A fantabulous idea

On the Sanman board, they are starting something called Finish-It Fridays. You are supposed to pull a project on Monday and aim to have it finished finished on Friday. Now, I don't mean take floss and fabric, stitch it, and have it ornately framed with suede mats on Friday, just take the finishes that hang out in my drawers, totes, the trunk of my car, under the bed and remain unfinished for no reason other than (at least for me) my lack of ability (or fear--some of those glues will melt an acrylic nail if they get on one, ask me how I know) to gather my finishing supplies together and complete something, and FINISH them. Into something.

It works for me. I could do that. Frankly, y'all, the pile of nonsense in my sewing room that needs to be finished is starting to drive me crazy. I mean, I took 10 pieces to be framed at the end of June, but I got a lot more to do something with. I am slowly gaining the bravery to take on the sewing machine. Between you and me, I think Mom took me to Kutztown because she KNOWS that, when I see the quilts on display, I want to make one. And it worked. Like I have the room, the know-how or the fabric to make a quilt. Well, I do have the fabric, but, all together, it would be really ugly. But I need to sit down and get that machine cracking and make something pretty with it. I'm not stupid, I'm just chicken. And I need to do something about all the crap I've been collecting with the idea of, "Oh, I could stitch something and stick it in there." I'm tired of tripping over it all.

Sooooo, my first project is to, next week, work on doing an ornament. I want to practice before I do SO's ornament for the fair. Fair entries should not be experimental. I figure it shouldn't be too hard. I have all the stuff. Fairly close at hand. SO is very talented at working out any technical problems I can come up with. I should be OK.

It's time to get those finishes under control.

Woo hoo. Happy Dancing-vacation

I just got approval for our next vacation trip. In September, I am the proud owner of 3 vacation days, which we plan to use for a camping trip on Assateague Island. My most favorite place on earth. I spent all winter dreaming of when we were there before. I even bought a coffee table book about the ponies and have been pouring over that. And . . . instead of two nights there, I get four. I am happy dancing like crazy. I already told SO that I would like to go walking on the trails and I would like to go to Ocean City and go miniature golfing. Maybe, if I am really lucky, I can get to Salty Yarns, too.

Really, when I think about it, I've only been to a real LNS 5 times in 2009. That has got to be a record low for me. Not that I haven't bought stash. I just haven't gone to a store to do my buyin'. And I've been focusing on getting my projects finished, so, don't you think I deserve some S.E.X. on the beach? I can probably tempt SO with the promise of fresh Fisher's popcorn, or Rita's--he was moping the other day because he hasn't had any the . . . whole . . . summer, and I work down the street from one, and have it every couple weeks.

I've got two months. Is it too soon to start picking out carry along projects?

Back to reality

My vacation is over. Blah . . . . I could so be a lady of leisure. Not that I was that leisurely the whole weekend. I ran errands yesterday. We needed dog food the day that the nearest Tractor Supply ran out of Bitty Bones, so I had to go driving to find one that had them in-stock. I know that we could have bought a small bag of something else to tide the Mongrel Horde over til the shipment came in, but I hate switching their food, and I am too cheap to buy a smaller bag, not when the big bag is a better value. At least I found it. And I got my workout chunking 100 pounds of food into the backseat, and then putting 75 of it in the container for the big boys.

Our 4th of July was nice, other than the beach issues. Despite a town ordinance against fireworks, the entire neighborhood seemed to have them. Our neighbor down the street put off a perfectly lovely and fairly professional display for over an hour and a half. I choose to remain silent on our participation in the festivities, but I figure this, if it's illegal to set them off in the town, why are they so available? And really, wouldn't it make sense to have the people setting them off work with the fire department to make sure they're doing it safely? But, that said, we didn't see a police car all night, even though the mayor and half the police force in the county live in my neighborhood, so I guess it must be one of those ordinances they ignore. At least we didn't see an ambulance, either, so neighbor guy did a good job. Of course, the dog was terrified. Shocka wanted me to hold him. He is too big to hold, so I put him to bed.

I started SO's Christmas ornament after the festivities, while our July 4th pizza was cooking, LOL. It's the Imaginating ornament from the 2006 JCS. Very cute. I bought some of the finishing supplies yesterday at Jo-ann's, but I told SO he has to come help pick out the fabric, since I don't have a lot of red and green Christmas stuff in my fabric stash, and he can not just pick a random fabric. I told him to be prepared to go to quilt store. He gave me such a look. But he'll go. We are a team.

Happy 4th of July--I have photos!

I popped in to let you know I am still alive and well. I have been enjoying my vacation immensely. I am on Day three of five, and it's blissful.

