Where oh where, do I start?

Dear friends,

     I sit here today with nary a thing to do 

the leaves, the laundry, and dusting, all give me the blues!

So, I thought instead... I'd write you a letter

I'll post it in poem and hope for the better!

I shudder to think that these prose you might judge

so with a wink and I smile, I'll give you a nudge

and ask you to remember that I hold your hearts dear

and I'll continue on without any fear!

I've been here, been there, I've been all around

I've been feeling quite the girl about town!

There've been weddings, trips and shopping too 

I've got so many pictures to share with you!

That's me on the left with friends Marian and Laurie

We had quite the good time, and believe me the stories,

go way beyond what's acceptable here!

I just want to remind you that cameras are near ;-)

I took a trip I had planned with my Mum.

We were going to Charleston to have some girl fun!

The trip was cut short and that was really a pity

because history abounds in this beautiful city!

 The Jane Eliza Taylor sampler is displayed on a wall 

 

And of course I love seeing old cemeteries in Fall:

 Gates to secret gardens are all around

And plants growing out of walls, can even be found!

Thanks to my friend and fellow blogger Mel

I went to a museum and the textile curator, well...

she showed me around and made my day

by showing me samplers that weren't on display!

The museum is the first in the U.S. of A!

And I have to tell you it's got some awesome displays!

The samplers, the textiles, the artifacts, too

Will have you amazed and awed, it's true!

Seeing the samplers from Low Country way, 

Gave me a thrill on that October day!

 But I did walk around and what do you suppose I should see,

but a street in Charleston, named after me.

Now stitching you know is what I adore

but more than one project now that, I abhor!

So how is that at this time and place

I have more than one project raiding my space?

Two I can show you, one I cannot 

but suffice it to say, my needle's not hot.

Very few stitches have I laid of late

but on one little project I just couldn't wait.

It's the English version of Adam and Eve

by Ebeth Talledo and it called to me.

I thought it was cute and oh so sweet

with their pilgrimy collars and turned out feet!

Of course I changed a color or two

the leaves I made all the same green hue.

The snake with blue dots I just couldn't see

so I changed them to red.  Look, he's staring at Eve!

Miss Susan Rambo is coming along fine

Though slower than normal cause other projects of mine

Like the one that's called The Patches of Life

and Susan Singleton yes, they're causing me strife.

But not as much stress as this post has done

cause it's telling me space for pictures, I've none.

What pray tell and how can that be?

Will this be the end of blogging for me?

I hope not my friends, because this is true

I've come to heavily rely upon you!

You give inspiration and love quite willing

and your notes to me, I find quite thrilling!

So no pic of Patches or other treasures; I'm woozy!

and I'm really quite bummed so I think I'll go snoozy.

Later I'll try to figure out what is wrong

and if I can post pics, I won't be away long.

Oh! One last pic that I loaded before

the note that I got said I could load no more.

When my mom and I returned to Virginia

my Dad had this salad all made for our dinner!

The table was set and what a pretty site,

when Dad prepares dinner, he does it up right!

The salad was pretty, the chicken a sight

and spending time with my parents, is my hearts delight!

Good night and farewell for now, my dear friends,

there's more to this story but for now it must end.

I hope I can show you more pictures, soon

I promise some treasures that will make your heart swoon!

Be well,

Peace,

Terri

Susan Rambo Sampler progress

Dear friends!

   Well, here we are getting ready to start another week.  It has been a glorious day here and I've enjoyed the wonderful weather we've had all weekend.  

I've also enjoyed these:  

Tomatoes right from the garden.  It's not really a garden - it's 3 tomato plants and some basil planted along the side of the house but hey, it produces these delicious delights so I'm a happy "gardener"! 

The crop has been so good this year and I've enjoyed sharing them with my neighbors.  I have eaten more than my fair share this summer!

Unfortunately, summer is coming to an end as evidenced by the fading colors:

 and the golden hues of fall.

Even the hibiscus is starting to look a little tired around the edges.

Kind of like me.

Luckily, there will be lots of projects to keep me busy 

over the Fall and Winter months.

This one:

Miss Susan Rambo.  

She's coming along slowly but surely.

Can you tell I re-stitched the squirrel's tail?  He's a little more grey than before. 

I like him - but then, who doesn't like a fella with a bit of gray?

I will be starting my other two projects in the next week, I think.  I'd like to make some more progress on Susan before moving to those two (see previous post about the two I'm referring to).  The idea of three, rather large projects going at once is foreign to me, and makes me feel kind of anxious - like I'll never get any of them done.   So, I'd kind of like to finish this one (or at least make some significant headway) prior to really getting going on the other two.

The problem is... those flowers in the border are taking me a long time to stitch.

I've stitched, frogged and re-stitched several of them and that is really slowing my progress.  Not to mention all the other mistakes I've made which have caused more frogging and more time lost.   I may take her to work and try to put some stitches in during lunch - maybe that would help.

Oh well...

In the meantime, I have another little finished project to show you.

Count Your Blessings

by Shakespeare's Peddler

It is sitting on the backing fabric and trim I used.

