Saturday, October 16, 2010

Need a dancing partner?

Off to find some fun in Georgia

Here's an update of progress since last night. It's a bit unrolled because after this the other half will be lower down. On more line of border, then words, then motifs.


32 ct Lakeside Linen
Attic Lace
with Crescent Colors cottons and silks

The sun is out here, the leaves are beautiful and I'm fixing to find something to do called

 fun.
  
Here's hoping you have company in your life that desires your prescence and thinks you're worth something more than cleaning toilets and paying bills
...........
 and lots of good Fall foliage to enjoy the weekend!

Friday, October 15, 2010

Girl talk


Had a good, long day of stitching while watching my favorite TV shows.

Wished I lived closer to a Needlepoint Guild.

Ate more fried food than I should have.

Ate more candy corn than I should have.

Found out now I'm spoiled stitching with silk. But, oh what a dream it feels like flowing through linen!

watched Abbie drag her food bowls over for me about 8 feet to feed her some of my supper.

Wished my kids would call sometimes just to say hi. Hello?????

Using my new IPHONE like I've owned it a year now.

Did absolutely ZERO housework or cooking today.

Realized summer is definitely over. Temps in the 30's tonight in the mountain valleys.

Realized that no matter how hard we try, sometimes, it's just not meant to be.  Let it go.

Embracing change.

Ordered the perfect framed for my sampler today. Felt good.

Realized when one door closes, another one really does open.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

Good morning, planet Earth! Sending Love all over the Earth today!

Good morning to the whole wide world!

 Last night, I was so touched as I watched CNN while stitching, the situation with the trapped miners in Chile and saw them bring every last one out of that dark hole. The spirit of the people in that country, and their President's words were overwhelmingly touching and so the spirit of all countries should be. I'm so thankful for the successful work, hard work of the survivors. God bless them and their families each and every one in Chile! 

Since Tuesday's posting, I've been either working, commuting through loads of traffic, eating take-out food, candy corn, and other sundries and most of all----getting myself in gear with this sampler I designed because on Tuesday I went to the post office to ask how long it would take a 9 x 16 ~~~ sampler, framed to hit Sydney, Australia and I got a raised eyebrow by the postal worker.......yep, they could sense my time and money were limited.  I got astronomical estimates even at crawl pace. Due to this and economical circumstances of which I cannot speak on a public domain but has affected me tremendously (to say the least), I am not sure if this will be a go or not. Either way, I'm still going to finish this design and stitch  with much passion on 32 ct Lakeside Linen Attic Lace with a combo of CC cottons and Bell Soie silks.  Yes, I would like to Super Size this order PLEASE!  ;)

Here's my 2 day's progress. I'm still tweaking as I go so this may change but right now, this morning, in front of me is this palette and frame:









The piece has several crosses intertwined in it for a purpose. When it's complete, I think you'll like it. Yes, this key is large and the meaning of it when completed, you will understand. I still have quite a ways to go.

Onward now as I have the song in my mind......"He's got the whole world....in His Hands. He's got the whoooooole world....in His Hands. He's got the whole world in His Hands"

Congrats to Chile for the sweet spirit of their country and all countries who helped by their  love and prayers, supplies, information, technology~~~ anything which helped the survivors to withstand such a tragedy.

Till later,

Jennifer

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Update on DV sampler




update of tonight's progress. I met my goal and now tomorrow night onto the next section.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Monday Matters--Progress on DV sampler for coalition in Sydney, Australia in November

Tonight I came straight home, and delved right into getting this sampler going.

 Time is limited on it. Last week I didn't have alot of energy but this week I'm determined and my will is renewed to complete this project. I'm on a mission.

This is how far I got while I plopped on the sofa in my favorite sweatpants and T-shirt with glasses and threads everywhere, bag full of plums, purples, and golds and my rough draft design of which I'm following and tweaking along the way.

