Fair Week in Anne Arundel County, September 13-20

While I was cleaning my living room last weekend, I ran across the catalog for the Anne Arundel County Fair. I knew it was around the 16th because it's always close to Mom's birthday. I wanted to check when entry drop-offs were because I planned to enter my stitcher's book, A Stitcher's Companion. Lo and behold! Entries were Sunday and Monday, and it was already Sunday night by that point.

First thing Monday morning, I went to the County Fairgrounds in Crownsville to enter ASC in the Needlearts competition. The lady who took my entry wasn't happy that the only category ASC would fit was Miscellaneous. She thought, it was such a wide category, my book wouldn't stand out.

BUT IT DID! With my very first entry into any kind of judged competition, A Stitcher's Companion won FIRST in the Miscellaneous class and CHAMPION of its division! Carol called me Wednesday night to let me know. I couldn't help shrieking and jumping up and down. While I didn't get best in show, the BIS winner was richly deserved, a very pretty sweater. Now the joke is that my prize is $5. That's what it cost to get into the fair, so I broke even.

August 4, 2009 - A day with Anna

I spent my time this morning working on getting my stitcher's book, A Stitcher's Companion by Enchanting Lair, ready for display at the county fair. I finally put the amethyst in the cover motif. It took a while to find an appropriate stone/charm, but I think this one is perfect.

I'm not sure what the rules are regarding having your name visible in the competition, but I have decided to cover mine. I used contrasting fabric and floss so that it's obviously not part of the actual design.

I even stitched the needles and the floss to the fabric so that they cannot be removed. I thought about taking everything out, but then the book is not doing its job.

The scissors were a bit of a challenge to get the stitches even and to tightly secure them into the pocket. I certainly don't want these falling out and stabbing someone in the foot! They have very sharp points!

I completely forgot to show you the frogging I did on Sunday. After completing Ocean Star, I frogged these UFO's. The first is Deftly Wrought by Midsummer Night Designs. I hate the colors. Just looking at the piece drains my will to stitch. What I decided to do with it was to frog everything but the four mini samplers. I guess it's another finish now, yes?

The second piece is Stitches Stars & Stripes by Blue Ribbon Designs. The more I looked at this piece, the more it grew out of favor. I should have taken a harder look at the chart because there are alot of solid-stitched boxes. I thought about stitching it and replacing some of the solid boxes with charms, but how many different ones could I possibly find? Add to that the fact I'm allergic to nickel, which means I'd have to buy gold-plated charms, and the price would be through the roof! No thanks! I didn't enjoy stitching this at all so it's no loss. The chart has already been RAK'd to Lisa in CA because she admired it.

I went to see my primary doc's nurse practitioner this afternoon for a checkup on the abdominal rash I have. The infected spot is healed and scarred, so I don't have to use the antibacterial ointment anymore, but Gail wants me to keep it handy-just in case! As far as the rash, my antibiotics have been extended to three weeks and I'm to call her if it gets worse. Hopefully the MRSA is gone, but she has instructed me to use the antimicrobial/antibacterial wash every three days for a while longer.

After my appointment I went back to the house to get Anna's car seat so that I could pick her up for our library date. We didn't get to go last week, so I wanted to make sure we went this week.

Anna prefers going to the Eastport branch of the library because they have a table of puzzles for her to play with. Her favorites are the two with different latches and locks. She always heads right for them after choosing her books. Today she picked out three books for herself and one board-book for Caleb. He has to have the board pages because he still rips regular ones.

While Anna played with the puzzles, Aunt Beth stitched on Hinzeit's America. Luckily I left this thread dangling because I forgot the bag with the chart and threads.

After leaving the library, we made stops at the pharmacy and the post office. On the way to the post office, I automatically turned into my sister's apartment complex. Anna yelled from the back seat, "Where are you going, Aunt Bep?" It wasn't until she said something that I realized what I'd done. I told her I just turned too early (the PO was two streets up) and got back on course. It's pretty bad when your 4-year-old niece is telling you where you want to go next! I swear I've completely lost my mind with all the running around I've had to do and lack of sleep from having Daisy here.

Anna wanted to go with me to get Kasey groomed and we were chatting almost all the way there. I pulled in to my parking space in front of Bark'n Bean (Muddy Paw Wash's new name), turned around to tell Belle (I was told Anna wasn't there today, she was Belle) that we'd arrived, and found a sleeping little girl in her car seat. She'd been quiet for the last mile of the trip, so she must have gone out like a light. Sarah warned me Anna hadn't had a nap, and they'd been to the pool this morning, so she must have been very tired to zonk out like that.

