QGT SAL Progress

Well, I think I have chased the frog away from my house.  I threatened to sic the dogs on him if he didn't leave me alone.  I think it must have worked because I didn't have to rip out anything at all on this project this week.  I was very careful when I counted and also made sure that what I was looking at was actually what I was stitching.  I think once I get past this motif, it should be smooth sailing because most of the other motifs are smaller and more manageable.

Stash of a Different Kind

Now I know I'm not supposed to be buying stash for a while since I have enough to last several lifetimes.  But a girl just has to take advantage of bargains when they come along, right?  Now most of you know that I work at a LNS.  We have (had) everything for needlepoint, cross stitch, embroidery, hardanger, knitting and crochet.  We had so much inventory that we actually needed two floors to handle it all.  Well, the owner and her husband have decided that the yarn department just took up too much time and money and decided to close it down. There is another yarn store on our side of town so we did have some competition in that area.  There is not another LNS though.  So we were under orders to get rid of everything up in the yarn department.  Yarn, books, accessories, it all had to go.  The prices were so good I just had to take advantage of them (actually not just me but all the employees).  What you see here is the result of my shopping.  There's 3 huge bags, 2 smaller bags and about 10 books.  And it's wonderful yarn.  There's alpaca, cashmere, merino wool and silks to die for.  No Red Heart in this bunch.  The best thing is I only paid about $350. for all of it.  Do I have plans for all of it?  Nope, not at all.  But I do have plans for lots of it and the rest I will stash until I need it.  I'm all set for retirement!

Have You Ever

felt like a project is cursed?  I never have before but I'm beginning to change my mind.  Now I love this design. Quaker Gone Tropic is such a fun design and I've had plans to stitch it ever since I first saw it.  I took a lot of time changing the threads from the silks to Threadworx cotton.  I even started it over when I didn't like the first color I had chosen for the large central motif.  I'm stitching it over one on 25 count lugana and I love the color of the fabric.  So what's the problem?  The problem is that I can't count!  There, I've said it.  I plain can't count.  it's either that or I can't follow a simple graph.  Now the graph is very simple and straightforward.  It should be very easy to follow. But me, in my inimitable wisdom, have decided to stitch the motif vertically instead of horizontally.  I thought the colors of the overdyed threads would flow better that way.  The problem is that I keep losing my place on the pattern.  I keep dropping down to another portion of the pattern and stitching that. Then I wonder why it's not working.  I guess I'm going to have to use a line marker to mark my place vertically.  Last night I was ready to chuck the whole thing out the window but I have decided that I will NOT be defeated by a cross stitch pattern.  Oh no, not me.  So if you hear strange babbling coming from my house, just ignore it.  It's only me going a little bit crazy here in Phoenix.

New Organization

I have been trying to finish organizing my craft room for about 2 years now.  I've basically been happy with it but one thing I wasn't crazy about was my bead/jewelry organization.  I had an old microwave cart with my tackle boxes on a shelf  and a bunch of photo organizer boxes on top but it still was very hard to find what I was looking for.  So I got to snooping on the Internet and found what I think is the perfect solution.  The top picture is a scrapbook organizer cart.  Now I love drawers to store things in and it has 20 of them and holds all my supplies except for what is already in the tackle boxes.  It's so easy to go find what I'm looking for now.  And the room looks so much more neater.  The tackle boxes will be moved into their corner once I put the rest of the beads (which are now in the black box on top of them) in them.  Then I plan on using the black boxes to store my DMC floss in.  My DMC boxes are in pretty bad shape and need replacing so I thought I'd use what I already have.  The second picture is my Ikea storage for all my cross stitching.  I have all my kits and supplies in the baskets and everything that is in a particular basket is on an index card in a file box on top.  That way if I'm looking for a certain project, I can find the index card and know exactly what basket it's in.  That was last year's organizing project.  All of my fabric is in a plastic chest in the closet.  Give me a couple more years and I might finish this project.

A Furbaby Update

It occurred to me that I haven't shown you how Annie has grown or how much Rosie has matured.This was after their visit to the groomer's last Saturday.  Annie came home with little yellow ribbons on her ears.  Tomboy that she is, she immediately rubbed at them until they came off.  No sissy ribbons for her!  Rosie had red plaid ribbons and hers actually stayed in for a couple of days.  She has gotten so much calmer in her middle age.  She is such a nice dog.  I can't believe I ever dreamed of giving her back to the adoption agency we got her from (long story, lots of untruths told).  But she is now my sweetheart.  Annie is more Sherrie's and David's dog.  Oh, I get my loving but not quite like they do.  Next time I'll see if I can get an updated picture of Squeak and show her off as well.

