touch the heart and tug at heartstrings. If you have time leave some comments as all bloggers get encouraged by hearing when something they wrote touched someone else. And even though she has a full schedule with work, husband, child and friends she still finds time to do a lot for her parents. When she cooks she always makes extra and then delivers them to us. I told my husband he has his own personal meals on wheels!

Shayne

 I have to mention Shayne, my son-in-law, too because he always comes to the rescue when it comes to the house or car. I don’t tell him often enough but we sure do appreciate his being a part of our family. His mom and dad have become great friends too!

Samuel Kainoa

 And no I can’t overlook my son. His growth in so many of life’s areas has been amazing. He has always had it in his heart to help those less fortunate than himself. Now he does it on a much larger scale, feeding the homeless, encouraging the youth, freely giving of his time and energy, visiting and distributing shoes to orphans in Uganda, working with the people of Guatemala.

What joy my heart feels when I think on these things!

I’m thankful for all of this and for Facebook which allows me to be in touch with family and friends, both near and far, some who have always been in my life and some whom I’ve just recently reconnected with. It’s fun seeing your children and grandchildren, where you’ve been and where you’re at in life. 

I’m thankful for my quilt guild in Arlington and my former one in Hawaii, for the online stitchers, teachers, quilters, and crafters who share so willingly.

I’m thankful for Creekwood Church in Mansfield and the teaching of pastor Stephen Nutt. We are so fortunate to be able to attend the church of our choice and openly worship our Saviour and Lord, Jesus Christ!

So now I bid 2012 farewell.

Welcome 2013! I have plans for you but don’t worry I had plans for 2012 too. Some worked out, some didn’t. I expect the same to be true with 2013 but I’m looking forward to getting started.

Happy New Year everyone and

Happy stitching!

Rose

A Forced Hiatus

No posting on projects since July. What have I been doing? Well I’ve suffered from eye allergies since moving to Texas. It isn’t the eyes so much as the skin around the eyes. I tolerated it, used allergy medicine, tried cortisone like the doctor suggested and experienced some relief but then it became intolerable and infected. I could only focus on my close up work for brief periods. Finally I went to an eye doctor. She changed my prescription for eye pressure and gave me an antibiotic for clearing up the infection. My eyes became better but the antibiotic blurred my eyesight I could see okay to drive but still couldn’t do close up work. Then finally they were okay, I was back to normal. That is until it flared up again. Then my son requested prayer for me at a healing service and now I’m doing fine.

I did manage to help my daughter and her friend make some banners for a baby shower. That was a fun day and it reminded me how much I enjoy sharing my crafting knowledge with others.

Next it was getting busy for my grandson’s first birthday with a few more banners including a name one. Don’t the lions look cute!

And of course he had to have a birthday outfit. My daughter requested a onsie with a tie and suspenders. I used a pattern from WinterPeach to make it. Then I did a second one. Good thing too since the first one

got extremely dirty from the cake smashing!

Finally I got busy on the TAST 2012 stitches. Seems like I get caught up and then I’m behind by three. Sometimes they are done but I just haven’t photographed them. So here are the latest ones I’ve done. (I’m still behind by three and of course there is a new one this week so I really have four to do.)

Algerian Eye

This was a new stitch for me and a challenge as I wasn’t sure how I wanted to do it. If you’ve been following me you know I’m doing most of them using my continuous line scribble technique. But occasionally a stitch just doesn’t work in that mode. I had a piece of fabric that I had done a design on using the zentangle type concept. Outer borders plus strings were done but that was as far as I had gotten. Maybe I could do the Algerian Eye in those spaces. I did them with a black thread.

Then I tried to continue doing them with color but the black was being lost so I finally did the colors as a satin stitch. Using pearl cotton I did the yellow, blue, and then green. Oh that is color mixing! So I continued with that adding the red and purple. Now I needed a red-violet. It took a while to find the right red-violet color so that delayed the finishing. But I’m happy with the results.

Additional stitches completed:

Cast On

Drizzle

Pekinese

Linked Double Chain

Knotted Buttonhole

Sheaf

Pistil

Now off to try and catch up once again. I’ve enjoyed TAST2012 but I’m not sure if I’ll do all of 2013. It has introduced me to new stitches and gotten me to work with stitches I’ve known but not used very much in my work.

The intent was to expand my portfolio of stitches to use on my crazy quilts but now that project is way behind too! So I’d better get busy. I’ll keep you posted!

Happy Stitching!