I dropped Kasey off at the BnB and took Anna home. It was way too hot to leave her in the truck and not practical to leave it running for an hour with the A/C on. I carried her in to Sarah's apartment and she woke up, but she did go down for a nap in her room.
Meanwhile, Kasey was being beautified. Here she is after her bath. Once again, Mike did a wonderful job! She's so pretty! I think she knows it, too! And, yes! Her leash says "One of us misbehaves." She picked it out herself.

For those who have been wondering, this is Daisy's war zone. The orange and turquoise fuzzy things are the fur-covered balls with tails and/or just the tails that Daisy has de-squeakified. You can also see Kasey's birthday bone (what remains), the tennis ball she killed, stuffing from several toys, and the rope/fabric toy I got from the clearance bin at BnB for her. She's already chewed through the rope. There are orange and turquoise bits all around Kasey's couch and Daisy's war zone.

Here are the remains of Kasey's birthday bone. Daisy pulled the squeaker out of him after chewing several holes in the canvas and nylon. Then she proceeded to remove the whistle from the squeaker. Thankfully she does not eat the plastic. The score in the War on Squeakers is now Daisy: 5; Squeakers: 0.

Stinky Ol' Raccoon is in hiding because Daisy discovered he had a hole in him and started pulling out his innards. Somehow Kasey has kept that thing limping along with three holes and carries him at least once a day. That's all she does, is carry him around and lay down with him. I'm not letting Daisy kill him for good!

I was really tired when I finally returned home at 5:30, so I took it easy this evening and was in bed just after midnight.

April 26, 2009

First, I have to tell you a story. This happened on Tuesday and I forgot all about it until yesterday.

At the Heirloom Stitchers meeting, Knitter-Carol was having trouble counting threads on her stitching project, so I gave her my extra set of stitch markers. I never use them because I have three other pairs, so I didn't see a need to hang on to them. Besides, she was getting frustrated and I wasn't just going to sit beside her and do nothing when I could help.

So she looks at the stitch marker, turning it in her fingers. I say, "they're from My Big Toe," and she puts it down and looks at me. I look right back. Then it hits me! "Not MY big toe! The designer!" I completely forgot that Knitter-Carol is new to stitching and hasn't had the exposure to lots of different designers like I have. She says "I didn't know!" We had a nice chuckle over that one!

So...are you ready to see it? After all this time, I've finally completed my book, A Stitcher's Companion by Enchanting Lair! I stayed up and whipped together my last stitch at 3:45am.

Front Cover

Inside Front Cover and Title Page

Needles & Threads

Scissors

Band Sampler

Back Cover & Spine

I took a stumble this morning while I was out walking with Kasey so I didn't do as much today as I'd planned. My foot hit the side of a tire rut in the driveway and my heel slid off my flip-flop, causing my ankle to roll. Before I had time to do anything I was on the ground, hitting mostly my left knee and hip. I didn't sprain my ankle and only scraped my knee a little bit, but I still took it easy today. The spot where I fell in the driveway is just packed dirt so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

I managed to get all my stitching sorted and chose the projects that are going with me this weekend. I have approximately ten charts that I would like to shop for. They need fabric or threads or a combination of the two. Some I would like to change all the colors, so seeing a wall of fibers will help me out in that department. Then I can do floss tosses for the charts I've already chosen fibers for.

Thanks to Uncle Sam's stimulus plan, I have spending money! I'm not going to go overboard, though. I've updated my floss check lists for Weeks, Gentle Arts, and Crescent Colours, so I don't have to worry about buying duplicate colors. Except for last-minute things like toiletries and Kasey's food bowls, everything is ready to go. I didn't do any stitching today after waking up so there's no progress on America to show you. I'm hoping to put in some stitches sometime Monday.

April 22-25, 2009

I played hooky from dialysis today. I wasn't feeling well so I stayed home. I thought this evening was the Borders Books meeting but I was the only one there from 7-8pm. Kasey quietly slept on the floor beside my chair as I stitched. When no one arrived by 8:00, I left to return home.

After posting a message to Facebook, Genia replied that the meetings are the last Wednesday of the month. I was told the 4th Wednesday, but I got in a half-hour of stitching that I probably wouldn't have done at home. This is the progress I made while at Borders. My house is growing flowers!

Thursday was the usual gathering of needle-workers at Barnes & Noble. Audrey gifted me with this wonderful Sampler Gameboard by The Drawn Thread. She also included a 1/4 yard of linen to stitch it on. Thank you, Audrey!

Pam stayed late because she had a 5:30 yoga class nearby. Since there was no sense in her driving all the way home to turn right around for class, we hung out, chatted, and did more stitching. My flowers now have stems, a bird for companionship, and the vine is growing up the opposite side of the fabric.

I did absolutely no stitching on Friday. Mah Jong sucked me in. As a matter of fact, it's sucked me in almost every evening this week. Why is that game so addictive? And I can't go to sleep until I beat the last one. Even if I have to re-start it over and over, I have to finish it.

