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A little blog about my big loves; family, friends, stitching and yep, chocolate!

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Thursday, January 20, 2011

Tyler, Marianne and The Farm


I don’t know how it’s possible that I can have a child that is 18 years old! Tyler turned 18 today and we are waiting for him to get home so we can celebrate his birthday. He and a bunch of buddies went to the Detroit Auto Show today (1/2 day of school) and, because of some unexpected snow, frozen roads and SLOW driving conditions, he was late getting home.

I remember the night he was born – it was Bill Clinton’s inaugural party and just before Tyler was born at 11:30 PM, we were watching Bill and Hillary, Al and Tipper dancing in celebration. I mostly remember thinking that Al looked pretty goofy dancing but then the contractions started and the laughter was pretty much over.

Fortunately, Tyler has given us much joy over the years and has made us laugh (and cry too, on occasion) a lot the last 18 years. One of my favorite memories of him is when he was about 6 years old. We went to VA Beach and he and Matt found a bottle in the ocean that had a treasure map inside. They grabbed the bottle, hiding it from all in sight and ran back to the beach to show their dad and grandparents. We immediately began searching for the buried treasure, obviously left by pirates long ago. The boys were digging frantically in the sand, beachcombers were gathering around to see what was going on and suddenly, the boys pulled out a chest full of glittering treasure! It was loaded with silver dollars, gold coins, pearls, chains and other treasures! The gathering crowd was astounded and the boys were jumping up and down with glee and Tyler exclaimed, “This is the best day of my ENTIRE life!” Pure joy.

This is not a look of pure joy:


Happy 18th Birthday, Tyler!

The bottle he found is, as you can likely tell, a salad dressing bottle that I had managed to hide in the back of my bathing suit as I walked into the ocean with the boys. I set it afloat and of course, Tyler found it. The map we had made the night before out of a paper bag we had crumpled and torn and stuffed inside the bottle. The chest was stuffed with coins, jewelry and other treasures from my parents. We still have all the “treasure” and Tyler still has the map and bottle in his room – a sweet reminder of summertime fun!

A message in a bottle.....


The Map:

I am still chomping at the bit to get started on Marianne. But, there was something bugging me about it. I was absolutely in love with the image I saw on the screen when I first saw that sampler pop up. But when I pulled the DMC threads, I just wasn’t feeling it. Could the colors possibly be that far off? They were not the rich, jewel tones that I love and that I felt like I had seen on the screen. I tried to make them work by pulling similarly colored threads using Weeks and GAST (see previous post), thinking the variation would help but frankly, I still didn’t like it. So, back to the drawing board I went. And, after about 1 ½ hours of playing with fibers, I THINK I have it right. What do you think?

If you’re planning on stitching this, let me know - I’d love to know how many of you, like me, just couldn’t stand it and had to stitch her. I’d also love to know how many of you pulled the DMC colors and thought YUCK!!!

One more note about Marianne: I’m waffling on the fabric – it is LL Navy Bean and while I like it; I’m not loving it. I think I may dump it in a vat of coffee and see what happens. Is that crazy? The fibers actually look really good on it but I don’t know if I really like the green/gray cast it has. I know I wanted something more vintagey looking and this isn't it. If I start stitching, it will be too late to do anything ‘cause the fibers will run if I try and stain it. I don’t know…. Someone tell me what to do! Maybe I should just order something else..... any suggestions? I hate not having a store nearby to look at fabrics.

Finally, I’ve made some miniscule progress on The Farm Sampler. Do you see the mistake? Yep, two E’s. Because I HATE frogging, I thought about leaving it but because there’s not that much to remove, I’ll frog it and be happier in the end, I’m sure. I thought the black letters were getting boring - just wait till I get to that over one grass!

Thank you so much for stopping by. I have a few comment questions to get to and I’ll try to do that this weekend. Thanks so much for leaving me a note – it really does make putting your thoughts out for all the world to see, worthwhile. Thanks!

Peace, Terri

43 comments:

Catherine said...

Happy Birthday to Tyler! I love the story of the treasure bottle!

I love the colors you chose for Marianne - as far as the fabric, do you have a small piece of the Navy Bean that you could test with the coffee?

Farm Sampler looks good, but bummer about the froggin'!

the striped rose said...

Happy Birthday to Tyler and Happy "I Gave Birth" day to you! Sorry about the double Es!

Littlebit said...

Aww, Happy Birthday..first they are 18, then twice that before you can even blink.
Two E's..oh man, I hate unstitching stuff.
I love Navy Bean! I love coffee, too! What a great combination. :)

Marion said...

Happy Birthday to Tyler!!
I love the story about the treasure...what a neat idea!!

Love to Stitch said...

Wow, 18. Happy Birthday. You remember being 18? Such a long time ago :)

Marianne, when you showed the colors for her the other day, I immediately pulled up my nose, and thought to myself-- really?? I cant even imagine. I knew right then I was going to have to make some major "improvements" for mine!!! Interesting enough, I am not sure about the fabric, such as laying the colors you chose on it, makes all the difference. What comes to mind is Vintage Pearled Barley- or even Vintage Lt Examplar. Those look like they would work great, but again, I am looking at your conversion on my computer screen!!!! If you need a new LNS, let me know, I have a great one :)

Melissa said...