Rose

Another Week Gone!

TAST2012:

Stem stitch or Outline?

This week for TAST2012 we were assigned the stem stitch. Oh good I thought! Ha! I made my scribble and looked at Sharon’s stitch dictionary and followed her suggestion for left hand stitching. Take the photo of the stitch into a photo editing program and flip it horizontally. Okay that worked but when I started to stitch I think I kept the thread at the top of my needle rather than the bottom. So I think what resulted was the outline stitch. They are very similar and really the only difference is the placement of the thread in relation to the needle. So now I plan to make the scribble on the computer, print it out on fabric three times and then do one with the stem stitch, one with the outline stitch, and one more with the backstitch. I’ll label each one so I know which is which. Normally when I am outlining a pattern I use a combination of the three stitches. Hopefully this will help me when I need to know which stitch I am using.

CQ2012:

February Block with progress

I did make some progress on my February block. I only have a few more seams to embellish and then add some embroidery. Buttons and beads will be added when I assemble the whole quilt. But I do have a cute cupid button (gold) and some heart buttons planned to cover up the raw edges of my trims. Will I ever learn to add some trims when I am sewing the block together? Maybe on the next one but I’m not sure I have any for April, I do have the fabrics selected for the April block. I should get it stitched and ready for the embroidery work this week. (I have to get my taxes finished first!)

Flower Basket Block for Quilt Guild

Other Projects:

I did manage to get a block made for the quilt guild I belong to. Our meeting was Tuesday and yes I waited until Monday night to get it started. What a mess. First the fabric I wanted to use for the floral part of the basket block shrunk when I pressed the seams with my iron. I had already made all of the squares when I discovered this so I had to start over again. This time I shrunk the fabric before cutting. Next my blade in my one cutter needed changing but I didn’t have a new one handy. I managed to cut my pieces but had to constantly go back where the blade had skipped one or two threads. After that I started sewing and my machine started acting up. I rethreaded and checked the bobbin case that improved it somewhat but it still wasn’t working as it should. I almost didn’t turn my block in but they accepted it. (I did offer to take it back and try and make a better one but they said no need.)

Only other thing I managed was to try and learn to feed my grandson solid foods. As you can tell by his bib it was a little messy but we managed to get the hang of it. He sits in a big chair for his feeding and I think it makes him feel important! Can’t believe he’s six months already and eating food and cutting teeth!

"I'm gonna chew on my toes if you don't get some more food in my mouth!"

• Sound of coffee perking. 
• Hum of my sewing machine
• Son's new smile 
• Daughter snuggling with Jaden 

Happy Stitching,

Rose 

See I Can Do This!

Back again with an update to TAST 2012:

This week’s assignment was the satin stitch. This is a stitch I’ve used a lot and so it came fairly easy. First I did my scribble (for a while I was calling this doodling but realized it’s really a scribble that I sometimes doodle in with thread and color). I tried to keep it simple as I really wanted something I could finish quickly. When I stopped and looked at it there seemed to be a bird of sorts looking back at me. So I decided to go with that idea.

But Is It a Bird? Satin stitch sampler

The satin stitching was done in rows using my favorite color yellow in variegated pearl cotton. Then I did the beak as it appeared again with a satin stitch and some orange pearl cotton. The eye was done with French knots using black DMC thread and white pearl cotton. Using some variegated blue pearl cotton a encapsulated the bird with a chain stitch. I love how it came out but I’m not sure it’s a bird (at least any known bird) so I named the piece “But Is It a Bird?”.  I’m still considering filling in the rest of the body.

Other happenings:

I’ve been trying to make a driver’s cap for my grandson Jaden with my own modified pattern. Commercial patterns are sized for a one year old or larger and he’s only 6 months. The hats are either too big or too small. Finally I made one to fit his head but the sides of the hat are too short so back to the drawing board!

Jaden 

I did get a cushion covered for him that gives just enough support under his jumper so he can rest his feet and jump. He won’t be needing it for long though!

Now for a praise report!

My son had surgery to place implants in both the top and bottom gums. They found more bone than expected and so were able to do all of it at once. Praise God! After not having any teeth for so long he looks great! You can read more about it at Mo’ Bettah Smile.

I have just finished reading “One Thousand Gifts” by Ann Voskamp. What an amazing book! I’ve started my own list and hope to incorporate some of them in my embroidery and collage work. My daughter gifted me with the book as a thank you (one of many I’ve received from her) for watching her son Jaden (my grandson is welcome in my home and heart any time!).

