Happy News and Stitching

I've had the happy experience of being hired to a job I very much wanted! Super excited about that and will begin training at the end of May.

Oh, and I have a used car to drive again, and hopefully that will go well.

In not so bright news my dryer finally died. It had been ill for some time.
I've decided to wait until I begin work to get another so it is clothes line time for me again. At least it isn't winter this time.

After a few days of it I knew I needed a better way to carry the clothes pins with me so I made myself a clothes pin apron out of an old pair of scrubs.

It isn't very pretty but I whipped this thing together super fast. I took an old pair of scrub pants with an elasticized waist and cut them off. I cut them down the back and stuck some bias tape on for ties and then just folded under a seam and stitched it all down all the way around. The pockets are full of pins in this pic and it works perfectly since I've been using it these last couple of days. Maybe I'll add a big pocket to the front that I can reach from either side but it really isn't needed. Very happy with this one!

On the stitching front, my new order of stitching seems to be agreeing with me.
Here is All Dogs go to Heaven after a few more stitches of blue.

And here is one of the kits I got back in Feb.

They are really sweet and I'm enjoying them even though I'm not fond of back-stitching.

Now my Mystic Garden BB SAL should be further along, but it was slowed even more when I had to frog part of what I'd stitched on it. Here it is all stitched back up and I am pleased to say I am finally half way through the first page.

There is a little progress.

Now does anyone remember my Mini Eternal Promise? I was supposed to give it one weekend per month, but then my stitching just went south. Well now that it is back I gave Eternal Promise its 2 days. I didn't take a picture to share with you because there just isn't that much to see.

I also put a very few stitches into Mini Cheshire Cat, but again, there isn't much to see so no pic yet.

I hope you are all enjoying your stitching. I'm trying to find time to make the most of mine before I return to working full time.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Plans, Hopes, Possible Rotation and a bit of Stitching

Lets begin with the stitching. I decided to take part in the HAEDless sal this past week. I didn't get quite as much stitching time as I'd hoped but Frederick has seen a little progress.

I do love Frederick. I wanted his kit for a long time and now that the fabric isn't too stiff to work with I'm enjoying stitching him. With the usual caveat that I still don't care for blending threads and back stitching.

Earlier this week I finished off some coasters I'd cut out a week or so before. These are the quick and super useful kind, and we needed them asap to keep our hot tea mugs from sticking to the table and making rings, so nothing fancy here. I wanted them to reversible so I didn't use any binding, just a couple of old scraps and some poly batting. They are about 4 inches square so they will hold a good sized mug. I whipped up 4 of these but I am sure I'll be making more before long.

If only I could crochet again without hurting I could make a couple of really attractive ones in no time. Still, these are old quilt scraps and I like the colors.

As to a stitching rotation, I think I've got that worked out as well.
Again, nothing fancy here. I'm afraid my stitchy bug will run off again if I try to pen it down to too much! I've simply divided my stitching into five categories.

Smalls-Things not much bigger than my stitching piece. Little kits, etc.
Mediums-Say something like Frederick
Mini's-Thinking mostly of those HAED mini's here, but anything approx. in that size zone.
Large-Bigger than a mini and smaller than a BAP
BAP- Charts sensible people find to large and stitching addicts have a stack of waiting to be worked.

My rotation, or really it is just a goal, is to give a few days a month to each category. I'm not swearing to work on this piece or that, I have too many wips with probably 2 more coming this year, to just pick 2 or 3 to work on. With the smalls and mediums I'll have the satisfaction of having finishes more often and at the same time still be making progress on everything else. I could just stitch on one piece until it is finished, as I did for so many years, but then I'd get bored.

So what do you think? I'd like opinions, as this one is completely new to me.

There is a lot going on right now, I'd tell you about my strange day today but I'm being a good blogger and trying to stick to the subject.

I still haven't taken a picture of my Colette pieces so sooner or later I must get to that, and I haven't cut anything new out. Life is busy and my cutting area is buried in heavy house project junk and a window unit air conditioner. So hopefully soon.

Well happy stitching my friends!

Karen

A Final Stitching Treat

Totally unexpected, but husband approved!
LOL, DH and I know we are having to cut back even more. As a sort of final treat he got himself a video game he wanted. I've had enough treats that I didn't even think I needed one, but I've got one none the less and have to share with everyone.