Please pardon the randomness of this thread disarray. This is the way I work mostly but I did stay up last night till 1am getting my newest and oldest Crescent Colors (most of them) in alphabetical order on a ring.

Working on Week's Dye next.



Here's my progress so far. I have so much to do. I stitched this piece of 32 count Attic Lace linen on the Z frame and got it set up to go last night. This sampler will be framed in black, I do know that and I have chosen mostly bold purplish pallette for the remembrance sampler.


The color of the small heart is CC Heatherleigh. This is the first time I've used this color but it's very pretty and blends well.

The darker purple is CC Belle Soie Silk Empress. It's very brilliant purple and SMOOTH to stitch.



I have clipped a new Mighty Brite light , the larger clip version on the frame and the LED lights are perfect for stitching anywhere. I found it at Books a Million bookstore.

 The clamp is large enough for frames and the light is tiny but very bright.



Yes, I'm curled on the sofa with a quilt, glasses, Mighty Brite and frame and my stitching bag full of colors.
It's cozy while I catch up with the news and of course, Nancy Grace cases. They put things in perspective sometimes. ;)



Have frame----will travel.

This is my work area as I have it. A mess I know. But the finished product will be pretty!!!

The design should finish for a frame 9 x 14 or so.......we'll see. A vintage black frame is my goal and I have seen one this size that will work. If not, my hubbie is going to make one for me and I'll paint it and frame it myself. Got to economize......

onward to the week.
till later,
stay safe!

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Abbie and me on the porch this afternoon


My attempt to make a cushion cover is a bit ragged but after I machine-sewed the material on the sides, both BodyGuard and me turned in all kinds of contortions on the porch trying to stuff the very long cushion into it.

Then afterwards, he says to me....."hey, how are you going to sew these ends?"

Hmmm.......well, hand sewing now. Definitely not taking it off and rolling in the floor with it again to fit it back in. :0

So in the interim, Abbie is clinging to the chaise as if I made this for her new home. She is loving the chaise because the weather is so pretty today and I don't blame her.  If I didn't have other things to do around the house, I would be lying in it right now and I may just do that this evening. I think stitching here tonight with my new Mighty-Brite small light may be in order later on.

Got out my pumpkins and Fall decor and put a little shelf up in the kitchen, changed out the kitchen curtains, and made the center island, wooden bowl full of Fallish things, like pumpkins.

In the busy rustle of things, the Labs are also enjoying the weather by sleeping upside down in their dog house. This pic was taken during all the commotion with the cushion on the back porch. Nothing wakes Ruby.




I would show you a picture of the section of painted boards that I thought was primer.....since it was a lavender gray.....but it's not, it's supposed to be the porch paint. I looked out in the morning sun and asked BG if that was primer and he said, no that is the paint.......he said

"deck paint only comes in 3 colors"

He may as well have said.......  anything  ........By then I was biting my fingernails on how NOT to hurt his feelings because we really needed this painted but not in Lavender Lace. I gave up on trying to explain the difference in cool colors and warm colors. He gave me a very blank look and he didn't really know about picking out colors......

 Well out in the sun, it glows so we have to start over with that project. We have alot, alot of porches to paint before the leaves fall.

This is Ruby at the top. She is the matriarch of the whole pack. She's the "laid-back" one. Of course, she favors Body Guard and my Lab is Raven, the "goofie, hyper one".  They come alive about 9pm, at which they bark at everything and run around the house, like it's a Chuckie Cheese.  What's really funny is that have a real bear in the yard some nights.....LOL

And then, there's Abbie, who absolutely has fallen in love with the chaise on the porch and thinks I'm trying to make a cushion cover just for her lounging in the afternoons. She did try to "help" me put this on. ;)

I wonder if she will let me finish hand sewing the ends. This is about the time I think that one of those hand sewing machines would be a nifty item to have around the house!



so the Sofa Queen turned Chaise Queen today. She's sporting her new sweater.



This is her Princess bowls we got while we were in Chicagoland.



Yes, she is spoiled..........rotten.