1. Sunshine and Rain
2. Flowers that bloom
3. Baby snuggled sweet in my arms
4. Giggles

That’s all for now! Be back Monday with a tip that I think embroiderers will like. At least those who work with a hoop that has a tightening screw.

Happy Easter and Happy Stitching,

Rose 

12 In 12 X 2

This year I’m working (still) on my UFO’s (unfinished objects). Last year I joined Fabric Fascination in trying to do 52 – one a week. That didn’t fare too well partly because of our major changes and partly because very few of them could be completed in a week. So while I still have a lot of UFO’s (and the list is growing as I unpack!), I decided to try for one a month. Hence 12 in 12. Judy also decided to trim down to 12, here's her blog. We’ll see how it goes!

Why the times 2? Well I also decided to get more experience with crazy quilting (CQ) so I joined a block a month challenge. So besides 12 UFO’s I’m also going to attempt 12 CQ blocks. I think I’ll work a month theme for these. I’ll post my progress as I go along.

Here’s a few more items I completed in 2011:

First there is the chair. My daughter wanted a vintage rocking chair for the nursery and she bought one from a sweet little old lady. The chair was over a hundred years old and needed a little work on it (or so we thought). First up was the cushion cover which was a brown plaid that was torn. She asked if I could replace it. So off it came. Well there was this pink fabric under the plaid. So off it came. Then came the original covering in black. Off it came along with the horsehair, batting, straw, springs and even a black spider.  Unfortunately each layer had been tacked on top of the previous one. All those hundreds (yes hundreds!) of tacks took their toll on the wood. I felt it was really unsafe, especially for a newborn and his mother. So eventually my daughter’s father-in-law Willie (who loves to work with wood) took the chair and rebuilt the bottom. He supplied me with the wood seat to cover. After putting on a very thick nufoam cushion I sewed some more yellow and white canvas together to match the curtains in the nursery and gave it back to Willie to assemble. Now I’m in the process of making a cushion for the back of the chair out of beautiful bumper pads made by Marilynn’s aunt Betty. (She decided not to use the bumper pads in the crib so we are repurposing them – pictures coming when I’m finished.)

Next came the camel who was attacked by a little black dog who shall remain nameless. Both eyes were ripped out and the stuffing was falling out. I stitched them together and using black floss embroidered new eyes.

Then I took up knitting again. After giving away a mountain or two of yarn to my Hawaii neighbor’s granddaughter (she loves to crochet and her grandma who was raising her couldn’t afford to buy materials for her), I still am finding yarn as I unpack my craft supplies. I haven’t knitted in years but I actually enjoy it. So my grandson Jaden got a new blue and white striped hat to wear. (The pattern is from Charbridge Knits www. charbridgeknits.com). It’s a little big on him but he’s growing fast.

Then I needed a gift for Aunt Betty. I knew she collected roosters and hens for her kitchen and when I spotted these napkins that had some red stitching around them I thought they would be perfect for some embroidery. I finally found a rooster design that I liked and modified it for my stitching. Some satin, back/outlining and of course my signature the French knots plus some chain stitching all done in a variegated red pearl cotton thread. One was finished in time for gift giving the other three are ready to be turned over now. Now I know she is not going to use them as working napkins but she keeps her table looking so nice with place settings that she may use them as part of the décor. Or we could stitch the four napkins together and make a tabletop. Anyway I love the rooster and will modify it some more and then offer it for sale in my new shop once I get it opened. More about that later!
Finally one more thing to talk about. Besides all of the above I'm folowing the TAST challenge (Take A Stitch Tuesday) run by Sharon of Pin Tangle. She posts an embroidery stitch each Tuesday (well Tuesday in Australia) and then we use it on a sampler and/or in some form on a project.

The first stitch was called the fly stitch. I've used this stitch before. First I did some sampler stitches. I really don't like working on cloth where you can count the threads, it's too organized for me!. So after doing that for awhile I decided to try and use it on one of my doodles. Now normally this stitch is a stand alone one or it can be used as a filler or border stitch. I wanted to see what would happen if I tried to use it as an outline stitch. So first I doodled a small design and then I started stitching. Normally with my doodles I outline the design using black thread first and then start working the interior sections. So I threaded my needle with black floss (2 strands) and took off. The result was kind of surprising because of the lacy effect. Here is my stitching ready for framing. The name of this piece "The Flight of the Dying Fly"!

Happy Stitching!