Saturday was an entirely different matter as far as stitching. I haven't had a day this productive in a long time. It felt wonderful! Not only did I wake up and take America out on the front porch, but I also went into a finishing frenzy! When I woke up I noticed how warm it was so Kasey and I went out to the porch to enjoy the fresh air. I stitched on America for a couple hours.

I was able to complete the lower part of the vine on the left and began the flag. I've been putting off stitching the other side of the house because it's all one color but I think I'm going to have to start stitching at least one length of floss on it each time I work on America.

Then I realized that I only have three days to prepare for my retreat! I did some packing and remembered that I had some gifts I wanted to make. I can't give details and spoil the surprise, but I had my first encounter with lacing and am very happy with the results. After a couple hours' work, I have two finished gifts. You'll have to wait until Friday when I hand-deliver them to see what's inside.

One of the things I wanted to accomplish before the retreat was to finish my stitching book, A Stitcher's Companion. There is going to be a show and tell at the retreat and I was hoping to be able to show off my finished book.

I'm still not thrilled with the finishing instruc-tions, as I think a few simple changes would have made the entire process a whole lot easier, but I tackled it. This is my progress as of midnight, with the first panel closed around the backing board and part-way attached to the inside cover of the book.

Panels two and three still need to be closed, but the backing board is in place. I may yet have that book finished for the show and tell!

A Stitcher's Companion

So to get you up to speed on the last week, I completed all the stitching for A Stitcher's Companion by Enchanting Lair. I'm VERY unhappy with the finishing instructions, though! THEY SUCK!

My Problems with Enchanting Lair's A Stitcher's Companion:

I used foam-core backing inside the pages. The problem was that when I put the foam-core in the cover, the book won't close. So I've now taken out all the foam-core and am putting it aside til I cool off. Believe me, I didn't spend two months stitching this just to throw it out!



Also, in my opinion, the pages on the panels are backwards. It's hard to explain in just words, but after you whip-stitch the pages together (like you do with a biscornu), you have three sides of whip stitch and one side of plain back stitching. Logic would tell you to use the line of back stitching on the fourth side and one of the lines of back stitching in the spine of the cover to whip-stitch together in order to attach the page to the cover, right?

Nope! If you do, all your pages are backwards. You have to use one of the whip-stitched sides instead. When the book is assembled, all of the visible sides of the cover and the pages are whip-stitched together, except the outer edge of the pages, which are a plain line of back stitching.

All Enchanting Lair had to do to fix this was switch the panels' sides. Then, once everything is whip-stitched together, you simply use that fourth side, with the back stitching, to attach the pages to the cover. It's that simple. And there are NO clear pictures of the entire project completed in the chart OR on their website.

They give you no measurements to lay out the individual panels on your fabric, just a fuzzy scan of an 18x27 piece of fabric. I used two pieces because it looked like their borders were less than an inch around the sides of the fabric. They tell you to use QSnaps, but you need more than an inch of clearance in order to stitch on them! I also do not like the fact that they don't bother to give you the stitch count of some of the parts. You have to count the thread pocket and the band sampler yourself.

Should I go on? Well, here goes... It says to machine stitch the pockets together and machine stitch them onto the page of the book. However, if you switch your fabric to a hand-dyed like I did, no thread matches it. Because of that, I back stitched extra lines so that I could whip-stitch the pockets together and to the fabric, all in one step. I also centered motifs on three different pages by moving them over one thread. They were: the motif on the front cover, the lettering on the spine, and the fourth row of the band sampler.

On the spine, you HAVE to stitch your letters first, especially if you're using three initials! I stitched the diamond motifs first and one of my letters ended up touching it. I frogged the diamonds and left them off in the end. I centered my letters side-to-side and top-to-bottom, leaving three spaces between each letter. There was no room for the diamond motifs after doing that.

I changed the entire font of the personalization page because the lettering they used is very styalized and doesn't go with the Gothic font they used everywhere else in the book. AND I had to move "eedles" of "Needles" up two threads because they didn't have that word lined up like they did all the other words in the book.

The final two changes I made from the charts were:

1. Instead of filling in "A Stitcher's Trove" with cross stitching, I left it with just the back stitching so that it would match "Needles" on the facing page, and



2. I used Wild Lavender (light purple) rather than variegated to stitch the pair of scissors. I used Yallingup (variegated) to back stitch around the scissors.

I don't like the look of variegated outlined in variegated, so I definitely had to change that.

Is that enough?? I WILL HAVE A BOOK WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE! I just need to take a break from it for a week or so.

March 4, 2009-Not a good day

I did some stitching early this afternoon while waiting for my truck. I completed three more corner motifs on Panel 1. New back tires have been put on, and then I took it up to my shop where they re-torqued the lug nuts. Seems the tire place turned them all too tight. They got the air pressure right, though! The last tire shop didn't even do that.

