Happy New Year!

Happy New Year, friends!

Day 1 of 2016 and so much to look forward to!  I hope the coming year is healthy and happy for you!

I have a lot to show you!

I got the Barbara Anna, Love Never Fails sampler back from the framer and gave it to Rob for our 25th anniversary, back in November.  

I know… what's a man want with a sampler?  

But this was significant for a few reasons.

First (and probably most important), I didn't wait until the last second to come up with a gift idea.  Second, I actually remembered to get something.

Three, it's a gift that took time.  

Here it is:

I've given the details previously but it's stitched on 35 count Tin Roof by WDW, with the called for fibers.  I made a few modifications to the pattern, to make it personal.  I love how it turned out and this may be one of my all time favorite stitches. I chose a more rustic, less feminine frame that has just a hint of blue in it.  

Rob liked it too.  I think.  What else could he say???

For Christmas, I got some amazing gifts:

A lovely, sweet, antique sampler, stitched in 1820 by Maria Beckett, gifted to me by Rob.  

There are a few holes in it but it is really lovely.  

The top left is the front of the sampler and the bottom right is the back.  

She was a neat stitcher, wasn't she? 

I believe this is stitched with silk threads as they have quite a sheen to them.  

A timely verse for the New Year, wouldn't you agree?

If Happiness be your pursuit

Plant Virtue and Content's the fruit.

I have to admit, I was a bit leery when I opened the package so I took it out of the frame to inspect.  

I was afraid Rob might have been hoodwinked.

As it turns out, it wasn't EXACTLY as described - it wasn't mounted using conservation framing and in fact, it was behind PLEXIGLAS otherwise known as plastic (yikes), WITHOUT spacers and was simply sitting on a similar colored piece of linen (that hadn't been ironed) so the holes weren't as visible as they might otherwise have been.  

I took it out of the frame, cleaned it up as gently as I could, and gently sewed it to another piece of linen making sure to not disturb or break any of the threads in the already sparse areas.

  I have a new frame ordered and it will be mounted properly when the frame arrives.

I'll show you when it's all complete.

Little pink houses and a sweet verse - what's not to love?

"Little pink houses for you and me."

Rob also got me this:

Yes!  Betty Ring's Girlhood Embroidery. 

 I have read about 1/4 of the first book.  

I'm trying to take in all the information and am trying to become as knowledgeable as I can about this

art form that we all love.

These books are inspiring, to say the least, and I've wanted them for a long time.

I know what you're thinking and yes, yes he is!

My final finish for 2015, on the evening of the 31st, was the Mystery Sampler by 

With Thy Needle and Thread.

I stitched this pretty, little piece with all the called for fibers but I did change the alphabet from 

beige to cranberry.

I had the entire alphabet stitched but it just didn't show up so I frogged and restitched.

If I'd known in advance I might do this, I would also have stitched the straight borders around the flowers in cranberry too but I'm not frogging and redoing all that.  You may want to do that should you decide to stitch this using the cranberry letters.

I had a couple of parties over the holidays and they were lots of fun.  

Getting ready for a party is always stressful, no matter what and these were no exception.  

I do bring a lot of it on myself, though.

For instance, I was having some of our guild members over on Saturday.

On Friday, while I was getting ready, Rob calls and says we should go get our flu shots.

It was a pretty day, unseasonably warm for Michigan, so I thought, hmmm, that seems like a good idea. It won't take long and I doubt too many folks will be lined up on this pretty day, so why not.

Here's why not: you might get distracted.

I went to get the shot but they weren't giving them that Friday.

As I was driving home, down a road with deep farm lots, I saw a pine tree with two BIG broken branches laying on the ground.  

I drove past and then thought hmmmm… those would make a great garland.

I turn around, look around and seeing not a soul, I broke off a few branches and tossed them in the trunk (or boot) of the car.

Whew!  Nobody saw me.  At least nobody pointed a rifle at me.

I got in the car, started to drive off and then, stupidly, I decided, 

what the heck.

Why not just load the branches (9 or so feet tall of them) into the car.  The trunk was already full with the big branches I'd broken off of these big suckers so I loaded them in the back of Rob's car.

Yes.  He was thrilled when he found out.  

Driving home, I was getting quite a few looks.  I'm sure they were thinking,

"That's the ugliest Christmas tree I've ever seen" or that's the dumbest lady, ever.  Not sure.

Matt had to help me get them out of the car.  It's a lot easier to jam them in than it is to pull them out.

Believe me.

But, I knew they would make a lovely garland for over the garage and would be worth the minimal effort it would take.

How hard could it be?

Harder than it looks, believe me.

How long could it take to make a garland long enough to cover the width of a 2 car garage?

Not long, right?

WRONG.

It takes hours.

Literally, hours.

It took hours that I should have spent cleaning the house, readying for the party.

Instead, I spent a ridiculous amount of time making the garland and hanging that darn thing.

I hope the folks that live in the house from where I got stole these, weren't planning to use them.

I feel kind of bad.  

Kind of.

Anyway, it turned out really pretty, the house was still in pretty good shape for our gathering, if you didn't look too closely, and I didn't get shot in the process so all was well.  

I don't recommend taking large branches from a yard but this did turn out really pretty.  

Plus, there was the added benefit of Rob's car still smelling like pine for a week.  

So… what's up for 2016?  I think I'm finally going to stitch Paulette's (Plum Street Samplers) "A Yuletide Welcome" which you can read about here:

A Yuletide Welcome

this is the pic from her blog.  It is a gorgeous piece.

I love everything about it!  The house, the santa and the sleigh with the sunflower and that reindeer!  

 I'm anxious to get started!

That'll be my big project and then I'll throw in a few smaller pieces that catch my fancy as I move throughout the year.  