When I finished it, I thought it needed a little extra umph

so I added buttons all the way around.  I have to admit,

I'm kind of tickled with how it turned out.

This was stitched from a traveling pattern which I stitched right away but didn't finish until recently.

Of course I have a couple of vintage finds to show you:

This sweet, little pillow I found at an antique market:

 I love it!  It had a couple of stains on it but a good soaking and it is as good as new.

 I found these mending samplers at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago.

The folks holding the sale said the woman that lived there was in her 90's and was from Germany.  I recognized them as German mending samplers when I first spotted them but nice to have some verification.

I think I'll make a small pillow out of the smaller piece and I'm not sure what, if anything, I'll do with the larger.  

I got both of them for $6.  I wonder how old she was when she did them?

Finally, I have to show you this great project bag that my friend Carolyn sent me.

As you can see by the magazine laying under it, it is a great size and it's so 

expertly made.  Isn't that fabric on top cute!?  The mesh is vinyl, I think.

I love project bags and if you'd like one of your very own, contact Carolyn.

She's such a sweet gal and does really beautiful work.

Thank you so very much, sweet friend!

 Finally, camera shy Sophie and Gracie and I 

would like to wish you all a great week ahead. 

Thank you for stopping by and leaving me a little note, when you have time.

I appreciate them all a great deal.

Be well,

Peace,

Terri

What's Happenin'?

Dear friends,

Stitching news will follow but first...  

Matt moved to WMU a week ago on Sunday.  He and his pack of grade school friends are all sharing a 6 bedroom apartment.  I just hope they remember why they're there.  Here's a shot of the hooligans, I mean young men.

Matt is the 2nd from the left.  These are all great kids and they're great friends to one another and have known each other since kindergarten.  This was taken as Rob and I were ready to depart and the boys had all worked hard all day in 95 degree heat.  They were anxious for us to leave so they could get down to the serious work of arranging their apartment partying.  

Last night, Rob and I went to a Tiger's game.  It was a perfect night for a ball game, 76 degrees, a cool breeze blowing in and not a cloud in the sky.

Perfect.

Except the game was B.O.R.I.N.G. until.....

Rob caught a foul ball off Miguel Cabrera in the top of the 8th inning (I think)!  He caught it bare handed and while he was reaching to catch the ball, I ran and ducked for cover.  I am a big chicken.  Besides, had I not ducked, he probably would have knocked me out of the way to get the ball.  His hand was a little sore for the rest of the inning but amazingly, the game was suddenly much more exciting.  I was surprised by how many people came by to congratulate him (most of them were seriously drunk).

 The night ended with an awesome fireworks display!

Today, Rob and I went to a festival called Arts, Beats and Eats.  

I'm sure I don't have to explain what that was all about.

Anyway, this was Rob's highlight:

Please click to view the video of Rob in action!

Sorry, don't know why the pic from the video isn't showing up....

If you answered a trivia question correctly, you got to get in this money box thingy.

Did I tell you that Rob is an absolute font of useless trivia!   Catch as much cash as you can in 30 seconds without trapping it against your body, scooping it up off the floor (d'uh) or trapping it against the glass and you keep the cash.  It was set up to help raise raise money for Beaumont Children's hospital.  

Rob did pretty well... came away with $69, I think.

While he was in the box he couldn't tell there was a $20 bill stuck against his chin most of the time.  When he got out, he donated 1/2 of it back to the Children's Hospital and I spent the rest.

What'd I buy?  A pair of vintage boots at a retro clothing store.  They are labeled Maud Frizon, made in Italy.  Maud was actually from Paris, I believe and I was thrilled to find them in my size!  Her stuff was quite expensive back in the day and she was very well known in the fashion world.  I love boots.  I have quite a few pair but can always find room for another.  Plus, and this is exciting, they ALMOST fit tight around my skinny calves!

Without bulky socks on, normally my legs look like toothpicks coming out of a boot top.  These fit like boots are supposed to, I think.  Plus, they're beautifully soft leather and well made.  A bit of saddle wax or polish and they'll be good to go!

And, I got this great Michigan t-shirt highlighting some of the great musicians (or not, depending on your perspective) that have come from our beautiful state.  Don't know what it says about Michigan artists when Alice Cooper is the first name listed.  

Stitching - did you think I'd NEVER get to it? 

I have not completed a lot on Susan Rambo but here is my little bit of progress:

 Part of the reason this is taking so long is the colors (and the fact that I worked on a stitcher's heart last week).  I've stitched then switched the colors which means lot of frogging has been going on.  I stitched the dark part of the squirrel once, hated it, frogged it, re-stitched it then stitched the tail, ears etc and hate it, so now I've got to frog that, too.  The original looks like a ghost squirrel and I'm okay with that, but the colors it was charted for I didn't like.  They didn't look like the original in my opinion, so I'm working on it.  That'll probably be my work this evening.  

Ugh.