Kasey and I returned home and I ate my lunch. I left for dialysis, got there a little early and then heard the words I've been dreading since my graft was replaced in August: You're clotted. That's it! No dialysis today! The nurse called my vascular surgeon right away and I've just received my instructions for tomorrow.

I have to be at the hospital at 3:00pm, surgery is at 5:00 and it sounds like they're going to try to de-clot the graft. I'll be home tomorrow evening, but I'll be groggy and probably just go right to bed. It's not a complicated procedure at all, and isn't even done in OR. It's done in radiology because they shoot dye into the graft, pull the clot out through a needle, and the dye shows them when bloodflow has been restored. It's just frustrating, because I had 6 surgeries on my dialysis access last year and this new graft was supposed to last longer. I don't consider 6 months "longer."

I'm going to go do some stitching on A Stitcher's Companion, eat and drink til 8 hours before surgery, and go meet Carol for some stitching fun tonight at Border's Books.

UPDATE: Kasey and I met Carol in the food court of Annapolis Mall for dinner. Kasey didn't like all the noise and bustle, but fell asleep beside my feet after I put some Peace& Calming oil on her foot. She was spooked by the mechanical rides for the kids. Once she figured out the carousel was moving in place and not coming to get her she was okay, though. This was the first time she's been in a big, crowded area and I feel she did very well over all. At first she wanted to cling to my side and not lay down but the P&C helped with her nervousness.

Stitching-wise, I completed the eight small motifs in each of the corners of Panel 1. Carol and I had a very nice time stitching in the Borders cafe. I'm hoping I can stitch while I wait for my procedure time, but it all depends on where they place my IV. If I can't stitch, I have my iPod to listen to and I'm taking a book as well.

I will take a picture later to post, but right now I need to go back to bed.

Hugs,
Beth

March 2, 2009

Well, the rubberized fingertip experiment was a galactic failure. I only had them on for about a minute. It seems one cannot feel what one is touching when one wears them, so stitching while wearing rubberized fingertips just does not work. I tried them yesterday and forgot to tell you about it. I'll be taking them back to Staples ASAP.

I woke up this morning to the distant sound of Uncle Wes's favorite toy: the snowblower. By the time I got out of bed at 10:15 he'd already done three passes on our driveway and completed the neighbor's driveway. He was out until after noon working on the other neighbors' driveways and had coffee at Ms. Peggy's as her thank-you to him.

Once again I was unable to stitch at dialysis. I wound up watching television and taking a nap. I thought about pulling ASC out of my stitching bag, but my arm hurt from the needles shifting. I wish I could do something instead of just sit there, but moving my arm is out of the question. The last thing I need is for one of the needles to infiltrate my CryoVein.

This is today's progress, as little as it is. I was in a funky mood tonight so did not do any stitching upon returning home from dialysis. The four corner motifs were done in the wee hours this morning, before I went to bed.

If I feel well enough, tomorrow is going to be a busy day. I have several errands to take care of. I even made a list this time, so that I don't forget anything while I'm out.

February 28-March 1, 2009

I apologize for the fuzziness of this picture, but it's just the outline of the first inside panel of A Stitcher's Companion.

I was awake before noon this morning but stayed in bed to read my book. The end finally sucked me in and I couldn't put it down. It was another "mindless" romance, 'The Pirate Hunter' by Jennifer Ashley. I think I finished it around 3:30 this afternoon.

Most of the day was spent updating my blog. I received a note from Amy asking if I was okay, so I knew it was time to put down my stitching and update everyone on what I've been doing for the past couple days.

I was walking down the hallway today and saw this. I just had to go grab my camera and snap a picture. When they sleep like this I call them Frick and Frack. They don't cuddle together but often sleep in the same area. I think they've come to an unwritten truce because neither of them disturbs the other. This is Kasey's favorite place to sleep because the tiles are always cool. Chet usually opts for the back of one of the couches or the back corner of the dining room where he won't be disturbed. The bath mat seems to be a Chet magnet; whenever Wes or I forget to pick it up, we find Chetter-bug laying on it.

The old proverb "March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb" is coming true. It's snowing! All that mess that is down South is coming up the coast and is going to dump on us. I don't pay attention to what the weather forecasters say because they have no idea what's going to happen until it's on the ground, but it's definitely accumulating. Schools have already announced closings for tomorrow, so there's no EGA meeting. Hopefully schedules will be better for next week so that Carol, Kathy, and I can all make it to the rescheduled meeting.

I've worked on ASC off and on today and completed this much. Let me know if you think the word "Needles" looks wrong, please? The N is placed correctly, but the rest of the word is supposed to be two threads lower. I thought that all the horizontal lines at the bottom of the letters should be even all the way across.

