TUSAL and Stash...

Hello All and Happy Thursday!
As always, thanks for all your very kind and sweet comments, particularly about the little necklace piece! I am so glad that you like it too! In all honestly, it is not a piece that I will ever wear to work, but I can't wait to show it off this weekend. Just out of curiosity, is this type of jewellery something that any of you would wear to work? I will try to make sure that I have some photos to show you of how it looks while worn.
As I mentioned in the last post, I did have a bunch of fun working on it, so please don't worry about the missing finishing instructions (I hope that I didn't scare anyone off!!!) - if you love it, get it or at least add it to your wish list! You can always send me a row and ask how I finished it and I will be more than happy to try to show you.

Can you believe that it is that time again - the time for our monthly TUSAL updates? This is how my container looks now. I have started to "compress" the orts lightly on to have more room to play with. I can not believe how much scrap I have created! ow I am starting to think crazy things, like "what can I make with these things once the TUSAL is over?".

Other updates: the last few days I have been getting lots of new fabric to fondle. I tend to keep an ever growing wish-lists in my head and every other month or so, I hit Etsy and gather up most of the fabrics that I simply can not live without. This time, it was mostly Heather Ross - both her Far far Away 1 (and some larger Snow-white cuts from FFA3) and her Mendocino line - and also a few fun Alexander Henry prints.

Aren't the mermaids too cute!? I know that I have said it before; the only thing that is missing now is my ability to sew and motivation to get going on it...

I am aware of the fact that you have probably had it with the Hare Pyns shots just about now - will she stop posting pics of that thing already!? - but this is the last one before finishing, I promise!
Class starts early Sunday and I am thrilled that all the stitching is complete! As you can see, every single linen thread is covered and the piece can not be more ready for assembly. Sherri and I e-mailed each other a bit last week and she mentioned that she hopes that we will leave with a finished project - that would be fabulous. I also know that there is a tiny companion piece that we can purchase in class, so there will be more stitching on this project. One day....

Before Hare Pyns, on Saturday, L-Bug and I will drive up to mid-Ohio together to take the Lucet class. I can not wait!!! I am so excited and I am still doing all kinds of prep-work here at home. I have completed all my stitching, so now I am cutting lining pieces, basting interfacing and reading instructions like a mad-woman. It is a lot of fun!
Tomorrow is pretty much the last day I have to get ready. L-Bug lives 2 hrs from my house and I am going up to stay with her, so I will likely leave directly from work on Friday - I need to be packed and ready (I have been asked to bring sewing machine, cut-mat and rotary cutter, iron, ironing board etc, so I'd better make sure that I have all my ducks in a row before long...).
Anyway, L-Bug and I will have so much fun! Dinner, gossip, tea, stitching - I hope that we can get a lot of things crammed in just the two of us before the classes start.

Well, I am late getting to bed - as usual!
Take care and Sweet Dreams about Stithing,

Wow - it's already Tuesday!?

That is pretty much how my weeks feel like right now. Sorry about being absent - I have tried to keep up with all of your blogs, but I fell short around Saturday... It seems that a lot of things are going on right now. Work is getting busier, which is great, and I seem to have things going on in the evenings and weekends too, which is not all that common for me. I like it!

Let me just say, as always, thanks for all your comment - it is so much fun to hear from you!
Oh, and Gwen from Guava Gems Blog posted her second post on the Brightneedle Blog, which was really cool! She is making a small needle-book that will look just adorable - and she finished all the stitching over just a weekend! The pattern is called Pumpkin Flowers and is too cute. I have never seen it before, so that was extra exciting. (I need to get my BN charts out and get going too!)

So, to make sure that I don't forget, here is August's TUSAL update - tadaaah!
(Well, that was really more of an introduction than needed; not a whole lot going on in my TUSAL jar right now. I have tiny pieces of Hare Pyns silk floss on top and I have already forgotten what the last project I really sat and stitched on was... my short-term memory has been gone for a really long time. At least, I think so.... Oh, never mind, I think it was the Noel Quadrielle!)