Not exactly a structured plan but it is a flexible plan.

My little family has made their wishes for 2016 and I hope that you have made yours.  

I hope all of our dreams and wishes, and all of your dreams and wishes, come true this coming year.

Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to read my ramblings. 

Thank you too for the lovely comments from my last post.  

It's so sweet of you to take the time and it is appreciated more than you realize!

XOXO

Be well,

Peace,

Terri

Total Hodge Podge

Edited to add - sorry for the funky font colors… no idea what's going on with that.  I've tried to fix it a couple of times but it's taking too long and I'm tired.  I'm going to bed.  Good night, all!


Dear friends, 

I started this post when I was in Florida.  But, I am restarting it now, back home in Michigan.  I just couldn't seem to get it done.  So much has been happening.  I've been so busy and have a lot of changes coming up in our lives that we are beginning to prepare for.  My parents are going to be moving to Michigan to live with Rob and me, in the Spring.  We will do some renovations on the house to make it comfortable for all of us.  I am excited that they are coming - it will be a big change for all of us but one that I think will be a blessing for us, too.  I think it's a good decision and am happy that we are able to do it.  My Rob will be good for my dad (golf, beer, sports) and I think my doggies and I will be good for my mom.  The boys, whenever they're around, will be good for everyone!

How about some stitch pics???

 

You may recognize these as Birds of a Feather; Love, Honesty, Loyalty and Patience.  I put my initials on one and Rob's and the boys on the others.   It was a long time ago that I stitched these and I didn't make a record but I believe they're stitched on 32 count (no idea of the linen color) with two threads, using the called for fibers.  I could be wrong about all of that however so if you decide to stitch them, don't hold me to any of the specifics.  I took this pic a couple of weeks ago when I was in Florida.  There are no flowers blooming in Michigan, right now!

The next piece I had taken to stitch while I was there is another one I started long ago.  It is the With Thy Needle and Thread mystery sampler.  When I initially stopped working on this, I had made a mistake somewhere and got so frustrated, I just tossed the whole thing aside.  When I went back to stitching it I couldn't find the original mistake!  I know it was there, and I was certain I knew where it was, but when I started working on it again I couldn’t find it.  Cue the Twilight Zone music: Doo do, do doo.  I searched, counted, examined and searched some more but couldn’t find it so I gave up and just started stitching.  I thought I would finish this while in Florida but I didn't get much stitching done whilst there. 

Here is my progress so far but I hope to finish this soon.

 

You may notice some of the alphabet letters are in a deep scarlet while others are not.  I am frogging the ones that are not scarlet and will be re-stitching them.  The red letters are going to give the sampler a bit bolder look, but I think I'll like it.  I stitched another sampler years ago that used a tone on tone alphabet and I really regret not changing the floss color on that one.  I thought the suggested color would grow on me but you can't really see it at all so I’m gonna change it, so I don’t regret it.  

The very day I flew into Florida, I attended a small Halloween party at my parent's clubhouse.  Because I had to come up with costumes and transport them as well, they had to be easily transportable, cheap and easy to assemble.  A quick internet search for 3 person costumes and here we are:

 The 3 Blind Mice:
Easy? Check.  Cheap? Check. Transportable? Check.  Cute? Double check!

 I think my dad looks pretty bad ass.  Don 't you?

 

My sister went as the farmer's wife who cut off our tails!

I also attended a Trunk or Treats at their church and assumed that everyone decorated their trunks (boots in the UK, I think) like we do in Michigan.  I was wrong.  We were the only car decorated but we were also the hit of the event.   I built the cardboard house from moving boxes someone in the sub was tossing.  I got it all done the night before the big event after working on it in un-Godly heat and humidity.  I had it set up in the driveway and was completely devastated when I got up the next morning and the entire thing had collapsed.

Completely Collapsed. 

Damn humidity. 

  Honestly, the humidity was ridiculous and the whole thing was a mushy, crumpled mess. 

I almost cried.  Instead, I hauled it all out into the yard, laid it flat, let it dry out and got it reassembled about 20 minutes prior to trunk or treats that evening.  It turned out pretty well for a first time effort and a non-architect type!  It was quite the challenge getting it into the car but I did it and all went well.

That's my sister, Cheryl, and my mom and dad in the upper left and I'm in the pic on the lower right.  The "house" looked great as night fell and the car lights illuminated the windows.

Back to stitching.

Merry One, by Paulette of Plum Street Samplers, is finished!  I took this little piece to Florida, hoping to find some inspiration for finishing.  Instead, I found a new frame molding that was perfect!  I got it framed while I was there and then gifted it to my sis. I thought the frame was perfect.

I can't remember the color of linen - it's a kind of green and on my monitor, the color looks very true to the fabric.  I had to change some of the colors of the fibers to work better with the fabric but I just pulled them from stash and didn't make notes.  I got the kit from Dyeing to Stitch in VA Beach.  If you can't get this one, they do have some wonderful, exclusive clubs you might be interested in.  Check them out!

I've invited my guild members over to my house on Saturday.  I've got the house decorated and I'm excited to have this beautiful, talented group of women come to my home.   Here's one of my small trees that I hope they'll enjoy seeing.  It's decorated with my vintage (and not so vintage) tomato pin cushion collection.  I think this may become a tradition, I like it that much. Whenever I find these old tomatoes, I keep them just as they're found with all the pins in them which is what makes them so charming, I think.  

You may have to look closely to see Gracie on the left, and Sophie on the right, in the chairs.

Thank you so much for stopping by and especially for leaving a note, when you can.  I love reading your comments and truly do appreciate that you take the time to let me know you stopped by!

Be well.

Peace,

Terri