Okay, you want the truth? I didn't realize I placed the lower-case letters wrong until the entire word was done. I just don't think it's noticeable enough to warrant frogging and re-stitching. Do you agree?

I let Kasey out tonight, even though I knew she just wanted to play in the snow. When I looked out the kitchen window she was laying on the spot in the grass where she usually suns herself. Snow is coming down like crazy and my silly girl is laying in it munching on snow. Of course, she couldn't be laying in her spot outside the carport where it's dry. Oh, no! She was soaked by the time she came in. Here's the 'Kasey Angel' she made in the snow.

Now they're saying that we're expecting 6-9" of snow before this is all said and done. Kasey will have a blast playing in it tomorrow if we really do get that much of an accumulation. Right now it seems to be a very heavy, wet snow. I hope the trees around the neighborhood will be able to withstand the weight. With only one way in and out, a tree across the road would block everyone in.

February 27, 2009

Ready for another finish? Ha! I sure did! Number eight in the Year of the Sampler! I stayed up until I completed the inside cover of A Stitcher's Companion. At 4:20am the last stitch went in. I know the words don't show up in this thumbnail, but if you click on it and look at the enlarged picture, you can read the entire personalization.

I want to thank Debi for her help in finding the alphabet that I used. I disliked the text that EL used. Debi stayed up until the wee hours one morning searching through her books of alphabets and scanning them for me to look at. I adapted this one a little bit here and there because it had a little too much stylization, but I think it goes much better with the letters on the spine. I felt that the original lettering was far too different and didn't mesh at all with the baroque style of capital letters used.

Now I have three inside pages and all the pockets to stitch. I think, when contemplated as a whole, this project would be considered a BAP! I'm counting each page as a separate finish and am very anxious to see them come together into the book.

As I go along I think of another idea here and there to use on the final product. I've already decided not to use the dragonfly charm. I'm going to keep my eye out for something that's more "me." I'd love to find a Golden Retriever head or a very pretty porcelain bead or brooch with a horse or something purple that would identify it with me. I guess you'll find out as soon as I do when/if I find the right item to attach in the front motif. I'm also considering using a closure of some type so that threads, scissors, and needles don't go flying when you pick up the book. I'll let you know what else comes to mind as it happens.
More birthday goodies arrived today! Mr Mailman delivered cards and floss from Linda B, Lynn, and Vickie. Thank you all!

I'm guessing Monday at dialysis was a fluke because as soon as I tried to bend my arm today the machine alarmed and my arm hurt. It still does, as a matter of fact. This CryoVein is thinner than the artificial graft, so I feel more sensation than before. I guess everything is a trade-off. The graft was thick and I couldn't hurt myself by moving my arm, but it couldn't handle my low blood pressure and kept clotting. The CryoVein is thinner so the nerves around it can feel when I move, but it withstands my low blood pressure and keeps flowing. Such is life!

This is my progress on the first inside page of ASC. All the pages are outlined in two strands of silk so that they can be whip stitched together during the finishing process. Actually, this is the first two inside pages, with six total, but there are only three panels.

Amy wrote me an email asking about the needles I use and while replying to her I had an epiphany regarding my eczema. I cannot wear any jewelry without having an eczema breakout on my hands. Even necklaces and earrings cause my hands to break out. I stopped wearing sterling silver because that caused the worst breakouts and bought some 18ct gold instead. It didn't matter. It finally clicked in my brain that if metal jewelry causes the breakouts, this latest flare-up must be caused by my use of metal tapestry needles! The lower the quality of metal, the worse the breakout!

Now I have to do two things:

1. buy rubber gloves or rubberized fingertips (like the ones used to separate money or when filing papers) so that I don't actually touch the needles anymore, and
2. buy new gold-plated needles from busylizziecrafts on eBay because almost all of the gold from the ones I bought three years ago has been worn off.

I can't do anything about my dialysis needles, so I hope decreasing the amount of contact I have with tapestry needles will help. Quitting stitching is not an option! Since this latest flare-up has lasted almost six months, I'm really hoping it this experiment works. I'm probably going to add this issue to the list of things I need to discuss with my doctor on the 10th.

February 26, 2009

You might think I'm boring, but I slept for thirteen hours today! Obvoiusly I needed the rest. My theory on sleep is that I go to bed when I'm tired and I wake up whenever I wake up. I know this doesn't work for alot of people, but it's how I ensure I get all the rest my body needs. I only set an alarm on dialysis days and don't feel guilty if I sleep for an exorbitant amount of time. Since the body needs sleep to recouperate and heal, and I know there's alot wrong with mine, I sleep til it says I've slept enough. I think if more people did this, instead of constantly on the go-go-go, they'd be less prone to alot of the nasty "bugs" that are out there. As long as they keep their germs to themselves, they can keep on rushing through life but I'm going to enjoy mine while I have it!