Moving on to the small progress on the Hare Pyns project. I have finished stitching all the "smalls" now, so the main part is left - the pocket. It is stitched as three panels on the same piece of linen and to finish the piece, the panels are simple folded up. The panel that I am currently working on will be the "inside panel" - the one that, together with the back, will make up the actual pocket.
The fabric in the picture showing all parts will be the lining fabric.

As I mentioned in my last post, these areas take a while to stitch since every last linen-thread is covered with some sort of stitch. I have 4 more zig-zag rows, that will be snugged in under the first row, to go and then the motif-stitching is complete on the inside panel. After that, I am afraid that I will spend quite a few evenings on filling in the back-ground with some type of darning stitch. It will look really nice though.
As you probably notice, I am cheating on the year too. I took the class back in 2007 and I simply refuse to try to chart out 2011, so 2007 it is. As a matter of fact, the charted 2011 is not even included in the chart-pack that the rest of the group got this year, so we are all out SOOL.

Do I dare writing that I believe that the middle panel will stitch up quickly!? It is all Bargello, so I have a feeling that it will be relatively painless compared to the "flap-panel" which is stitched entirely in tent-stitch and darning stitches... I am still looking forward to stitching that piece!

I also want to show some more crazy sun-flower pics from my garden. I know that it looks like total anarchy - and it is - but I like it.
To re-cap, this was the "weed" that self-germinated. Still going strong:

This is the mix of flowers that I planted about a month ago. No rules were followed when planting these babies - a mix of three-four seed-types were thrown into the ground (way too close together) and I did not go through and pull out the smaller seedlings after things started to come up.
Here are a couple of the weaker ones, happily crawling on the walking path:

This type looks almost black when the sun does not shine through it. It makes me think of the Disc-World's Death's sun-flower garden:

Aren't these just gorgeous in all their glory?:

And here is a part of this craziness (poor neighbors!):

I also have to show you a pic of a very tired and cozy bunny...

Currently, he is happily jumping, leaping, running, spinning, and I don't know what, around the basement, where the rest of us are blogging from right now. All the noisy parrots are in bed and it is a grand time to be a tiny black bunny. We all learned that bunnies are treated like Royalty here - from a pellet only diet, Bubba has now also added apples, carrots, lettuce, grapes, bunny treats (he hates all of them!), hay, grass to his repertoire AND he has moved into the guest-bedroom! He is living a posh life, let me tell you! He may need to be re-named Bubba Hilton, if this keeps up... We are getting to know each other better, which is a lot of fun. I have even gotten licks and that head-bump that means "I need my cheeks rubbed right about now, please!".

Other than that, not much going on. I did drag my own, DH's and a friend's butts over to a party on Friday. We had a really nice time, but at about 11.10 PM, I said enough and drove everyone home again. It was a good time and we did meet a bunch of friends that we don't normally get to hang out with. The host-couple has had this party every year for probably 5-10 years now. Everyone is welcome, including people they don't know "as long as you would invite them into your own home". What is really neat is that the party has gone from a "get as drunk and obnoxious as you can" type deal to more of a family party. There are more and more kids running about and this year they even rented a bouncy castle from small and big kids.

On Saturday, DH and I drove over to see our three God-children. We had a fabulous time. You remember how much fun the part was, back in the less-golden years? Yep, we got to experience that again. Climbing trees, going down on the slides, swinging on the swing set. The kids are too cute, but of course I forgot the camera at home. :-(

