June 30, 2009 - Weird Stuff

I hate being broke at the end of the month! ...and I mean B-R-O-K-E! I ran out of Lemonade tea at 11:30 last night because my store was out and there isn't enough gas in the truck to drive across town and back. Well, there may have been, but it was very iffy. The gas light came on Friday afternoon. Unfortunately, the owner's manual of the RAV4 only says that the light comes on when there's "a small amount" of fuel left. Their definition of "a small amount" could be different from mine. The dealership told me I could go 40-60 miles, but that's a huge margin of error when you're talking about being stranded! I have to have enough to make the six-mile round trip for dialysis tomorrow so I'm not pusing it. The truck stayed parked in the driveway. I drank orange juice (for the calories and potassium) and water (to stay hydrated) until Uncle Wes got home with two more half-gallons of tea. I was also popping sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) tablets to help with my sodium. I did not want a repeat of Sunday!

As soon as Wes got home I drank about a quart of tea and felt completely revived. I don't need no stinkin' nap! I have Wawa Lemonade Tea to keep me energized!

Oh my gosh, am I in trouble! What if The Powers That Be at Wawa decide to stop making my Go-go Juice? I'll be stop-stopped! I've tried other teas. Since drinking this one, none of them taste good to me anymore. I used to think Chic-Fil-A Sweet tea was good. Now I can't stand it! My tea goes everywhere with me. Even my DORS counselor said she remembered my tea. It had been almost ten months since she'd seen me! If you ever wonder whether you've seen me somewhere, just look for the half-gallon jug of Wawa Lemonade Tea. No tea; no Beth. Honestly, I'm more likely to be without Kasey than I am to be without my tea.

Can you believe Wawa locations are a consideration when I move? I'm not kidding! When I thought about moving back to the Eastern Shore to be closer to my Grandma, aunts, and uncles, one of the reasons I decided not to was because there wasn't a Wawa within 25 miles. Well, there really isn't much within 25 miles, although they did finally get a grocery store. But still, the closest Wawa is Dover, Delaware.

I found out that I'm not alone in my addiction, however. I went into my store to buy tea one night and the clerk told me that a guy came in and wanted to buy a case of the Green Tea. I laughed and jokingly said, "Where's HE moving to?" The clerk said, "Texas!" OMG! No Wawa within 1,000-plus miles! I couldn't do it! I checked, Wawa is only in "portions of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland and Virginia." -www.wawa.com

Personally, I'm stayin' in Annapolis! Not only is Wawa within two miles, but so are my doctors and the hospital.

Okay, so enough about my neurotic dependency on a convenience store tea. What did I do today? Well, when the thunderstorms rolled in this evening I turned off the computer. It's amazing! My stitching productivity is almost directly proportional to the amount of time my computer is turned off (while I'm awake). That is to say, I stitch a hell of alot more when I don't turn on my laptop! Has anyone else noticed this? Is it a new phenomenon? Or is it just me?

So, while my laptop was off, I stitched! I tried to complete "It's Good to be Home" by HIH before midnight, but it was not to be. I'm really close, though!

I would like to ask a question of my fellow bloggers. Have you recently been contacted by email regarding your blog? It's happened to me twice in the past couple weeks. First, it was a company who wanted me to give away one of their rugs on Crossed Purposes. Besides needing one to cover the stains left from my Saluki, do I discuss rugs here? No? I didn't think so. Why in the world would I give away a rug? What has that got to do with Crossed Purposes? ...besides being completely off-topic!

Then, yesterday, there was an email from a new News Feed search engine. They wanted me to submit my personal description of Crossed Purposes. They even included a link to their Crossed Purposes page. How about asking if I want Crossed Purposes in your new search engine, FIRST? I wrote a very P.C. email back to inform them that I was not attempting to have more subscribers than any other feed and did not want just anyone to be able to find Crossed Purposes. I respectfully requested that they remove my blog from their search engine. I'm not sure if feedmil.com is legitimate, but "Pat" from "The Feedmil Team" emailed me from a gmail address (before 7am!). An internet site that doesn't have email addresses with its own domain name? Employees THAT dedicated that they're emailing before 7am? Call me paranoid, but I don't want anything to do with these people!

Now I'm certainly not under the impression that my blog is private (you decide that when you set it up), but word about Crossed Purposes has been spread through the stitching groups I belong to and web sites *I* post to. I'm very careful to keep my full name out of my blog and any of my friends' blogs. I don't want someone to Google my name and find my blog! I have known people passingly who later say "I Googled you and I saw your blog! That [blank] you're working on is great." And I say, "Um, that's not my blog!" I want to keep it that way!

