Happy Dance Time

It's been so long since I posted I couldn't even remember where I left off with Virtue.  It's been another month of houseguests and general busy-ness, not to be confused with business, which has also been hectic. 

Plus, I had a klutzy moment in the kitchen one night and ended up going to the ER for stitches.  Thankfully, I did not cut a tendon, but they put my thumb in a splint to keep me from opening up the lovely smiley face wound.  That eliminated stitching for a week.  The stitches came out almost a week ago and my thumb is still really stiff, but I can stitch.  I was a little worried because right before the accident, I had stitched "August 2013" into my sampler as the finish date.  I did not want to rip it out!

Thankfully, I got all those queen stitches finished and did the Happy Dance Tuesday evening!

 

There are several interesting areas, such as this base on which the flower pots rest.  It consists of alternating Smyrna crosses and Algerian eyes in two very soft colors.  I wasn't real sure about it, but it's quite effective, I think.  (That's why Darlene designs and I merely stitch!)

 An this little flower pot is just adorable with the four color Queen stitch flower and strawberries.

So while I was doing the Happy Dance, my husband asked me if I had something else to stitch!  WHAT?  I may have to take him for a mental health exam.  Has he not seen the thousands of charts in the bookcase right next to the computer where he spends eight hours a day?  Needless to say, I pulled another project right out of my bag, threaded the needle and off I went.  What project, you ask... "Buttons and Berries" by Homespun Elegance.  Another piece I've had in my stash for years, but not nearly as ambitious.  In fact, it probably won't take a whole week to finish.  

 

That's probably a good thing, since I'm up to my eyeballs making stitch pickers and counting pins for my Etsy shop.  I'm selling the stitch pickers as a set with a color coordinate needle threader.  

You can see more of them here.

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Sampler Exhibit Announcement

Facebook comes in very handy sometimes, assuming you are following the right pages, of course.  Last week, I saw this announcement, with the accompanying photo, on the Old Salem Museums and Gardens page.  I haven't seen anything yet on the Old Salem web site, but hopefully it will be showing up there soon.  The exhibit will run for about a year.

"On Friday, Aug. 9, an exciting new needlework exhibit will open at the Blum House in Old Salem! Specimens of "Taste and Industry: Needlework in Salem 1780-1860" includes more than 40 samplers and other needlework pictures and accessories, stitched by Moravian girls and women living in Wachovia and by non-Moravian boarding students of the Salem Girls’ Boarding School, founded in 1804. Many of these works have never been exhibited before--including this image of Mt. Vernon stitched by Mary Ann Speed, ca. 1811."
This is very exciting on a personal level.  I was born and raised as a Moravian in Winston-Salem, so this is a part of my heritage. My father is buried in the cemetery of Old Salem, called "God's Acre" and one of my favorite memories is attending the Easter sunrise service there.  It is a truly glorious service.

Old Salem is a wonderful place to explore and get a real taste of what life was like in the late 18th century for a devout group of Christians who lived and worked together in a community they built and nurtured themselves.

And, of course, my love of needlework, and samplers, in particular, makes this even more of a 'must see' event for me.  Make plans to see it if you're anywhere near NC in the next year. Although no pictures are allowed, I'll be sure to tell you all about it.

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Quiet Time Means More Time to Stitch

I think there is a very small light at the end of the tunnel...no wait, that's my Dazor ready and waiting for me to finish all those Queen stitches in the border!

But if you've been watching, you'll see that I've made significant progress in recent days.  Geometric motifs are so much quicker because I can memorize the pattern. So I don't have to spend as much time looking at the chart and figuring out where I am.  Plus doing an entire row of eyelets is easier than doing them one at a time in some kind of pattern.  I stitch the top half all the way across the row and the bottom half on the return trip.  That method also makes the eyelets themselves more consistently balanced.  I don't have to worry that one side is bigger/tighter than the other, thus creating a lopsided eyelet.  For some reason, when I stitch a complete eyelet, one side always ends up bigger than the other.

My friend, Donna, who owns my LNS, Angelwing Needlearts, called me the other day to tell me that Darlene O'Steen, of The Needles Prayse, had been in the shop that day.  Apparently, Darlene and Chris are looking at property down in our area.  Donna forgot to mention that I am working on one of my all-time favorite samplers, Virtue Outshines the Stars.  I'm sure Darlene would get a kick out of know that I've finally gotten around to it. LOL  I really wish I had been working that day.  I haven't seen Darlene in years and would love to visit for a few minutes.  I can only hope that she'll stop by another time.  