For the fourth day in a row, Mr Mailman brought birtday cards and floss! Cards from Debi, Teresa, and CJ arrived. CJ even sent a piece of Fairy Blush 18ct Aida when my card was returned to her. I don't mind late cards, CJ! It extends my birthday fun! Thank you for the thoughtful gift!

If you've stayed away from joining a birthday card and floss exchange in your groups, you should certainly give it a go! It's the easiest way to increase your floss stash! I belong to three BFC's and look forward to them each year.
I was determined to complete Lasseter's Reef today! I forbade myself from turning on the laptop until the last stitch was in. It took most of the afternoon and evening, but at 10:00pm on the dot I did it! Lasseter's Reef is my fourth Dinky Dyes quilt square finish and my seventh in the Year of the Sampler.

I was on the telephone with Debi and I finished LR and we discussed my next project. I'm not allowing myself to start anything else until I finish the stitching on A Stitcher's Companion and my BRD gameboard. I honestly don't like having more than one project on the go. I like working on one thing until it's done. I complete things faster that way, rather than spreading my stitching out over several projects at a time. Later this year, I may work on a smaller project to take a break from whatever BAP I decide to work on, but not right now. I might switch back and forth between my two projects if I get bored, but NO NEW STARTS! Here's my progress on the inside cover of A Stitcher's Companion by Enchanting Lair. All I need to do is to put in my personalization and stitch the corner motifs.

I'm also very proud of myself for adhering to my stash diet! I've spent a total of $14 in the month of February for stash. Has anyone else cut back? For me, it made a huge difference this month! I haven't been scrabbling the last week of the month, making do with what's in the pantry. I still had money to go get a few groceries and other things. Being on disability, there isn't much left after I pay bills, so I honestly do live "check to check."

Next month I will have another car repair bill, this time replacing the rear tires which are showing the wear bands. That's not a repair that can be put off so my diet continues! The only thing I'm allowed to pay for is the auto-ship of My Stitching Album. I'm hoping to be able to trade for anything else if the need arises. Right now, there is nothing I need. To fight temptation I haven't even looked at the Nashville new releases. They'll be there when I have the means to purchase them. If not, it just wasn't meant to be.

Back to my question about cutting back, has anyone gone a less-expensive route when kitting up a project? Using a less expensive substitute to the reccommended fibers? I've opted to offer my Soie d'Alger silks for trade. I'm not going to buy the rest needed for my Just Nan projects. I can't afford them so I will use the Vikki Clayton Hand-Dyed Fibers. So if you need/want any of the silks I've already purchased, just let me know. They'll be on my trade blog soon. My wishlist is in the sidebar of my trade blog, too.

February 7, 2009

First thing this morning I looked through some of the script alphabets Debi sent me last night. I settled on one of them and charted out my personalization for A Stitcher's Companion. On the inside of the front cover, where the marking pin indicates the center of the stitching area, I'm going to stitch "Wrought by Beth M. [last name] in 2009, The Year of the Sampler"

I'm not trying to be coy by not putting my last name in there, but I discovered that if you Google your name, blogs come RIGHT up! I don't want just anyone to be able to find me and track everything I do. I know this is a public blog, but most of my readers have found me through Yahoo groups and other blogs, not by Googling my name. Every so often I Google my first and last name to see if my identity is on any site it shouldn't be. When I found that a friend listed my blog by my first and last name, I asked her to change it to Beth H, which she gladly did when I told her why. She was mortified when she found out how easy it was to track someone down if you use their first and last names in a blog.

This is all the stitching I did today. Obviously I spent more time watching movies than cross stitching. Hallmark Channel was showing some good love stories all day so I watched several of those and some shows that I recorded on my DVR. Kasey and Chet spent the day sleeping for the most part. I didn't hear any complaints, though.

Dad was playing music in Glen Burnie tonight so Mom and I arranged to meet. She wanted to borrow my Knifty Knitter circle looms and said she had a surprise for me. This is a magnet that she said everyone told her was "SO Beth!" It's true, too! I'm going to put it on Kasey's truck later.

While watching the afore-mentioned movies, I heard a commerical advertising that the new "Space Buddies" DVD was on sale this weekend. Since I still had $10 from Lisa's gift certificate I went on Amazon and ordered it. I can't wait til it gets here! The Baby Kaseys are too cute! It'll go on the shelf right beside "Snow Buddies" which Debi RAK'd me with last year.

February 6, 2009

Today's dialysis treatment went off without a hitch. I read one of my library books instead of stitching because I couldn't bend my arm without making the machine alarm. I've decided to take it easy for the weekend in order to get some stitching done. I'll probably turn on some Hallmark movies because they're showing some of my favorites this weekend.