It took me only minutes to decide on it and get the order placed. My first order with Tilton Crafts, while their sale is still on. I ordered 2 RAK's and got myself a chart. I had super customer service as I'd made a mistake on my form re the RAK's and she fixed it, even though I'd placed the order after 8:30 pm on a Sat. evening!
I was dead certain of what I wanted when I went to place the order. I wanted Master! I especially wanted it. I'm going to post a photo of it. So why didn't I buy it?

I like everything about it! I want to stitch it. I want to support the artist so that I can buy his Vader as a chart in the future. But when it came time to pick out the chart I was choosing for myself this is what I bought.

She has been on my wish list for some time. Above her on my list was Amris and Master. So why did I choose Fantasy Blue?

I have no idea, but she is mine now, and I'm so glad! When DH saw her it was instant love. The first words out of his mouth were "You have to get the stuff for this one right away." Well, yay. lol. By stuff he means I have to kit her up as soon as possible. I've no problem with that my stitchy friends!

Now I know the only stichy and craft things I will be getting for the foreseeable future will be floss and a bit of fabric and I find I am perfectly alright with that. I have so much to stitch now I am more than content and a little overwhelmed. 

One of the blogs I love to read has posted recently about her stitching plans and limiting her projects for a little while and it has inspired me to get back to a plan of my own. I think I have it worked out and will tell you about that soon. Meanwhile my stitching mojo is home with a vengeance and I am a happy camper.

This was meant to be a quick little update. Will have more for you soon.

Happy Stitching
Karen

Janome 8050 Review and a Finish Finish

This is my Janome 8050.

You may recall I bought it in a pinch when my Memory Craft 6000 finally began to fail and was lucky enough to get it on sale etc. So far as I can tell it is sold only through one big chain fabric store.

The first think I noticed is that it is very light weight so be prepared if your used to a heavier or bigger machine. It sews well, has a nice tension, everything you'd expect from a Janome. It makes nice buttonholes, though being different from my old one it took me a second to figure out the foot.
Speaking of which, it only comes with the basic feet but luckily many of the feet from my Memory Craft 6000 do fit it. Yay.  Otherwise I would have probably had to order some in.
This machine took a little playing with to get it to sew knits properly, but part of that is me not being used to sewing a lot of knits. It doesn't have an overcast stitch, which I really miss, but the zig-zag stitch works just fine for that. I widened the stitch a little because it seemed skimpy.
It also come with a speed control so you don't have to use the foot pedal at all and I'm still learning that, but it is very handy on certain items when I want to go really slow. When I want to zip along fast it does it with no problems.
Actually the only real area of concern for me is that it doesn't like thick seams. It has been so long since I had to think about the thickness of my seams that I had forgotten it could be an issue. I just slowed waaay down and it went well but I'm thinking it wouldn't pass the test of jeans, though I haven't tried it yet.
Over all a nice machine for it's price range. The LED light is placed a little oddly but I not only adjusted to it quickly I love it now. At first I thought I'd have to add extra lighting but didn't.
I've only had ithe machine a short time so I can't say if it will be reliable or last but I can say that so far I like it a lot. The bobbin winder is a no brainer. The only thing I really don't like is the storage compartment. Poorly done and annoying since there is no closure on the end and things can just slide out. I just don't use it.

Now to my Finish of a Finish! I finally made up my God Bless and it will be ready to hang after I hand sew the seam closed where I turned it. I didn't have the type of cord I'd wanted for the hanger so just used an old bit of silk ribbon.

Nice country look to it.

I've got a busy evening coming up but I'm still hoping for some stitching time since I didn't get any yesterday.

Happy Stitching!
Karen

Inspired To Stitch!

Now if I can only find the time!

There is still a lot happening keeping life busy. (I'm doing phone business right now, and waiting on calls.) Somehow I always thought that if I were off of work I'd have just loads of time for fun stitching and crafty stuff, but life has a way of filling in all that time.

But, I have been stitching, and being inspired to stitch. I think I have probably committed myself to a one day a week SAL beginning in June. I will update you on that when I know more.

This morning I was the lucky and surprised recipient of this adorable beauty.

Thank you so much Christie! I love, love, love it!
Well, we all know I have a sort of a thing for animal charts, with dogs being right at the top of my list. This chart is from Tilton Crafts. It is the first I've had from them, though I have several on my wishlist, and have for some time. The format is great and the pages appear easy to see. As an added bonus there is a sale, and proceeds from this one went to the Red Cross in Boston, so Christie and other are being a double blessing.

Other inspiration has come my way by seeing pictures of 3 very different HAED mini's completed in the past few days. They all look amazing.