Finally, I promised weeks ago to tell you why we had to go to the ER. Well, after all my years of nagging, as all good wives do, about the importance of a healthy life-style, it finally happened - DH's total lack of bodily care caught up with him. I think just hope that he has been scared straight for a couple of months...
This s what happened; DH works nights and was just getting up and ready for work on a Wednesday evening around 8 PM. He was off the night before and had spent pretty much all day lying around, playing video games, drinking beer and napping. In addition, on Tuesday night, he had been playing out-door soccer, in an open field in 98 degree weather. Yep, you all know where this is headed....
I hear a bang from the bathroom and rush over to see what is going on. DH is just getting back up from the floor looking mighty embarrassed and confused. "I just fell" he says - yes, of course he hit his head on the way down. He proceeds to go to the kitchen to get a drink and since I am a bit worried at this point, I follow him. Luckily - he passes out again! I manage to, somehow, catch him (I am not short with my 5.6, but this man is a tall 6.3) and lower him to the floor. Seeing that this is my exceptionally stubborn husband, I decide to straddle him to make sure that he does not get up and insist on going in to work... sigh. (Anyone else have a stubborn man in their life, or am I the only lucky one? LOL) At this point, he is white, clammy, cold, and can not focus. I grab the phone, manage to remember the emergency number (yes!), and have just about time to think "wow, I am really doing great, keeping clam and all", when they answer on the other side and panic just seems to rush in and drown me. It feels like I can't breathe (I really understand that saying about "a weight on ones chest" now) and my voice comes out as yells in staccato - I even have a hard time remembering our house number. It is all I can do not to start crying out of shear stress and fear.
Well, an ambulance gets sent over, which I have to run out in the street to wave down from one block north-over (How can that happen? Don't they have GPS!? Or maybe I really did get the house number wrong...) Plus at the same time, I am dressing DH and asking him stupid questions like "Can you feel both your arms?" and "Do you have any tingling sensations?".
So, there we were - 3 firefighters, DH, and I squeezed into our minute bed-room. It would have been quite amusing, if it wasn't for the fact that I wasn't still pretty upset. All the standard tests were carried out and it was concluded that it was dehydration. Phiew! Here, just to amuse myself and make sure that DH would have to listen, I started to ask the FF really stupid questions, like "Tell me, I am not sure whether this is true or not, bu I have heard that it may not be a really great idea to play soccer in 98 degrees and go out for beer afterwards?" and "I am curious to know, if you may be so kind as to tell me, what is the better drink - water or Mountain Dew?". Show us that the nagging wife was right all along....
We got to chose whether we wanted them or me to get him to the ER. Seeing that he hit his head earlier, I insisted that they'd take him over. Well, that was lucky - the head and spine were fine( and I did get the satisfaction of seeing the doctor slap a neck brace on DH while DH gave me dirty looks...) but he needed O-N-E G-A-L-L-O-N of liquid before he could pea. I mean, really!? What was he thinking!? I did the typical emotional journey from "Thank God that he will be all right!" to "What the Hell can he have been thinking!?". We got out of the ER at 2 in the morning and by that time I was cranky!
Well, all in all, I am glad that he is all right an that he may have learned something... After all, he heard the firefighters tell me all about how to avoid dehydration... ;-)

So, on that note I will end with a couple of facts that my buddy Froggie sent me a while back:
WATER
- 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated.
- In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is mistaken for hunger.
- Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
- Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
- A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.

Who knew?
Take care, Happy Stitching, and Stay Hydrated!

TUSAL Update and Other Assorted Stash'n Stitch Updates

Hello and Happy Saturday! I don't know about you, but DH and I are enjoying a lazy morning. Some of us are net-surfing, stitching and drinking tea while others are playing video games and drinking beer (recall that he is on night-shift, so early morning is DH's late evening...). Oh, and there are yet others, who are sitting on my head, squawking and eating carefully peeled sunflower seeds. Happy family time!

Speaking of family, this morning I got a happy surprise when I called my mom's and dad's and my Little Sister answered! She told me that our parents are at the summer house so Sis and kiddies moved in at their resident over the weekend. Sis' family bought a new and larger apartment and they wanted to repaint all the walls, so the kids are out breathing fresh air in the suburbs while everything is getting a touch up in their new home.