When we moved Matt last Sunday, I started the Stitcher's Heart by LHN and I finish-finished it yesterday.  I have to tell you guys... I am beyond thrilled with how it came out.  You know I'm afraid to finish things, but this came together pretty well, I think.  I pretty much followed the directions.

Go figure!

Here's my backing fabric:

Feeling confident, I finished another little project too but I'll save that for another day.

I am going to have two other BIG projects going at the same time as Susan Rambo.

First:

Susan Singleton from The Scarlet Letter:

I am going to be stitching her along with Deb and Sandra.  This is a huge project (by my standards) and we're going to break it up into a two year project, starting at the upper left corner.  Only problem is, my fabric has not yet arrived.  So, as soon as it does, I'll be ready to go with my floss, pattern and little floss tag I made.

My other new project is this:

photo borrowed from the Atelier-perdu Blog

The L'Atelier Perdu Stitch Me Club .....

2012

The Patches of Life Sampler

As soon as I saw PATTY'S PROGRESS, I had to order the charts and quickly got part one and two.

Isn't Patty's progress beautiful?  The fabric for this one is on the same order as that for Susan Singleton.

I hope they get here soon!  I don't know how I'll handle 3 big WIPs at once but I'm going to give it a go.  

Usually, multiple projects make me crazy because as most of you know, I'm a one project at a time kind of gal.  

So we'll see what happens.  

Okay friends!  That's it for today, believe it or not.  I have some great estate sale finds to show you one of these days but I think I've babbled on long enough!

I hope you have a happy Labor Day and that you don't have to spend it laboring!

Be well,

Peace!

Terri

Gifts and Goodies

Dear friends!

    It has been a while, hasn't it?  I had wanted to stick to an every other Sunday post schedule but that didn't last long.  Like everyone else has said, this has been a very busy summer.  Nothing major, just stuff.  The biggest thing right now is getting Matt ready to head off to Western Michigan University.  He will be moving into an apartment with 5 of his childhood friends that are all attending WMU.  I'm going to miss him because he's a friendly, nice kid.  He always comes in with a big "Yo!" and always asks us how our day was.  He's never fussy about dinner and always enjoys whatever I fix.  He's kind of the peacemaker in the family and I will miss him.  But... he is ready to go and I believe that I am ready for him to fly, as well.  I'll let you know more how that went when we drop him off in Kalamazoo on Sunday.

This has been a busy month - I turned another year older - 53!  Yikes!  Fortunately, I have the dearest friends in the world and they took the sting out of getting older.  May I show you some of the goodies I received?  I'll show my minimal stitching at the end.

From my dear friend Marilyn, all the way across the pond in France, I received a Lavender Lover's Delight!  Look:

A wonderful clock that I just LOVE!  Awesome bags of lavender and other herbs in sweet little bags and do you see those cute, lavender decorated salt and pepper shakers?  Could all this be any sweeter?  And oh my gosh, the smell is heavenly.  She also sent me a wonderful potpourri burner with lavender oil that I immediately put in my craft room and failed to take a picture of it.  Thank you so much, Marilyn!

You have spoiled me rotten!

From my dear friend Julie:

The first year of my blog in print in a hard bound book!  What a surprise this was and what a labor of love it was for Julie to do.  I guess, because she is not the blog owner, copying and pasting every article and picture was a bit tedious.  I am just so pleased with this though and have thought about doing it before but just never did.  What I learned from looking thru this fabulous book (ROFLOL) is that I tend to be a bit verbose, so I'll try to work on that.  On paper, as in real life, I tend to be a bit chatty!

Thank you so much, Julie!

And, from my dear friend Sheila:

this amazing quilt that blends applique, embroidery and some intense quilting.

She and I had been shopping one day and I found this.  Needless to say I loved it but being on a bit of a tight budget that day, I didn't buy it as it was way more than I normally spend.  I decided a week later that I couldn't live without it so I went back and it was gone!  Unbeknownst to me, Sheila had purchased it for me.  She is the most generous person!

Here are some shots of the sections of the quilt. 

Oh my gosh, I love this lily pad and flower!

Today I went to a great estate sale and found a few fun things:

More ornaments for my already huge collection: 

An old quilt that is soft and beautiful but needs a new binding:

Some awesome, old bottle brush trees:

A fun pack of Santa's Crayons:

I found a few other goodies that I'll save for another time.

Finally, one last gift and my stitching.  Sheila's daughter Meghan and I have become fast friends and she gave me these sweet doll house accessories to keep in my craft room.  How adorable are they?  A sewing box with tape measure, thread and pincushion in it, a box of threads and a sewing chest with doors that open. So cute!

They are sitting on top of the small part of Susan Rambo I've completed.  As you can see, not much stitching has been accomplished since last we met.  The fabric is not showing true to color and neither are the threads but it's close enough for today.  Stitched on 36 count with 2 strands of DMC.  I've changed several colors already and there may be more to come.  We'll see.

Thanks everyone for stopping by and for leaving me a note so that I know you've been here, if you have time.  I really appreciate you and your comments!

Have a delightful weekend and I'll see you in September!

Be well,

Peace!

Terri