On the needlework bling front, I had a request for 200 purple stitch markers for a 'knitting event' in mid-August.  What a great opportunity to show my wares to some enthusiastic knitters.  Each participant will get one in their kit! Thanks so much to Jen at WoolGirl.  Here's a sampling.

 Stop by TJBdesigns for a look at all my stitching accessories. You can never have enough stitch BLING!

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I'll Be Your Honey Bee

Well, the visitors come and go and I'm back in my nest.  I took a short break from Virtue last week to stitch this little piece for my husband for our 31st anniversary! Happy Annivesary!

 "June's Honeysuckle" by Cottage Garden Samplings

And now I'm back on Virtue.  For those of you waiting on the color conversion that I'm using, be glad I postponed giving it to you.  I've had to make a couple of adjustments for the symbols that were originally blended needles.  Since I'm working this on 36 count, I'm only using one strand of Splendor, so no blended needles for me!  But, never fear, I will post the list as soon as I'm sure about it.

I'm currently working on a big wholesale order of stitch markers for a knitting 'event' in Oregon.  Every single one has at least one purple bead included!

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Summer Stitching

Since the massive frogging incident, I've made good progress considering that I haven't had that much time to stitch.  When you live at the beach, summer visitors tend to mess with your stitching schedule.  Plus, I usually have to give up my 'nest' so that everyone has a place to sit. 

I just started the first flower in this huge band.  Thank goodness I get to add a color that I like!  All that green and yellow was getting on my nerves.  Hopefully, I'll get back in my normal stitch routine this week and have time to post more too.

It's also time to reorganize my yearly stitching list.  I've indulged myself for several months now working on Virtue Outshines the Stars, but it's time to get crackin' on those thirty Christmas ornaments, birthday presents and Christmas presents too!  Where does the time go? 

It's too hot to spend much time outside, so you'd think I would get a lot of stitching done during the day.  But most days, I'm busy making new scissor fobs and counting pins and promoting them online.  Thankfully, they seem to be more and more popular and the knitters and crocheters want their share of needlework bling too! 

And in case I haven't mentioned it lately, thanks for stopping by and commenting on my stitching life!  It's great to hear from all of you.

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It's Good to Be Home

Well, I'm back from my stitching vacation and I actually have something to show for it.  We had a great time and got lots done, especially since neither one of us likes to shop or sightsee much.  After visiting an EGA summer luncheon, we hit the local needlework shop where I picked up some lovely 36 and 40 count hand dyed fabric, as well as the last two colors of silk that I need for my next Scarlet Letter sampler, Jean Scrimgeowr.  Not surprising since I tend hoard linen like there's no tomorrow.

I've been home for five days and still haven't unpacked my bag!  Duffel bag, that is.  The stitching bag was unpacked and played with right away.  Well, I did put the dirty clothes in the hamper.  I hate unpacking almost as much as putting away clean laundry and emptying the dishwasher!  Why is that?  I've been pulling clothes to wear straight out of the bag since I got home.  I probably won't unpack until I have to do laundry.  Do you know how to tell if a woman has never had children?  If she tells you she only does laundry when she runs out of underwear.  I'm not even close to running out of underwear. 

I worked on a special project which I can't show you yet and this sweet little sampler for a friend.  I've really been digging in my stash lately and coming up with some goodies. This is "The Practical Sampler" by Eileen Bennett of The Sampler House.  It's full of all sorts of fun stitches, although after one row of the alphabet I switched the rest of the letters to something other than eyelets.  I figured that was enough punishment for whatever bad things I might have done over the last five years.

I'd love to show you some progress on Virtue, but a humongous frog landed in my lap on Monday night and I'm still recovering! 

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How many stitching projects do you take when you go on vacation?  Even when I'm only going for a long weekend at my Mom's, I usually pack three or four.  It seems silly since I generally only work on one piece until it's done.  But you never know when you might be stuck somewhere for weeks with massive amounts of free time.  It's never actually happened to me, but I want to be prepared, just in case.

I keep thinking I should interrupt Virtue Outshines the Stars and start on some Christmas ornies or a birthday gift, but I'm having such a good time that I just can't do it. Things have been really busy at TJBdesigns, so, despite my good intentions, I'm still not finding much time to stitch during the day.  Most of my stitching is done while watching TV in the evenings.

When I get tired of Queen stitches, I abandon the border for  a while and work on the 'innards'. 

Maybe I'll have something new to show soon, but don't count on it.  The big stuff on Virtue is coming up next.

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