Mexican School Girl Practice - Week 3

Even with all the Thanksgiving dinner preparations, I still managed to get in some stitching.

I finished the last page that runs across the top of the sampler.  Course I miss at admit that some of my time was spent ripping out a few lines, when I realized I had added an extra curly cue to the brown motif, and therefore alignments of lower motifs were off.

If it's a small mistake sometimes I'll just leave it, and adjust accordingly.  Really because there isn't any perfect.  

We had a lovely Thanksgiving.  Food turned out perfecto, and my oldest took a cooler home of leftovers.  I think it's funny since when he lived at home he was quite vocal about my cooking. Suddenly it's not so bad! But things always taste better when it's someone else doing the cooking!

All three of my kids were here, but my oldest and his girlfriend had to return to Norfolk because he had the watch. My daughter has spent most of her time working, and my youngest had racked up many hours of sleep. 

But it was nice to have them here and the mom is just happier when her chicks are here and together.

The agenda today consists of my update on a new phone.  I'm finally just learning all the ins and outs of this one.  Plus making a trek to Gainesville to pick up a Christmas tree.  Then home again for laundry!

I forgot to share this little story in my earlier posts.  But a few weeks back I had a snake in my house.  I don't like reptiles, amphibians, spiders and bugs if any sort. Wouldn't you know my husband wasn't home, so I had to at least attempt to catch it myself.  I did, but not before having some panic attacks. Trapped under a food storage container until the hubby could relocate it outside.

It wasn't very big. In fact my husband pointed out that I had I put longer night crawlers on a fishing hook.  I don't care! It was still a snake!

All for now, happy stitching!

Mexican School Girl Practice - Week Two

Still making adequate progress on my current project.  

Although I didn't get the second page (really page 3 of the chart), completely finished this week. I had to break down and clean because my children would be here for Thanksgiving.  

Plus grocery shop, laundry, taking my mom to her appointments and church. Plus I spent a good day sorting through various statements, and filing them.  My hubby had a mini melt down because he couldn't find some paperwork.  According to him he keeps up on the filing, but many of the statements went back to 2014.

But I got to use my filing skills which is where I started out when I began working in high school at a bank. Still have a few piles left.  But the paperwork was spread all over my dining room floor, table, sideboard and chairs, as I went about separating the statements into some type of fileable order.  

I picked up some more pictures from Michaels today.  Rhoda Hastings and the Amish Life series. They turned out wonderfully and I already have spots to hang them.

Probably won't get much stitching done this week, because of the preprep work that goes into Thanksgiving dinner.  

Then the craziness of Christmas will be upon us. Getting a tree, decorating a tree. Christmas shopping. 

Hope everyone tuned in to my blog has a wonderful Thanksgiving!  We all have many things to be thankful for and we must remember to count our blessings!

Till next week- happy stitching!

Mexican School Girl Practice - Page 1

This is my first full week of stitching on this project. Moving along quite nicely. Like the vivid colors.

Someone on one of the cross stitch FB pages had commented that she had stitched this sampler. She said she did hers in long stitch because she read Mexican samplers were generally stitched in long stitch.  

I decided to go back and look at the many pages included with the chart, and sure enough it talks about it being stitched with long stitch.  Perhaps I should have read the directions better!   But by then I was too far into the sampler  to rip out my previous stitching and start all over.  Plus I pulled out my handy dandy stitch encyclopedia and took a gander at the illustrations fit long stitch.  Made my head just explode even contemplating how you would go about fitting it in doing long stitch when it was charted for regular cross stitch.

Some charts are just better than others and I'd rate this more on a basic chart!  No shaded overlap, in fact there is no overlap from one page to another.  The darker graph lines doesn't show up well, so I had to use magic marker to high light those.  There are parts that I think you might have to do some back stitching but even then not so sure because the directions doesn't mention any. Plus the picture isn't so great on the front that you could even get a hint if your suppositions are correct. Ahhh the joys of cross stitch!