Last Night's Fun

Every year Glendale lights up its downtown area with over a million lights.  They call it Glendale Glitters.  In the past, we've always made an effort to go on opening night which is always the night after Thanksgiving.  In the past few years though, it's gotten so crowded that we've stopped going then.  The closing night is called Glendale Glitter & Glow.  They have a bunch of hot air balloons come to town and inflate in the streets and light up the night.  That's always been our favorite time to go.  It's so much fun to watch the balloons inflate.  They are tethered so there's no danger of them getting away.  So Dave, Sherrie & I went last night.  It wasn't too cold so that was nice.  While we waited for the balloons, Sherrie and I browsed the antique stores.  We ate street food and walked or should I say tried to walk.  It turns out that more people have discovered our special night and are coming out in droves.  There were over 100,000 people there and so we stood more than walked.  Once you got away from the park area, it was a little easier to navigate.  We got home around 8 pm and I am sore today.  I feel like I've aged 50 years.  And Dave is in the living room groaning as he gets up from his chair.  But it was fun and we'll probably do it again next year.

QGT Update

Well, I made a little bit of progress on Quaker Gone Tropic.  I am loving this project except for the fact that I think I need new glasses.  Even with my magnifier, I'm having a hard time seeing the threads to stitch over one on.  And this is only 25 count!  But I have no plans of giving up my over one stitching.  I'll just make an appointment with the eye doctor and get some new glasses and get back in business.  I'm loving the colors in this thread.  At first I wasn't sure if I would like them or not but the more I stitch, the happier I am.  Hopefully this week I'll get more done on it and have much more progress next week.

Framed!

This was my last finish for 2011.  It's the one I did for Sherrie for her classroom.  I thought I'd post a picture of it all framed up.  Sherrie worked with my framer and made suggestions which Chris was able to follow.  All I did was suggest a shiny black frame.  I thought that would make it more like a piece in a classroom.  Chris does a wonderful job of framing and Sherrie seems really happy with this one.  In fact, I showed her a couple of others that I had been thinking of doing for her and she decided to have me stitch them.  This is a big accomplishment.  Normally when I show her something I've stitched, she politely tells me it's nice.  Unless it has a cat in it.  Then it automatically becomes hers.  This is one of the few times that she has actually requested me to stitch something for her.  So those two will be going in my stack of things to stitch this year.

Quaker Gone Tropic SAL Progress

I did manage to start Quaker Gone Tropic on the first. I'm stitching it over 1 on 25 count lugana so it's been sort of slow going.  I wasn't sure when I started it if I liked this color thread on this fabric but the more I see it, the more I like it.  The fabric is from Stitches & Spice over in Australia.  When I received it, Dave asked if I didn't have any fabric in my stash to do this.  To be honest, I have a ton of fabric but absolutely none of it was the color I was looking for.  So I could honestly say, "No, dear, I don't have fabric for this."  The thread is the only one I used that is called for in the pattern.  It's Pears & Poppies from Silk 'N Colors.  The other colors are from Threadworx.  I'm anxious to see how they look as well.

A New Beginning!

Well, since this is the start of a new year, I decided to make some changes of my own.  Aside from the usual resolutions (lose weight, eat healthier, get more organized, yada, yada, yada), I thought I would give my blog a fresh new look.  After several frustrating hours of messing with it, trying to figure out how to add the tabs under the header, I finally relented and asked Dave for help.  It took just a few minutes more and we had it figured out.  I knew marrying an engineer would have its advantages.  So now I just have to use them, the tabs that is.  I still have a bit more work to make it just how I would like but I think it's a good change.  Oh, and just for the record, I plan on blogging more this year as well.  Hopefully my new look will inspire me to post more.

The other new thing I'm going to do today is start a new project.  I've never before specifically started a project on New Year's Day but I thought it might be fun this year.  So as soon as I'm done here ( after lunch of course), I'm going to get out Quaker Gone Tropic and start it.  It will also be the first time I've used the Needlework System 4 floor frame.  I bought it from the wife of a friend when he passed away and she discovered he had 2 of them.  So this should be an interesting experience.  .