I'd love to know if these are just companies/people prowling though blogs, or if Crossed Purposes is listed somewhere I'm not aware of. I'm very curious to know how they found it. If you're one of them and you read this: Whatever it is, I'm not interested! I like my non-commercial journal/stitching blog the way it is!

June 29, 2009 - Sorting out some things...

I said in this afternoon's quick post that I would take a picture for you to see the yellows I was discussing for my purple suede bag. Here they are. On the left is Marigold by Weeks Dye Works. This is my favorite. The concensus at Borders tonight was that the Belle Soie/DMC Perle are too light and don't look nice with the purple of the bag. The Marigold seems to shine, and in a black backgroud, it will POP!

I stitched today! I met Genia, Nancy, and Marsielle at Borders Books' Cafe and we stitched for about two hours. I have three more stitches to do in the 'I' of "It's Good to be Home" and the words will be done. Then I all that's left is the border and adding the buttons. I'm very excited to see this project complete because I want to start Desert Star (which I've renamed Ocean Breeze) by Nancy Buhl of From Nancy's Needle! I have been restraining myself from starting anything else until this HIH project is finished. I don't need any more UFO's hanging around here.

Speaking of UFO's, I have decided the fate of two of mine...

Deftly Wrought by Midsummer Night Designs has been in my UFO drawer for over a year now. I can't stand to stitch on it. I can't even stand to look at it. Not only does it use solely DMC, but also its border is RED! UGH! The solution? Frog the red border and cut the fabric, leaving the four miniature samplers that were stitched over one thread. I'm not tossing out two months' worth of work.

I have to say that I cannot take credit for this marvelous solution, however. I didn't come up with it. I have to thank the ladies at the Columbia Interest Group of EGA's Constellation Chapter. Up until their helpful advice and input (including an offer to do the frogging for me!), I was at a complete loss as to how to salvage DW without starting over. Oh, start over? Not an option!

The second UFO I've finally made a decision on is Stitches Stars and Stripes, my patriotic gameboard by Blue Ribbon Designs. Its fate: complete frogging. You read that correctly. I'm frogging everything I've done, putting the fabric back in my stash, and adding the chart to my Trade Blog! Every time I look at it I see how much stitching there is to do and my heart drops. It would take me forever. I thought about replacing some of the fully-stitched squares with charms, but how many hearts, stars, and flags enameled in the stars & stripes can you use? Besides that, I'm allergic to nickel and I am NOT buying gold-plated charms for this one! So that's it. I'm done. Two down!

Remember the other day when I mentioned that I would be doing some giveaways in July? Well, get ready! They're all lined up and I will be rolling them out this week! To whet your appetite, the giveaway themes are: Crossed Purposes' 18-month/400th Post, Christmas in July, and Myrl's De-Stash.

I have also promised myself that I would ruthlessly go through MY stash and pull out the things I know I will not stitch. The second part of my Promise to Me is that I would have all these items, and those already set aside for that purpose, added to my Trade Blog by the end of July. I will let you know when the first batch of items has been added.

Spoiled by the Generosity of Others-June 24, 2009

I came home from dialysis this evening with the intent of picking up Kasey and leaving directly for stitching group at Border's Books. I'd forgotten that tonight was our meeting until Carol called me, asking if I was going to be there. Of course I would!

But when I got home there was this box waiting for me. While it wasn't unexpected, as I was told something would be coming, I never in my wildest dreams expected all the goodies inside. It looks innocent enough, right? OMG!

Thank you, thank you, thank you, Myrl!!!!

The note says:

"Since it is a Flat Rate Box I decided NOT to send it half empty!

In addition to the NN & Eileen Gurak stuff I cleaned out some stash stuff I no longer need/want. Keep or trade or give away.

Myrl"


This is what I found!




The first thing I noticed was the beautiful crocheted scarf. It's made with velvety yarn and will definitely keep me warm. Maybe I should put it in my dialysis bag for those days when I'm freezing and no one will turn up the thermostat? I ooh'ed at it for a minute before my eye caught the acorn.


I saw one of these at an EGA meeting where a lecture was given on antique and vintage needlework accessories. Not only is it a gorgeously carved acorn, but also the top comes off to reveal a carved thimble and a tiny spool of thread with a needle. It's a sewing kit! I think this is my favorite "gadget" of all time! If you click the next picture, you can see the acorn opened with its contents displayed.