I managed to wrap and mail the baby blankets and scarves this week.  It's funny that someone posted on FB that some people think if you give someone a handmade gift, that some people think you're being cheap.  Having made my fair share of gifts over the year, nothing I have ever given, would I consider as being cheap.  Anything I knitted the yarn hadn't been all that cheap not including my time. It would have been cheaper for me to go to Babies R Us and purchase a blanket or gift card.

Then there is the cross stitch, materials, my time and I always have them professional framed.  Nothing cheap there.  Heck just to mail the scarves and blankets was almost $30.  I hope no one ever says that to me!  Cuz I'd give them a piece of my mind that I don't really have to spare.

I completed Christmas shopping for my daughter, happy bout that.  Still have my youngest son, my mother, and my husband to shop for.  But it's still November!!!

Well that's all for all this week happy, relaxing enjoyable stitching.

Mexican School Girl Practice Sampler

Karoline Berlinger was finished and I was already pulling threads, changing out scroll rods on my floor stand for this beauty which has been in my stash for quite some time.

This is only a few days of work. Here to tell you I will not be whipping this sampler out at the speed of some of my other projects.  It's one thread of DMC over two threads of 40 ct. Even with my brand new bifocals that 40 ct. Linen is really teeny tiny.  

I pulled out my over the head magnifier which really helped.  But think I will be investing in a clamp magnifier for my stand shortly. 

This is the very first time I have stitched on 40 ct.  I shied way from it because of it being small. But it's not that bad if you concentrate. It's just getting your eyes used to it.  

I feel in love with this sampler when I first saw it on Robert L Harris Jr.'s blog "A Gentleman's Sampling.  Both I and my sister ordered the chart. Thankfully! Because my chart had no legend page, and so I was able to get a copy from her.  

I think I just lost it somehow.  Because I had pulled this chart out several times to work on it, even had fabric for it, but the 40 ct. Just made me put it back and start some other chart that was speaking loudly to me.

On Saturday I took 4 more pieces into Michaels to be framed. To take advantage of their 60% off plus 20%. I swear Michaels has jacked up all the prices of their moldings. Plus their selection of frames with the yellow or orange rubber bands is getting less and less.  Those are the ones I generally pick because they are their economy mouldings. 

I took in the 3 part Amish life ones, and Rhoda Hastings.  I already know where I'm going to hang them.  They will be finished 11/21.  I tried to talk them in to giving me another 10% off because it's the day before my birthday, but they didn't seem to see it my way.

I also picked up My Tropical Quaker Sampler.  Really pleased with how it turned out, and glad I switched Michaels, as the one in Woodbridge does a better job on needlework.

Well that's about it for this week.  Happy stitching!

 

Karoline Beringer 1890 - Finish

Little early in my post this week.  But guess it makes up for some of the times I  was a bit late in posts.

This was a quick stitch!  It took me about a week.  Mostly because it was straight cross stitch and straight lines so it wasn't a lot of counting.

This was sort of a filler since my next sampler in rotation is another larger sampler.  Although I have several smaller pieces in my stash and maybe I should start doing a big project, a small, a big, a small....something to ponder!

I also finished the two scarves, and can now mail the scarves and baby blankets mailed to the recepients.

I must finish my sewing kit from the Altoid tin.  Tonight I spent an hour in Hancocks looking at ribbon and trim to finish it off. Must say, their selection is pretty slim. But I still managed to find some that I think will work.

One if these days I'll pull out the yarn I bought to make my mother a shawl.  She seems to get chilly and it would be better than using one of the throws as a shawl.  

I pulled out all my finished projects and I have 10 that are unframed.  Hubby says I can take a few in for framing, but the difficulty will be, deciding which ones.

I have been incredibly fortunate and I don't have a lot of things I want, or for that matter need.  I think the only thing I will put on my Christmas list is Michaels and 123 Stitch gift cards.  Although a new easy to use digital camera would be nice. 

With that I'm going to wish all Happy stitching for another week!