I have also had the immense pleasure to chat with my Littlest Sister a few mornings this week. So much fun! I usually jump on-line before I jump into the shower in the mornings. We both have Skype, so we have just happened to meet. We really have a lot of very interesting things to talk about, so it has been great! She and I work in completely different areas and I am so excited to learn from her. She does, among other things, profiling on interviewees for companies during hiring processes. Sweden has some very strict laws on how companies can lay off or fire their personnel, so it is really hard to get rid of people - even if they show up drunk at work! In other words, it is really important to know who you are hiring on or you may set yourself up for disaster!

And of course I got all the comments from all of you, dear readers! It is always so much fun to hear what you are thinking! I have been meaning to thank all of you who gave me great advice about helpful beading tools, by the way. I think that Diane mentioned the Tacky Bob and as soon as I read her tip I thought "Duh, I have one of those!". Thanks for the reminder, Diane!
Jo mentioned the "vacuum up beads with a pantyhose" trick, which I will probably have to use on my couch one of these days! Thanks for the tips, ladies! We got some beading done! After a number of hours, I can introduce the finished Crowjackers and Moonroders - Tadaah!

Well, what else do I have to share today? Oh, the TUSAL, of course! Here we go:

Here is a photo showing the surroundings - I started stitching on the Noel Quadrielle yesterday evening - I think that it'll be a quickie!

I also have a confession to make. I am a Binge Stasher. Lots of goodies came in the mail this week. A lot of them came because I am not smart enough to stop browsing... Since I had so much fun with the Sweetheart Tree Designs, I picked up a bunch more on eBay - most of the are about 50% of what they cost in the stores!
And since I have been on a "Heather Ross ride" here lately, I could not pass up on this adorable pattern wallet from Madbird's shop at Etsy:

Isn't this just the best idea!? The wallet is made from HR's line Mendocino fabric line (OOP, of course...)

I may not have mentioned this before, but I collect old Scandinavian charts. I am especially fond of Fremme, even though their charts are easy to get hold of, and of Clara Waever. CW is a whole other ball-game... This company did not seem to be real popular here in the US, so the charts are quite a challenge to find. Sometimes I find old used charts "Swedish eBay", but I am not allowed to bid there for some reason (I have no clue why - I mean, I do have a Swedish SS# and everything...).
I generally, and shamelessly, call my dad and ask him to bid for me (tack pappa!!!). We have not been real lucky so far. Scandinavian designs are very popular in Japan and one of my Japanese stitching friends has informed me that this one Japanese lady vacuums the market from all old CW/ER charts. She pays astronomical amounts of $$ for these charts and then turns around and sells them for even higher prices from her on-line store in Japan. I guess you can't get too angry - it is obviously a working business, but I would still prefer that someone who is actually planning on stitching them would get them instead. Sigh...
Anyway, CW was bought up by Eva Rosenstand, who in turn was bought up by Permin pretty recently.
I have contacted Rosenstand on several occasions in the past, trying to convince them to reprint some of their old CW charts, but got a very friendly but very assertive "no" every time. Very sad! :-(
So, enough with the whining and on to my very exciting eBay find:

Isn't it pretty!?

And finally, I would recommend that if you have never browsed Country Stitches - stay away, stay away, stay away!!!! I can almost grantee that it'll be a very expensive experience! Yet, somehow, I find myself ending up at this sweet market over and over...

(The latest issue of SANQ ended up in this pic too - love Jackie's piece!)

What is up in the right hand corner!? Well, it is some Jewelry findings from Patera. These small frames and charms are used to make really neat jewelry. This is what I got to get me started:

This is an example of a finished piece that I got from Country Stitches a year ago or so - I really like it a lot!

(The dark wool will be used to make crows from, by the way...)
The coolest thing is that Brenda Gervais has posted a tutorial on her blog that shows exactly how to make these pretty things; check this out!