I was leaning towards stitching on my gameboard some more but the Purple started calling to me. I backstitched the outline for the inside cover of A Stitcher's Companion by Enchanting Lair in under three hours. I don't care for the style of text they use for the personalization so Debi and I worked on that. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to write for my personalization. I'll do that tomorrow.

January 28, 2009

I'm iced in! Uncle Wes took Kasey for a walk this afternoon to see the condition of our road. Because the road curves along the shoreline of Weems Creek and there are two very steep hills, I wasn't going anywhere without knowing how good/bad it was. I sort of knew the news wasn't promising when I saw Wes and Kay coming back up the driveway much earlier than anticipated. Uncle Wes said he didn't take Kasey all the way to the bridge because they were slipping and sliding too much before they even got to the first hill. One of our neighbors abandoned his car on the shoulder because he couldn't get it up the last hill. He ended up walking the last quarter mile home.

That was all I needed to hear. I stopped clearing the ice off the truck, turned off the ignition, and went inside to call my dialysis facility to tell them I wasn't going to be there. We were supposed to have rain most of today which was going to melt all the ice. That never seem to happened. The temperature hovered around freezing until after noon so the rain that fell overnight froze into a thick sheet of ice. Wierdly, it warmed up AFTER dark and the road conditions got better. I couldn't get out at 2pm, but I was able to go to Wawa at 9:30pm.

Uncle Wes was holding a box under his arm when he came back. When I opened it, I found these goodies from Amy VM. She spoiled me so wonderfully during the CSE Advent Exchange and she still wasn't done!

I found Cherry Blossom lotion and bubble bath from Bath & Body works; the replacement for the Yankee Candle that broke, this one is "Christmas Cookies" and smells heavenly; a box of Sweethearts; four Reece's heart candies; two spools of Valentine-themed ribbon, "Be Mine" and hearts; the cutest tape measure, disguised as a watermelon slice; and this custom-made mesh bag by Amy's friend Joan. How can I ever thank you enough?! I've already put some of my mother of pearl floss rings in the bag to organize the fibers for my gameboard. This will certainly see alot of use! But I'm almost afraid to burn the candle because it might make my mouth water! It smells like baking sugar cookies.

Since I didn't have to go to dialysis, I continued to work on 'A Stitcher's Companion' and finally completed the initials on the spine! There is supposed to be a diamond motif above and below the initials but there wasn't enough room. I centered them exactly and used the spacing indicated in the chart, but the H is three rows higher than most of the other letters. That was just enough to encroach on the diamonds so I frogged them before I started stitching the letters.

I've decided to do all the Rhodes stitches last so that they don't get ruined by the QSnap clamps. The Rhodes stitches go inside the border motif, in the empty elongated diamonds. The chart came with a dragonfly charm to place in the center motif on the front cover but I think I'm going to find something that's more "me." That can wait until later, too, though. For now, I'm considering this Finish #3 of The Year of the Sampler. I'm going to start working on another project rather than stitch the next page of ASC.



And what is my next project, you might ask. It's the long-talked-about 'My Stitching Album' by Jeannette Douglas Designs! This is the front cover (I must be on a book kick, huh?), showing my progress as of midnight.

January 27, 2009

Wow! Three posts in one day! Don't you feel special? No?? That's what I thought, but a girl can dream, can't she?! Anyway, I hope you enjoy all my jabbering...

Where was my brain when I was writing yesterday's post?! I forgot to tell you about my first foray into designing!!

I was sitting in my chair Sunday night, chatting with Debi and Frishawn on IM's and going over, in my head, projects I had in which I could use the "Old Maid of Liberty" silk floss Kathy Y RAK'd me with. A vision of a design popped in my head. So...I took my trusty graph paper pad to dialysis with me and spent my time trying to sketch out a chart. I ended up with three similar designs and I think I'm going to stitch at least one of them after the cover of A Stitcher's Companion is completed. I am very eager to see what I did!!

I received another award today! This one is from Jackie and it's the "Fabulous Blog" Award. As part of the award I am supposed to list five of my addictions and then name five bloggers who I think are "Fabby".

Here are five of my addictions:

1. Reading romance novels, even if it's just five minutes, before turning out the light to go to sleep.

2. Needlework, especially needlepoint and cross stitch.

3. NCIS & The Unit. I have a DVR so I haven't missed an episode of either one in over four years.

4. Horses! I am not allowed ride any more so I stay away from them in person, but they're a life-long passion. Talk about poetry in motion!

5. Civil War History. I love going to battlefields, seeing historic movies, and reading about the Civil War Era. My father was a re-enactor when I was little so I got hooked at an early age!