What a lovely story, Terri! I'm sure he will remember it forever! He is a very handsome lad. Happy Birthday!

Bought Marianne. Check. Didn't like DMC. Check. Haven't picked out the fibers as I've got all these other things chomping at the bit to be stitched!

Carla said...

Happy Birthday, Tyler! I have a Tyler, too and he will turn 29 next week. :-( How did that happen? And how did I get this old? Love the message in a bottle story! A great memory!
Happy frogging!

Robin in Virginia said...

Happy Birthday to Tyler! Hope he got home safe and sound!

Sorry you have to frog; could you somehow turn your 2nd E into an F?

Margaret said...

Happy birthday to Tyler! Just wait till you have a kid who's twenty. lol! He's a cutie -- you'd better watch out for those girls! Your conversion for Marianne looks nice! Sorry about the linen -- not sure what to suggest there, been there too. Love your WIP too! I can't wait to see how your Marianne looks with the conversion. Don't be surprised if people start asking you for it! :D

Jan said...

Awww Happy Birthday to Tyler!!! How fast time flies, huh? I know how you feel about thinking you possibly couldn't have one that old...well I feel the same about my oldest boy and I won't go into how old he is!

I love your farm sampler, it is sweet looking!

You know I have intentions to stitch Marianne Wenn...I have the pattern, but I have yet had the time to pull the DMC...my first thought was to convert to silks, NPI's...my favorite for these kinds of samplers. And as for fabric, I am not sure on that either, but I am thinking more of a warm color, maybe even a Sand Dune or something. I will email you when I get it figured out! Will be glad to help you, if you would like. I have been told I am pretty good with colors.:)

I really am thinking of starting her on my birthday, 2-22.

Clara said...

Lovely post, Terri! The story of the bottle is so funny and I can imagine how proud of themselves they had been!!! 2 es? Don't worry....it's unique! Bye, Clara.

Blu said...

Happy Birthday to Tyler!

The colours you've picked for Marianne are definitely vibrant! Can't wait to see more of her.

valerie said...

Happy birthday to Tyler! Love that message in a bottle story. I kind of agree with Love to Stitch. I don't really like Navy Bean...you have to have just the right colors in order for it to be a good base but Light Examplar and Pearled Barley are forgiving colors...almost anything goes with those bases.

Patty C. said...

Don't you just hate "E's" -lol
Cute treasure hunt story !!

Happy Birthday to Tyler

Andrea said...

What a great story about Tyler finding that message in a bottle and buried treasure...what a super Mom you were to do that! You still are a super Mom! Happy Birthday to Tyler :)
xox

Siobhán said...

Happy birthday to Tyler!!

Sorry about the double Es. I do that a LOT with words/alphabets/verses--add in an extra letter. It's like you get into this trance where you're stitching along and all of a sudden realize that you've taken the design in a whole other direction, LOL.

Good luck on figuring out Marianne! I want to stitch her, but probably later in the year.

jayne@~an eye for threads~ said...

Congratulations to You and your DH for raising such a wonderful son, Happy Birthday to Tyler with Many Happy Returns....
What you , dye sometime in coffee on purpose???? Love the colour choice.
Be always in stitches.

Alice said...

Wow, Tyler is a cutie! Happy Birthday! It does get harder to be in denial about your age when your kids grow up.

Sorry about the frogging, at least it won't take too long to fix.

I don't have any helpful advice to give about Marianne... I am not the best at visualizing what looks good. That's why I gawk at everyone else's work! I'm sure you will find some way to figure out what will please your eye.

Hazel said...

Happy birthday to your boy! What a great story about the treasure. Love your colours for Marianne. x

Cari said...

Loved your birthday post of wonderful stories. Your Tyler is a handsome young man. Love your stitching too. I'm looking forward to your final color choices!! Have fun....

Jody said...

Happy Birthday to Tyler! Loved your sharing the beach story, too cute!

Anna van Schurman said...

It's like 6 stitches, isn't it? Or is the F longer than the E? Just do it, girl!

Happy birthday to both of you.

Glenna said...

Happy birthday, Tyler. Isn't he a cutie! And how hysterical is the treasure map at Va Beach.

For Marianne I think I'd get a piece of LL in either porcelain (very light pink) or vintage butter cream (lovely mottled yellow--I'm using it for Ann Rayner. Or PTP in relic. Happy weekend!

Do you run outside in MI in the winter, or do you have a nice cozy treadmill somewhere?

Carol said...

They do grow up fast, don't they, Terri?! Hope Tyler's birthday was special--he sounds like a wonderful young man and you sound like an extremely fun mom :)

KAREN said...

So many questions-love the new colors, yes I would dip the fabric.
http://www.wasatchneedlecraft.com/ has very nice fabric and now they have started a fabric of the month club but you are not obligated to take each month-only the ones you want.
I am doing CH Xmas and should have changed the colors. Oh well.
welcome to the sisterhood of froggin' and all of mine is over one.
Just saw all of Cari's framed pieces-FABULOUS

Diana said...