Did I deserve all these goodies? Mmmm, my "excuse" this week is that I think that I did pretty well this week. I stuck it out with my "finishing only" goal and I have some finished finishes to show off (keep in mind that the Just Nan ornies were finished this week too). I am planning on finishing off the Sweetheart Tree "There is a Birthday Here Today" piece before the week is over, which means that I, technically speaking, am pulling ahead (yeah, I know - totally lame excuse and not true in the least! ;-))
Here are the Bird pictures with the finished picot-edging copied from a Japanese stitcher:

The SHT Welcomes were slapped together yesterday (when I say "slapped", note that no glue was used - I am too much of a stitch snob to finish anything with glue.. LOL)

I decided to make them into small pictures instead of ornaments. My favorite tin easels from Twisted Threads work perfectly. Now I feel the urge to stitch all the seasons, a few additional ones AND make a cute stitched box placed on the mantle , where they can all rest while waiting for their turn to go on display.
Isn't it great that a stitcher's work is never done?!

Well, time to get going. There are walks to be taken and groceries to be bought.
Have a fabulous weekend and see you soon!

Happy Stitching,

TUSAL Update

Quickie post here! My In-Laws are here for the Holiday weekend.  I just wanted to show my TUSAL progress:

And look what my TUSAL-jar is standing on - a wonderful spool cabinet that my FIL built for me!  How wonderful is this!?  I love it!!!

Oh, and before I leave, thanks so much on all your lovely comment in regards to the Swedish sampler finish.  How cool that you enjoyed reading about the different symbols - I was a bit worried about boring everyone, so great to hear that you had fun reading it!

Take care, Happy Stitching, and have a great Holiday!

Excuses, excuses.... (and TUSAL update)

Hi Everyone!  Thanks so much for all your comments on my posts.  I forget to thank you way too often, but I just wanted to let you know that I really enjoy hearing from you!

I have nothing real stitchy to show, even though I am dutifully stitching on the Richmond sampler, one over-one letter at the time.  I have a feeling that I will run out of floss for the letters here soon, so that will give me a break...
I have stitched up more than 50% of the Lucet piece.  I may still tweak the personalized pocket a bit, but I see the light at the end of the tunnel for this one!  One more over-one carnation and then the finishing party will begin!

I also have to confess that I pulled this vintage Fremme kit out and was just about to find the center of the linen, when a nap caught me square in the eye.  Saved by the bell!  Maybe some other day...

The Memorial Day weekend was great.  I took Friday off from work to spend time with my feather-rats and clean up the house.  We had people over for a BBQ on Saturday, so the house needed to be spotless.  Yep, a BBQ is generally located in the back yard, but I can't very well forbid people from using the wash-room, which means that the entire house needed a big wipe down...  We had a grand time and the house still looks clean, so that is nice!
It is so much fun to see that the birds get very eager to take baths when we are in the cleaning mode.  Here are Pixie and Henny taking turns in their water dish:

 

On Sunday, DH and I took a trip over to IKEA.  The reason why was this mess (I know that I have showed it to you before.  Trust me, I do organize everything between shots, but the war against the stash is something that I seem to be loosing...):

So this is what was done:
1)  Assemble

2)  Move around (You should have seen our expressions when we realized that the assembled cabinets may not fit around the corners or in through the stitch-room door!)

3)  Sort, stash, step back and admire - Voila!

 

Note my TUSAL jar that has now been hidden on top of one of the new cabinets.  The reason why is that someone found out that it is a lot of fun to munch on the label.  (I am pretty sure that it was 

Rusty, but he just looks at me with big eyes when I ask him....) 

Good that we got organized too, since I got some really cool stash in the mail:

Did you know that Kari Meng of French General makes jewellery kits as well as publish books, designs fabrics, and quilts?  I had no idea, but once I found out, I had to get some kits to try out.  I'll let you know how they turn out (I am completely new to this craft, so no high expectations, please.  ;-))  I had a lot of fun browsing the web-site!  The only thing that seems a bit odd is that the kits don't come with a photo of a model or something.  I had to print out the very tiny pics posted on Kari's web-site.

Well, I am trying to be good with getting to bed in a reasonable hour.  Plus Anne Maria is calling my name - have to spend some time with her and a nice cup of tea!

Have a great evening & Happy Stitching!