Thursday morning, I met my mom at the orchard for berry picking. We got 14 pounds of blueberries in an hour and a half. Mostly pretty good, though I did figure out the ones on top, if they were dark and fat, were better than any other ones. We also got 4 quarts of black raspberries. I will never again waste a raspberry. They are such hard work! So fragile and so well-protected. I am still digging thorns out of my palm. SON OF A GUN. I had every intention of actually doing something with them when I got home, but I was so tired, and so filthy--red from the elbow down, wild hair, red stains all over my shirt--I just kinda collapsed into the shower.

Yesterday, I took my mother to the Pennsylvania Dutch folklife festival in Kutztown, Pennsylvania. It was a nice day. The food, on the whole, was good; being from sturdy German stock from Western Pennsylvania, and having a grandmother whose sole purpose in life seemed to be to shove as much starch, butter and sugar in us as possible (BTW, mashed potatoes with a quart of whipping cream and a pound of butter in them are truly awesome), I got a lot of traditional food growing up, but we never ate the ham and dried apples and dumplings I accidentally ate yesterday, not realizing the apples with dumplings had ham in them. I've learned my lesson; I will ask if things look similar to other things, but have names in German, because my German is not that good. Other than that, though, it was nice. My mom treated me to a lamp for my sewing room with patriotic sheep on the shade, and a necklace made from a Chinese coin. Best of all was that I got to meet Diane Phalen, the artist who does the beautiful paintings of quilts. I have several in my stash. She signed two little prints I bought for the sewing room that I will change out with the seasons. It was a joy.

Today we intended to go to the beach, we got in the truck, drive two hours to the beach town, stopped for BBQ, and got to the beach, and it was closed. It was full. There were no other public beaches open, so we came home. SO is kinda annoyed, but I told him I had fun with him. I wanted to see water, and we ate our BBQ as a picnic at a little marina, plus I was spending the day with my buddy. I told him I'd have fun eating a boloney sandwich behind a Walmart with him. That's just how it is, LOL.
No more trying to get there on a holiday. Lesson learned.

So I've been stitching. The photo at the top of the post is a Secret Shop design from Sanman Originals. I started it Saturday, finished it Wednesday, fun, festive stitch.


I finished SNN's November 2007 on Father's Day. It was a pretty fun stitch. I worked on this while visiting with Regina. It was a good design for beach stitching. Simple. I had to change it a wee bit because I ran out of perle cotton for the trees. I am not buying a skein of Weeks Perle for three stitches. You can't even tell







Chancey is modeling the finished patriotic bandanna. I put it on her yesterday and told her she was absolutely beautiful, and she pranced and ran back to show her Daddy Jim. Silly girl. She did not want to behave while Mom was taking her photo, truly an American diva, LOL. I also have photos of Master Robert in it, but I have to pull those off the camera. She looks a little uncomfortable in the picture, but she was excited. She thought she was going bye-byes, and she loves bye-byes. Both of them wanted to go to Kutztown, but, as I'm getting older, I realize it really is not that fun to take them everywhere, especially in crowded places. They get hot, I worry about people stepping on them, and they aren't allowed everywhere. So they got to stay home and watch the kitties yesterday. They take their job very seriously; to them, the cats are uncivilized hooligans who fight when the dogs are trying to watch Animal Planet or E. I guess when you have no thumbs to turn up the volume to drown out the bickering so you can find out the latest wrinkle in the Michael Jackson horror story (and it really is sad and confusing), you're gonna referee some fights. The cats just tend to ignore them though, but the bickering ends, no one gets scratched, and I am pretty sure my dogs know enough about the entertainment world to have a blog.

Have to run. I hope you have a blessed holiday. Eat plenty of hot dogs and potato salad. Eschew any apple dishes you don't recognize. Wear suncreen.

Good things about the summer

Since I haven't been doing a heck of a lot of stitching the past few days, and haven't been in the best of moods--I'm so ready for vacation, it's not funny--I thought I would post the things I love about the summer. Last night, I laid in bed, stitching with the window open. SO went outside to water, and of course the pittybulls had to assist him. Beazer let out the most delightfully agonized whine; his daddy refused to spray him down with the hose, since it was late, and the last thing we need is a wet dog running through the house. His reaction to the hose is so funny. Such a small joy, and yet to him, it meant everything. Summer is like that, a celebration of the small joys.