See, these were what I expected: charts by Nancy Buhl of From Nancy's Needle. Myrl had emailed me to ask if they were still on my wishlist and told me she was going to Nancy's shop for a retreat. She even got Nancy to sign all the charts for me, and the Iris and Fans Quilt chart is personalized to me! Never in my wildest dreams did I think she'd get ALL of them! Included were Shades of Spring, Evening Star, Patriotic Stars, Medallion, and Iris and Fans Quilt. IaFQ is completely kitted up with mono canvas and fibers! I can start as soon as I like (although I think I'm going to go with a green that's more sage-colored). Also pictured are the purple suede bag with needlepoint insert and the Madiera silks to stitch it, the acorn, and the scarf.

Then there were the two needlepoint pieces by Handblessings that Myrl kitted up for me. They are "Needlepoint Spring Garden" and "Needlepoint Spring Wreath." I am sooooo looking forward to stitching these! Mom likes the Wreath, so her birthday present may have just been taken care of!

On the left is "Mini Noah's Ark" by Hester's Sister, a complete kit. Beside it is "A Miniature Reversible Sampler in the Style of the 17th Century" by The Drawn Thread. Linen and Needlepoint Silks were included for AMRS. I would like to do this one, as I've long been intrigued by reversible cross stitch. I want to give this a go.

I also drooled over this hardanger pouch. It is completely hand-sewn, made from evenweave band. This is the front of the pouch when it is closed.



This is a look at it when it is open. I will have to try one of these, too. I love it! Carol does, too, but it's staying in MY possession!







Then I came across a chart from the Mary Jane Collection, part of the Welcome Series. This one is "Stitcher"...as in "Welcome to the home of a Stitcher." The bottom is black- and goldwork, which can easily become purple-y-ness! (See how twisted my mind is? As I look at designs, I picture them how *I* would stitch them!)

Then there was this wonder of purple-y-ness! I've not seen it before but it's called "Treasured Jewel II: Emerald and Amethyst" by Karen E. Dudzinski. I'm in love! It came complete with canvas, fibers, Rainbow Galleries' Splendor Silk Ribbon, and beads! Oooh! FOUL! Too many yummy choices, Myrl!

I next came across "American Heart" by Stiehler, an EGA Master Craftsman-Canvas Embroidery. This is right up my alley! Patriotic combined with different embroidery stitches! My idea of fun! And there was another Eileen Gurak design! It's called "A House is not a Home without Needlework." How perfect is that??

This is "Bands of Pearle Sampler" that Myrl started. I noticed she starts her rows with an "away knot." I've seen this discussed and suggested, but have not seen it in use until now. I think you're supposed to trim off the knots when you're done and run the thread ends under some of the stitching to secure them. Myrl generously included the fibers and linen for this project as well.

Last, but by all means not least, are these kits and charts. From left top corner: Dimensions' "Learn a Craft," Sunset's "Bay Inn" (stamped kit), "Alphabet" by the Historic Needlework Guild, "Sweetheart Topiary" Treasured Stitching Band by Mill Hill, "February" a year with charm by Lizzie*Kate, "Spring Hare" by Norden Crafts, "Celebrate Life" freebie by 4 My Boys, "Papa Noel" by Mary Engelbreit, "Hydrangea" by Donna Dewberry, Vertical Spool Pincushion kit by Sudberry, and "Easter" holidays with charm by Lizzie*Kate.

Not pictured are a Rainblow Gallery freebie called A Maze in Grace and The Flax Sampler by Sampler House. Don't ask me how I missed them, okay? I'm just overwhelmed!
Oh, so THEN I had to leave right away for Borders, remember??

Yeah...leave all this fiberous wonder to go stitch. The hardship!

But I tore myself away and when I arrived Deb gave me this book, "A Signature in Time" contemporary samplers to stitch. She said she found it at a yard sale and picked it up for me. Thank you, Deb! This was very thoughtful of you! Carol and I looked through and saw several motifs that can be used for a variety of finishes. Maybe I'll have time at some point soon to go through and flag the pages of special interest?

I worked on "It's Good to be Home" and chatted with the ladies around the table. We left when the store closed and I found another envelope of goodies in my pile of mail! Wawanna sent more hand-made floss tags!

Her newest creations are Dazzling Drops! I don't know how she finds the time to do all she does. Not only does she have her own gardens, make her own baked goods (including sourdough bread, y'all!), take care of three gorgeous girly Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, create some of the prettiest Dazzling Ornaments I've ever seen, but also knits, blogs, and paper-crafts! Did I miss anything, Wawanna? I'm exhausted just thinking about all that! You are my hero!

Look at the attention to detail in these! The seahorses are so cute! Thank you, Wawanna!! I'm so honored to receive these! I didn't realize they were a new addition to Dazzling Ornaments until I looked at the Dazzling Ornaments blog.