I made a little runner to put on the kitchen island from some fabbie in my stash.



Put up a little shelf I got at a thrift store about 2 months ago. I have a big weakness for hearts....literally.....I love hearts. I had a very large shelf like this in my older house that the buyer wanted to stay with the house and I caved but there were many times I wished I had brought it with me. This little shelf is smaller but reminds me of the one I had in my old kitchen. It has a groove for plates at the top but I put a very old stitched piece on it that I've had for about 5 years now, I bought at auction. It's a very pretty monochromatic piece and very colonial.



This sampler to the left I stitched and is one of The Sampler Girl Designs. I really love it and it stays there every season. For interests, her website is the coolest.....you must check it out!



I put some dried flowers through my hanging basket holder.

Didn't really get a good picture of my kitchen curtain change due to the camera and the lighting but I changed those out. Summer curtains are tucked away.



And put some of my stitched pieces around in different places.  The cupboards are almost bare as emptying the dishwasher is next on my list of things to do. Don't you love emptying the dishwasher??????

Men totally do not understand this nesting and re-arranging thing that many women (including myself) do each season but it really is comforting in many ways, or to me it is. It's just a way of cozying up the house and making a home, a home. And it's not that this is a bad thing. I think we just think differently. God made us that way.
Men think functional and practical.
Women think about the big picture and sentimentally.

But this is just my opinion, I could be very wrong and I know this is just a generalization of what I've encountered. It's kinda like Ying and Yang.....LOL

So, can you see Waldo in this picture?????  hint, in the lower left corner.

Well, more to do, so best get busy. Sunday nights are the busiest for me. By then, I'm rested up, and new energy sets in for the Monday morning, which is a good thing!

No cooking tonight....Wendy's Chili with fries for supper.

A Beautiful Sunday in Reflection


Letting Go

To “let go” does not mean to stop caring; it

Means I can’t do it for someone else.

To “let go” is not to cut myself off; it’s the

Realization I can’t control another.

To “let go” is not enable, but to allow

Learning from natural consequences.

To “let go” is to admit powerlessness, which

Means the outcome is not in my hands.

To “let go” is not to try to change or blame

Another, it’s to make the most of myself.

To “let go” is not to care for, but to care about.

To “let go” is not to fix, but to be supportive.

To “let go” is not to judge, but to allow another

To be a human being.

To “let go” is not to be in the middle, arranging

All the outcomes, but to allow others to affect

Their own destinies.

To “let go” is not to be protective, it’s to permit

Another to face reality.

To “let go” is not to deny, but to accept.

To “let go” is not to nag, scold, or argue, but

Instead to search out my own shortcomings

And correct them.

To “let go” is not to adjust everything to my

Desires, but to take each day as it comes and

Cherish myself in it.

To “let go” is not the regret the past, but to

Grow and live for the future.

To “let go” is to fear less and love more.

-Author Unknown
 
Here's hoping your Sunday is beautiful and spending at least a small slice of it in meditation.
 
 This excerpt is from online and the author is unknown. I wish I did know who wrote this because whoever did, explained the term letting go much better than I can or do. Just a couple of months ago I said my mantra is Let Go--Embrace Serendipity. I find that I have to keep this thought in my head and hopefully one day will be able to fully understand the difference between letting go and not caring. It's taken some time, but I'm getting there over the bumps in the road, just as everyone else has bumps in the road.
 
The weather today is the most beautiful ever!!!  Sunshine and no humidity and right now about 60 degrees. Who could ask for better weather???
 
 Today I'm thankful for this weather so that we can get some sprucing up around the house done, so that we can enjoy the sunshine while it's here, and open the windows to air the house out.
In the evening we can build a fire, of which we both absolutely love, and ponder on things remembering the above comforting words of wisdom.
 
I hope this brings some hope to your life today and that you have a wonderful, sunshiney Sunday! I've been busy yesterday designing some more. I will be posting a Halloweenie one soon for you to enjoy.