--Running through the yard with sparklers after a small-town fireworks celebration, making designs in the still night air. We did this when we were very small, always in the back yard, with the admonition, "Don't take those in the front yard. They're illegal." My mother was an outlaw, buying sparklers right across the DC line before work, so she didn't have to worry about running the gauntlet of county police who watched the stand, waiting for cars with Maryland plates to come back over the line. LOL. I never wanted to go in the front yard. Sparklers are a private show, not for the whole world to see.

--Waiting for the first tomato of summer to ripen. And then eating it on the backporch. Sliced up with salt on it. Usually eaten with steak. Is there any more blissful thing to eat in the world than a back porch tomato you coaxed into existence with grubby child's hands, a bit of Miracle Gro, and hope?

--Going to the county fair. In my best clothes. Hearing, "Don't get dirty. Stay with your brother. Stay off the rides, they're dangerous. Don't play the games" as I bolted away. Stuffing myself with pastel cotton candy and rich red candy apples. Admiring the sleek rumps of Grandpa's horses; somehow, in the light of the showring, brushed and shiny, with halters he'd kept hidden away for "the fair", surrounded by their ribbons, they looked so much finer than they did in his pasture. I felt honored to know such magic horses.

--The smells of summer. Salt brine. Sunscreen. Hot wet pavement. There is not a candle on earth that can replicate those particular summer scents. I've tried to find them. There's a wax melt I buy that sort of mirrors the sunscreen, but the real thing is so much nicer. I can always smell when we're close to Chincoteague because of the smell. It hits you before you get to Wallops Island. And I love it. It's a coming home smell.

--Picking fruit. Every 4th of July morning, we'd load into the car and head off to pick cherries and blueberries. Last year, I picked in the rain. Soaking wet, covered in wet foliage, I picked. And we feasted. A morning's communion with the fields and the sun yielded berries that we ate for months, once frozen. I have also picked raspberries, but I have to say they aren't as much fun to pick. Blueberries, they just roll off in your fingers. Heavenly. I'm going to try to make us a pie. I'll let you know how it goes.


There are so many other things that are just wonderful about the summer. What are your favorites?

I'll be off for vacation. I can't promise to post pictures, but I'll try. Have a blessed and safe 4th of July.

More freebies, and cute bellpull/ wallhanging hangers

http://www.ackfeldwire.com/modules.php?name=Downloads&d_op=viewdownload&cid=2


I found these a while ago. I don't remember just where. The little girl is really cute. For any holiday. And I like the hangers. Very cute.

I love this time of year

Not because it's warm, the beaches are open, there's fresh fruit, and I can do fun things on my days off.

Because Michaels puts their 4th of July stuff on clearance! Perfect for finishing cross stitch.


I went in this morning to get floss to work on my patriotic pieces and for buttons to embellish the twins' bandannas. The leaflet showed some fancier JABC buttons, but I'm using the designs for dogs. I don't think those buttons were meant to be worn, and most definitely, not by two rowdy little dogs. While they didn't have really adorable buttons, they had ones I can use and not worry about if they break off. Unless someone tiny and hairy decides to chew them, but, I think they can control themselves now--they'll be 10 July 30th.

Anyway, after I looked at the buttons and bought the floss (and forgot to buy needles, since I didn't bring any or even a WIP. So I'm sitting here at work, surrounded by everything I need to stitch except a needle, bugger, bugger, BUGGER), I went back to the patriotic stuff. Because I love patriotic decorations. They had a wagon wheel in blue and white country colors, just hanging there, with a clearance sign over it. I love a clearance sign like a fluffy girl loves cake. And to have an expanse of plain surface that I could mount something patriotic on for the price of $4.99. Well, crud, I can afford that. Especially for something to stick an unfinished finish on? I spent a few minutes trying to figure out how to pry the metal star on the center off, but then it struck me. One of Prairie Schooler's new releases this spring was patriotic smalls. I could put those on there! With just a little diddling, and a trip to Lowe's. So I have that! For $4.99.

They also had a long sign that read, "God Bless America." I like that too, but I couldn't figure out what to do with it. Just to have it to put up on the wall in the summer just doesn't work--I'm not that good at switching random pictures, and we don't do the seasonal decoration thing. So I left it there. Although my common sense should have dictated that we'd make it work for $5.99. On the way to work, I realized I had totally spaced, That little sign could also hold patriotic smalls to hang off the bottom. SO could have helped me put eyebolts in. He likes doing stuff like that. I am such an idiot.

I'm going back for it. Tomorrow, when they have a sale. I'm dense, not dumb. If I can get it on further discount, all the better.

I did finally finish the nun-stitch edging on my afghan last night. I was up late doing it, and I'm so glad it's finished. I think I'll be content to work on smalls for a while.