The colors you picked for Marianne look very pretty. Could you share with us what threads you chose? I just ordered the chart.

Rhona said...

Don't kids grow up so quickly? I keep asking myself where the years have gone?!! You have some wonderful memories to share and that is so precious.

As for the double E's...I thought it was only me who did things like that!! lol

Loraine said...

Happy Birthday to Tyler! Hope you all had a great night together. He is a very handsome kid!
I'm sorry I missed your last post. I was doing so good on blog reading for about a week, and then...who knows what happened with my time, I certainly don't.
I love the new conversion with the over dyed threads. So much better!!!!! Sometimes I pull the colors, and I think, "Really? Did they really use these colors, or did they forget to write it down, and now they are guessing?" LOL
I think you should dunk the fabric too, because the picture sure seems to show it with some variation, and some brown tones. I say go for it. What can it hurt?
I've missed you so much. Your pictures on the frozen lake are darling. You are the cutest thing! I want your coat!
We have been frozen over for a month too, except this week the temps have gotten up into the high 30's, so most of our snow has melted. Now it's just plain ugly out there. I'm ready to run away to a green tropical island!
Have a fabulous day. I can't wait to see the progress on your chart. I would love your conversion too, because I definitely want to buy this chart for my stash.
Hugs to you dear, sweet Terri!

Natalia said...

Happy B-Day to Tyler !! 18 is an important age and I am sure you have precious memories of his life.
I love Marianne and I think you did a great job with the treads. Can't wait to see your progress.

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

Happy Birthday to a handsome young man! May he have many more :)
We did the exact same thing with the bottle and treasure map last summer on our beach vacation, however instead of the bated breaths and screamed exaltations...I had three "big" kids rolling their eyes while one "little" kid was digging frantically and telling them to hurry up and help! Not quite as lovely a memory as yours and Tyler's but funny and memorable in its own way I guess.... :)

Michelle said...

Happy birthday to Tyler! What a fun story about the buried treasure. So sorry to hear about the E's - not too bad to fix though hopefully. I like the colors you've chosen for Marianne - much more like the photo. I'd love to have seen the comparison though of what it was charted for. I think Vintage Lt. Examplar might give you the warmth you need rather than the greenish hue.

Terri said...

Now that I've looked at both sets of colors, I like your newer ones for Marianne. There was a green in that first conversion that made me cringe! LOL

I still need to decide what I'm going to do with her. I'll have to make a fabric choice first. Of course I'm also trying to decide what to do about James Wilson. Decisions, decisions!

Can't wait to see your first stitches!

Deb said...

My goodness has Tyler grown! I doubt that I would have recognized him on the street! Well, maybe I would have, but they sure grow up fast don't they? Happy Birthday Tyler!!!!

I think that I like the colors you picked for Marianne much better then the original ones. I think they're going to look a lot better.

And your FS looks great - hear you on the monotonous black stitching. And I think I saw myself in your sampler - the double EE thing. I either do something like that or leave a letter out!!

Susan said...

What a great story about your son! Hope he enjoys his birthday!

Pumpkin said...

Happy Birthday to your DS Terri! What a sweet story you shared :o)

I like those colors. I'd like something with a more vintage look myself. Hopefully you'll decide soon :o)

At least the E won't be hard to turn into an F ;o)

Giovanna said...

Many belated happy returns to your handsome boy!

I love the colours you chose for Marianne, and I agree about frogging on the Farm - I don't think I could live with a botched alphabet, let alone such a large one :-)

Nicole said...

I thought the same thing when I pulled the threads for Marianne!! I made up a conversion using NPI and Belle Soie. I'll have to post on my blog when I have definitely decided on the colors. Happy belated birthday to you son!!

Karoline said...

Happy birthday Tyler.

Sorry to hear about the frogs on Farm sampler, it's looking lovely

Sherry said...

I am finally back online! Love your colors for Marianne. I am still working on mine. Hope to get them ready by today.

The bottle story is great. Hope your son had a happy birthday.

Katrina said...

Happy birthday to your son!!! Love the treasure map story too.

The Farm Sampler is so pretty and I love your conversion for Marianne. I am never happy with the Needleprint conversions. You fall in love with the picture and then when you pull the threads it's such a disappointment. Glad you changed the colors.

Sherry :o) said...

Happy 18th to your Tyler - love the boy/mom kiss pic! I can't believe my Jordan will be 18 this year either.

I like the colors - but I love really overdyed fabrics under it - where it really shows. I guess coffee or tea would help that. I love that I am only 40-45 mins from a real store with linen!

Good luck!

Marnie said...

Happy B'day Tyler! What a sweet, sweet beach memory. I wish I had thought of that when I was raising my three step-sons. They would have LOVED that!
As for Marianne, I love the colors you have chosen. I vote for dunkin' the Navy Bean, if you are more of a warm color person. You'll be happier.

woolwoman said...

your son is a cutey - how fast the years fly by - I'm sure it seems even more true when you have kids - Jody and I seem to sometimes be stuck in time just doing the same things we have done for the past 30 years LOL - but we like it that way. I hope you get to a happy place with your colors on Marianne - hope you have a good week! Melody