So here is my little bit of stitching, fitted in wherever I can find time. I've also done a bit on my HAED BB sal piece but haven't included a photo today since I am in a confetti spot and there isn't much to show yet.

First, a little bit of Frederick:

It was night when I took the pic and the flash didn't do him any favors but he was stitched on and it was quite enjoyable except the black on black was a little boring.

Next is my bit of work on All Dogs Go To Heaven:

Fairly straight forward stitching on the blue at this point and I really enjoyed it, which is odd since I usually prefer a little confetti. Never-mind though, it is coming!

Stitching related, I sorted through a bunch of scraps and fat quarters to find the right fabric to frame God Bless in and came up with this one. Hopefully it will get stitched up this week as time allows.

I wanted a more country look and thought this quilting scrap fit the mood, though at the last minute I almost went with a Christmas look instead.

Well I had planned to put up a quick review of my Janome 8050 sewing machine today but this is getting picture heavy and I seem to be running out of time. I will definitely do that next time

Google Reader

Since Google Reader is apparently going the way of the Dinosaur I have decided to begin using Blog Lovin
.<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/5456247/?claim=xjyqfqp72gp">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>.

Here is a link for those who are interested. BlogLovin.

Happy Stitching Everyone

Karen

Stitching Mojo Return!

I sent my first RAK back at Easter and it was a wonderful feeling to be able to return some of the kindness I have been shown over the past year. Then, out of the blue, someone sent me one. I won't name names as I don't think she would want me to. Still, it came at just the right moment, when I was having a down time and feeling dumb for a mistake I'd made.

Not only did it cheer me up, but when it came to me it brought my stitching mojo back with it! If you've ever had yours disappear then you know what a surprise and pleasure that was.

Here is the chart:

This is All Dogs Go To Heaven, by Heaven and Earth Designs.
Back story is that I've had this chart on my wish list in the past, then took it off, on, off. I was afraid the lighter colors just wouldn't come out well, and that the dogs wouldn't be really clear. But then someone posted their finish on Face Book. Wow, beautiful. So it went back on my wish list and I was blessed enough to have it sent to me right after that.

I didn't need another new start but I thought it couldn't hurt to just check and see how many of the colors I had. I only needed 8 colors, a total of 15 skeins. That my dear stitchy friends, was a sign. I know you'll agree!
Anywho...I did not have much fabric to choose from. There was a piece of 28 ct. but it wasn't quite big enough. But I did have a rather large piece of 14 ct. Aida. Usually when I use 14 ct. I use 3 strands for full coverage, but this time I'm going old school. 2 strands on 14 ct. aida, just like back when I first learned to stitch.
Here is the first wip pic.

I'm calling this a page finish. Yep. I generally begin on the right side of a chart and stitch the last page of the first row of pages first, then the second to last, etc. across to the first page. Then I like to go back and stitch the last page of the second row of pages, etc. My page was only 12 stitches wide but darn it, this is a page finish!

On the sewing front I still haven't taken pictures of the Taffy blouse. I have finally finished the Meringue skirt, putting in the last catch stitches today. When I get a pic I will post it, along with a sort of review. So two patterns from The Colette Sewing Handbook are down.

There will be a brief (hopefully) interruption in my plans to sew all 5 patterns because DH went and treated me to a surprise.
The pattern and fabric for a dress. I had just discovered this pattern yesterday:

Re-Release of a 60's pattern. Hubby came home from work and asked if I wanted to go to the store with him, I agreed, and he took me to the fabric store and told me to pick what I wanted. The simplicity patterns were on sale for  $1.00 so I couldn't resist. We picked out the fabric. This was love at first sight. Purple lt. to med. weight denim. Love! Zipper and thread were bought too, and I will be ready to go as soon as I have time.

I did take pics of the denim but they all refused to show the color so I see no reason to post them.

What about you? Has spring got you changing your routine? Making new starts, pulling out old ufo's or swip's? Doing a different craft than your usual? I've been looking at crochet patterns and that is forbidden territory but I can't resist just looking.

I will try to remember to take a pic of the top and skirt and put it up this week. It ought to be easy but DH has been sick, there has been insurance stuff, and now looking for a used car, plus all the usual stuff, and I forget. Also, seriously, I'm really enjoying the housework and doing things around the house and cooking. Even dishes don't seem so bad, so I find myself lingering over stuff I used to rush through. Huh?

Happy Stitching this week. Hope you are all enjoying yourselves.
Karen