Now I Know

my ABC's. Here's my FINISHED freebie of the recent Blackbird Designs piece. I started it Friday night and then stitched all afternoon Saturday, while watching the Discovery Channel's Deadliest Catch marathon in memory of Captain Phil Harris of the Cornelia Marie. In between, of course, I checked out the Nationwide Race at Fontana, CA, but Danica Patrick was driving around in the back of the pack, so I was only partly paying attention.
Love the thread colors in this piece (WDW Red Rocks and Terra Cotta) and I worked it on a scrap of 32 ct. Lakeside Vintage Buttercream (at least that's my guess). While I was stitching it, I thought I'd perhaps use it to make a needle case with some repro fabric, but when I went to THE ROOM to look at the fabric possibilities, I came across a Primitive Traditions frame that fit the piece perfectly. So the decision was made!

A Tisket, A Tasket,

A little blue/green basket! I forgot all about this piece that I made last month. At the January rug camp, we were able to take a class with Kay Kjeldgaard of Kay's Crafts to make her 5" Snippet Basket. It's a Nantucket-style basket. Since our class was only 2 hours long, and this was really a 4 hour class, she thankfully prepped each piece by gluing in the spokes and starting the cane weavers. Some of us still had some issues with the spokes popping out, but after some glue and patience, we were good to go. I got most of my basket woven during the class, but had to finish it off, with guidance, the next day. The cane was dyed, so the interior has the more solid side where the dye totally took, and the outside of the basket is more mottled, where the dye took here and there.

It has a nice wooden bottom, into which a wonderful little piece of scrimshaw was inserted. Since I already have another of her baskets with a rug hooking hook scrimshaw piece, I chose a lighthouse. This basket is now on my sewing table next to my machine and is used for thread snippets and trimmed fabric pieces. Love it!

Well, since we are on the subject of baskets. . . . . Here's a few pictures of my REALLY favorite type of basket. A basket full of garlic knots from one of my local restaurants. These "evil" knots are made from pizza dough and covered in a mixture of olive oil, garlic, and parmesan cheese. YUM! They are rather hard to come by this month, because the area is swarming with snowbirds and tourists. Waiting lists for restaurants and no parking - the downside of life in South Florida in the "Winter".

 

From: My Collection

Happy Valentine's Day to all! This is one of my vintage valentines (signed on the back by a young Walter) and a great "find" for me - a lamb AND a bee and beehive!!! WeeOOOOO! Hope all you Honey-Lambs have a wonderful day and get to spend time doing whatever you want! Me? I'll be watching the Daytona 500 and maybe knitting a bit during the commercials. Have fun!

The Shadow Knows!

Happy Groundhog's Day! Punxsutawney Phil was up and out this a.m. seeing his shadow and indicating 6 more weeks of Winter. Here are my two household 'hogs' who are also seeing their shadows - not the early risers like Phil however.

And of course, NO ONE roams around here without the strict supervision of the Canine Patrol, headed by Officer Cayenne! Who are these guys? And why are they looking at shadows? Move along please. Even though more Winter is predicted (it's in the 70's here???), I've already seen several butterflies. The cats are huge Butterfly hunters while on the screened porch - running back and forth to follow their flight through the backyard! Yesterday I saw a gorgeous moth emerging. I say moth, because it's body was large and antennae were furry. Nothing as delicate as a butterfly. Earlier in the day, it was on the screen of the porch and I thought it was a large beetle-type bug. Later I noticed it was not. Unfortunately, between it's lower back wing that didn't seem to be fully functional and the drizzling rain, it was not having a good day. I'll have to keep an eye out for more of these guys - just gorgeous.

And here's a final critter - from an ad that a friend sent me. No, he's not a groundhog, but surely a relative. Those are little chain saws as his teeth! Rather appropriate for the boy.

And speaking of SEASONS, the countdown has begun and it's only a few more days now until the Bud Shootout and Speedweeks, culminating in the Daytona 500 and the beginning of the 2010 NASCAR racing season. AHHHHHH. . . . lots of Sunday afternoons of watching races and stitching, knitting, and possibly rug hooking!!! My kind of season!