How's that for diverse interests? I tried to name some things that you may not know from just reading my blog.

My nominees for Fabulous Blogs are:

Wawanna
Mylene
Shellie
Kathy K
Lori

As you can see from my previous post, it snowed today for the first time this year. Kasey had a wonderful time when we went out in it! I think her favorite thing to do was to scoop up snow in her mouth as she was running around. Every time she stopped running she'd get another mouthful, too. She loves eating fresh snow. I love seeing her this active. The snow seems to invigorate her.

After I took her out this morning I had errands to take care of. I stopped by the bank to deposit a check I received for some of my trade stash, went to Hallmark to get a birthday card for my step-father, stopped at the post office to mail four trades and Dad's card, and continued on to the library to get a fresh supply of the afore-mentioned romance novels.

Maggie also told me about a really good Sandra Brown novel, called Envy, so I wanted to track that down.

Rant Ahead Alert!!

I went to the computer and looked up Sandra Brown's Envy. It said it was in "Paperback Fiction." So I go back to the paperbacks and look in romances where I find several more of Sandra Brown's books. No Envy. The computer said there was a copy in this branch. So I go one aisle over and find more Sandra Brown books. Still no Envy.

Then I ask one of the librarians who is in the same section putting away some books. She can't find it either. She goes to the desk and has me give them the title and author. I do and the lady at the Information Desk looks it up on her computer. Adventure/Suspense. There is a third place where Sandra Brown paperbacks are kept! WTF?!?!

Why can't they put the stupid, friggin' paperback books in alphabetical order by author, like NORMAL people?! Instead, they have them sorted by genre! Apparently Sandra Brown's books fall under all kinds of categories! Envy was in Adventure/Suspense, while others were in Mystery and yet others were in Romance. Envy was suggested to me as a good romance/mystery! UGH!!! (Sorry, I'm an ex library geek! I even belonged to the A/V club.)

Anyway, I got Envy and went to check out just in time. When I walked in I noticed a sign announcing that the library was closing at noon due to inclement weather (DUH!). It was 11:25 when I arrived. I was home at noon and working on getting my corned beef brisket on the stove for a late lunch. I stopped on my way up the driveway because I saw a bright red cardinal eating out of the nursery school's bird feeder. I rolled down my window and took this picture:

If you like it but haven't made a corned beef brisket yourself, I highly reccommend it. All you do is take the brisket out of the packaging, pour in the included pickling spice, and cover it with water. Bring it to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer for 50 minutes per pound of brisket, and...Voila! That's all there is to it! It falls apart with a fork.

Just a warning, though: I get a 2.5 pound brisket and it's only enough for one meal for Uncle Wes and I, with a little left for a light lunch for me the next day. Some of that weight (about 1/4) is probably fat. I'd estimate a pound per person when you're choosing your brisket, just to be safe.

After the brisket was finished I started the mashed potatoes. I'm now addicted to the pre-packaged frozen mashed potatoes. I bought an off-brand last time and had no complaints. As a matter of fact, I got 8oz more for over $1 less than the Bob Evans. I'll still buy Bob's when they're on sale 2/$5, though. They're delicious.

I enjoyed my first meal of the day around 3pm. Mmm mmm! If I let myself, I'd eat the whole brisket in one sitting. I love corned beef fresh off the stove!

Done drooling? Good, cuz I don't want you getting anything on my stitching. Here's 'A Stitcher's Companion' as of midnight. I *still* haven't finished my initials on the spine! I can't believe they are taking so long, but I had alot of distractions today.

Speaking of distractions, when Kasey and I went out this afternoon for our second round of playing in the snow, I took some pictures in the side yard. I noticed last week that the neighbor's holly tree is full of berries. It looks great in the snow! (click pictures to enlarge)

Then I turned and snapped this view of Weems Creek. Yes, it's a creek! I know it looks like a river, but this flows into the Severn River less than a mile away. Luckily Kasey doesn't go down there often because most of the sand has eroded away, leaving only thick black mud on the shore. We're up on top of a big hill overlooking the creek.

Ready for more drooling? There was a knock on the door around 4pm. It was Casey from next door. She brought me a plate of warm-from-the-oven oatmeal cookies as a thank-you for catching Daisy yesterday and putting her in her crate in their house. The aroma brought Uncle Wes upstairs so I shared ONE of my cookies with him. I ate one and forced myself to wrap them back up and put them in the kitchen. I knew I'd get sick if I ate them all.

This was very thoughtful of Catherine, because I knew they were made especially for me. How? There were no chocolate chips or raisins in them! I like plain ol' oatmeal cookies and she knows it! They were soooo soft, they were more like cake because there was no crust on the bottom to hold them together and keep them from crumbling. Absolutely delicious! Thank you, Catherine, Rich, and Casey!