Walls for the wind and a roof for the rain and drinks beside the fire ~
laughter to cheer you and those you love near you and all that your heart desires.

Wednesday, September 13, 2017

Updates

Well, I am back! I have had a wee adventure with my computer, I couldn`t stay signed in to Blogger and couldn`t comment on anyones Blog. It turns out my cookies settings had gotten changed (I swear, it wasn`t me!) and with a few simple (once you know how) clicks I can now comment and post again.

There has been lots of stitching going on, but alas, no finishes. The odd thing is I don`t seem to care. I am enjoying the stitching and Flosstubing and stashing for now, and I will have a finish someday.
I had started Froth and Bubble by LongDog Samplers (excuse the working copy chart front, I will insert a better pic of the finished sampler below)

This is what it should look like. I am changing a few colours and adding some specialty stitches, like satin and rhodes and maybe a few others.


Then I have been working on my Village of Hawk Run Hollow. I moved the schoolhouse up in place of the church as I am changing the church a bit and am not happy with it yet. Besides, it makes more sense to me to have the church next to the graveyard rather than the school...right?


I love this, it is such a fun stitch! I am also stitching on Shores of Hawk Run Hollow...

and as you can see I am changing a few things (or more than a few) around as well. I want to frame them as a pair, just in case there are the only two HRH pieces I ever manage to finish, so I changed the blocks around so it would hang vertical instead of horizontal. I am loving this one too, though I had to change a few floss colours because of the fabric. I decided to go with 40 ct Cedar Plank instead of the Sand...it seems I have so many projects on the go on Sand or Sand Dune I needed a change. 


Then on the Flosstube channel Mischevious Stitches I saw this little beauty, Needles and Pins "Wedding Sampler" by Theron Traditions. There was a stitch-a-long on Facebook. I am never good at stitch-a-longs, I tend to fall out very soon as I switch from project to project. This is my start. For some reason when I calculated my fabric for this one I thought I had barely enough, with a 1" margin all around. Nope, I will have about a 3 1/2" margin...the brain just isn`t what it used to be. I am stitching it on the called for 35 ct Sand from my stash ...it must be Wichelt fabric because it is stiff and scratchy. 



The verse reads "Needles and pins, needles and pins, when a man marries his troubles begin". It sounds like an anti-feminist sort of thing, but I have a theory, want to hear it? Way back when, pins and needles were made by hand. They were expensive, and most of womens clothing used a lot of them to fasten sleeves to bodices etc. A single man wouldn`t have needed many pins or needles, but his wife surely would. That is also where the term 'pin money' came from, a wifes allowance to buy such things...

If you are thinking of doing this, you will need access to a photocopier, the symbols on the chart are so tiny you will need to enlarge the pattern. I am thinking also I might change a few colours...or rechart the strawberries in the border. They bug me for some reason...



 This is from the June 2016 issue of Just CrossStitch magazine, designed by The Primitive Hare. I am only stitching part of the design, leaving off the 'queen bee' on the right. I think. We will see...I am also leaving out a few of the small bees, I think it looks a bit cluttered...I think the fabric is 36 ct Antique Ivory by Zweigart...I have changed some of the floss, I figured it was about time I started using my overdyes instead of hoarding them, so I am using Weeks 'Whiskey' and 'Beehive' as well as some DMC, 640 and 844. 


This is all I have done on the Linen and Thread Mystery SAL...I have started and stalled several times on this. No excuse except I have the attention span of a gnat. This is 32 ct natural linen and DMC

Whew, that took forever to write up. I have to confess that what with Flosstube being so popular now I don`t think many people are reading blogs anymore. I don`t know how much longer I will continue to blog. I am not prolific like some, I have a very boring (most of the time) life and I can never think of anything really witty to write. It has become a chore to post, and I don`t think I have many readers anyway. I will let you know if I come to a decision...

Til next time ladies and gents....keep stitching!


6 comments:

Ann said...

I'm delighted to see your post! I love the pictures of your projects and happy to know someone else jumps from one thing to another.

deb said...

Well, I'm an old dog and mostly stick to reading blogs (as I'm afraid flosstube is a very deep hold that could easily eat ALL my spare time), and I certainly do read yours when you have time to post!

Froth and Bubble is quite pretty and the satin stitch (your addition/change, yes?) adds so much. Enjoyed seeing all your other progress as well.

Merry Wind Farm said...

I enjoyed reading your blog post and seeing your WIP's. I just got home from my stitching group, and a gal was working on Village of Hawk Run. She has started on the right hand side, so now I have seen the entire sampler. Such a pretty one! Melinda from Merry Wind Farm

Anonymous said...

What a great post! Glad you are back. My sampler stitching pal did Froth and Bubble and it is something else! She just used cross stitches. I have the Needles and Pins chart in my stash. Saw it at the Cross Stitch Festive in Buffalo in '94 and ordered it from the now long closed Village Cross Stitch Shop in Orchard Park, NY.
Maria S.

Anonymous said...

Great to see you back, MJ. My sampler stitching pal brought her completed Froth and Bubble here and it was gorgeous! She just did straight cross stitches. I saw the completed "Needles and Pins" at the Buffalo Cross Stitch Festival in 94 at the Village Cross Stitch Shop. Ordered it from them. The shop is closed now as the owners retired. Hope to see more pictures of your fine work. Maria S.

Robin in Virginia said...

What a wonderful assortment of projects you are working on! I enjoyed reading your post today. I like your version of the Linen and Thread Mystery SAL.