Post-Holiday Report

I am finally getting caught up following the holidays and it's almost already FEBRUARY!!! Before Christmas, my DSL modem was acting up. I spent a lot of time troubleshooting to get on the web, so I didn't get to post a "MERRY CHRISTMAS" to all :-((( Then I took off for Christmas. This year, I spent it in North Carolina with my Mother and Sister. A VERY long drive up I-95 and even longer back (West Virginia fans going to the Gator Bowl). It was pretty cold up there most of the time for this Floridian (little did I know that I would come home to a historic cold streak in South Florida! Brrrrrrr! My Malabrigo shawl was around me every night.)

As I have mentioned my 'sista' loves mermaids, and her Christmas tree for the past several years has been a mermaid-themed tree - with the addition this year of a new topper - Glinda, the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz - NOT a mermaid to be sure, but a great guardian of all on land and under the sea and now beyond Oz! Here is an shot of the tree which is about 4 feet high and sits atop a table over which there is a gorgeous sea green lame skirt.

The troll mermaid I snagged off of eBay for my sista and is one of my favorites, having grown up with a collection of trolls and spent time making outfits for them - early sewing memories. . . . Think that's a dressed up flamingo in the upper left and to the right is one of the merMAN ornaments - which kind of creep me out because they remind me of the VILLAGE PEOPLE!

Here's my other favorite ornament on her tree. King Neptune! He was just gorgeous, and very Santa-like with the white beard.

Just after the New Year, my friend's, who now live in France, arrived for a visit. They were supremely ripped off, since it was during the EXTREME cold snap. No SULTRY weather here! Certainly, better than Pittsburgh, where they had been before coming down to Florida, but still. . . . As soon as they flew back to France it started to warm up and I was back in the car driving up I-95 again to Jacksonville to attend Off the Ocean Rug Camp. DF Melody has a great report on camp, so check out her blog, and if I find any additional pictures on my camera, I'll post them.

I had a great time and made a few more new-to-me discoveries in Jacksonville - a restaurant, an antique mall, and a sewing store. So more places to go on my next visit!!!

Holiday Party and New Pattern!!!

BIG day - Saturday! Always In Stitches, my LNS, had a Holiday Party. The party included a sale on all sampler designs, and as a special treat, Carole, the shop owner, decided to display a few samplers from her collection - just the tip of the iceberg! I have seen almost all of the samplers individually that she hung, but it was a bit overwhelming and exciting to see them all together! Here's what customers were greeted by as they entered the shop.


Then a few more beauties - a Quaker from 1799, a small Shaker sampler, a large example from the Philadelphia area, and several Maryland samplers.

On the ever-welcoming table were Hannah Horsfall and Ann Kitching, both done at the Ackworth School in England, that I have reproduced. Along with the originals of HH and AK were Ann's stitched pieces of both! Very fun to see together and celebrate.

And last, but certainly not least, was a small sampler by Mary Bagley dated 1808. I loved the flowered urns, crowns, birds, and other motifs and was not alone in this. Carole has allowed me to reproduce it and my rendering is just below the original. I finished stitching it the night before (of course) and threw it in a frame that I "altered" so it could be at the shop for the party. It will be my new pattern and I expect to complete it for release in January - available at Always In Stitches (of course)!

Here's a close-up. It's stitched on 40 ct. Vintage Navy Bean by Lakeside Linens using DMC, but a conversion to NPI silks will be included in the pattern.

Okay, I better get to wrapping some Christmas presents and get stuff out in the mail. Last night I threw together my 11th block of the Block of the Month that I'm participating in. Only one more block to go! Yeah! But it's a doozey - 53 pieces in it - ugh! Do I HAVE to???

Baby Bee Skep

My DF Henrietta stitched me this piece a month or so ago. It's all over ONE (probably on 28 ct.)! It came to me in the mail with a BEE-themed card that she made - also a treasure! I framed the piece yesterday. I have long admired the little stitched bee skep that Henri has framed and on the wall in her kitchen. She was kind enough to make sure that I have my very own. I'll have to find a permanent home for it on one of my walls - one where I see it EVERY day!

Thanks again, HONEY!