Stitching Bloggers' Question of the Week

Which way do you stitch, i.e. do you stitch /// followed by \\\ on top, or the other way around \\\ followed by ///? Are you left-or right-handed and do you think that this affects the way that you stitch?

I'm right-handed, and I stitch from \\\ to /// as though I were a leftie.Go figure. I taught myself to do it this way in the beginning, and it's the only way it's ever felt comfortable. The only time it gives me fits is if I'm doing a round robin and have to adapt to the other direction, and it's very difficult to do.

This question submitted by Vash.

A Little Stash And A Funny Story

Here is a smattering of my smaller (called "Piece of Cake") Little House Needleworks recently acquired. Lovely little designs!

The funny story was a result of reading Meari's Oct. 13 entry. We were moving into this neighborhood 17 years ago, and they used to have a progressive Christmas party. You meet at one of the bigger homes for appetizers and cocktails, then branch out into many smaller groups for salad and bread at different homes. Then a different bunch meet at different houses for the main courses and potatoes or vegetables, etc., then all back to another larger home for cookies and wassail or booze. It takes tons of planning and preparation, and this neighborhood is a bit on the hoyty toyty side, except for the Joneses, who live in the high crime area of the neighborhood. They all decided long ago that anyone who decorates with bears, cats and such is their idea of riff-raff. Ask me if I care. I hate tinkling chandeliers, and I ain't got no class. Anyway, we owned the lot before we built our house, and I was invited to get the hang of the Christmas torture by participating as a co-hostess the first couple of years. I was to help out with the punch the first time and bake a few dozen cookies or dessert bars. My car, which was not a wreck, but did have a hole in the muffler, and it was noisy, to say the least. I traded it in for an SUV before we moved in, but that didn't help me out when I pulled up into the drive of the meeting of our planning group for the last stop of the Christmas Progressive Torture that year. Big house, big expensive house, several expensive cars in the driveway, and here I drive up, ducking my head at the noise of my muffler, my face red. I mustered all the dignity I could, walked into the house and announced how sorry I was about the noise. I said, "I have a muffler in my hole, and I have an appointment tomorrow to have it replaced."

I Have A Ghost....

Do you see it? There on the left of the picture is the dark shadow of my ghost. I was taking more pix of recent stash (not my haul from Mom & Me), and when I began to edit my pix, I spied the ghost. So I had to take another picture to see if it was still there. As you can see below, the ghost left the premises. Spooky......

Stitching Bloggers' Question of the Week

As we all know, stitching in the winter can really be rough on the hands. What do you do to treat your hands well in the cold winter months? Do you have any suggestions for creams or soaps? Or perhaps a special regimen that you would like to share?

Well, I take Vitamin E all year long, but I try to remember to drink an extra glass or two of water when the weather is cold outside and warm and dry inside. I also use a humidifier for my Sjogren's Syndrome (secondary to Lupus). My eyes and salivary glands get special treatment, and my hands and feet get the generic replacement for a product called Eucerine, which is very expensive, and both covered at night to keep the bedclothes from getting greasy.

This SBQ comes from Lee.

Had A Lovely Journey

but didn't get far enough. I visited all you gals yesterday who've been kind and visited my out-dated blog that I want to give a face lift, but you overlooked all that and were kind enough to leave lovely comments. Now I want to venture further out and see some of the blogs I haven't checked out in ages. I find that reading what you're all up to is fascinating reading and soooo relaxing, especially in light of the fact that I'm a Fox News junkie and hear such disturbing news all day long. I can't seem to get along in the house without noise, and other than watching Days of Our Lives and One Life To Live and eating bon bons all day in my pink negligee (NOT), and my favorite QVC shows----yes I admit to yet another dangerous vice---just glad I'm too old for someone to lure me into the drug world and selling my body for a fix. Let me tell ya.... it takes a lot of quarters to get enough for a good high these days. DH tells everyone I make my money at the truck stops, but it's hard work. I respect all Lot Lizards. That's a hard way to make a living. I like my life at home beating him to the mailbox to get the squishy packages of stash and QVC stuff---jewelry junkie here too, but I also love the household and creature comfort goodies from QVC at my front door that are too big to stuff in my mailbox on the street.

I got a phone call yesterday while I was on my blog journey from my neighbor/best friend, who is also a stitcher (what more could I ask for?) who told me she'd heard from a gal at Walmart who used to work in one of the best LNS' in the state of IL till the new owner ran it completely out of business---bled it to death financially. This gal was agush with news of a new shop a couple of hours from here in Lebanon IL, about 25 hours from St. Louis. She said it was the best shop she's ever visited and totally worth the drive. It was a beautiful fall day here and worth the drive just to get away from here. The leaves are beautiful in color and the air is crisp, and when we pulled into Lebanon, we took a step back in time. I wish I'd had my camera and totally forgot about my cell phone taking pix, but no matter.... we're going back for sure. They have kept out modern stores like Walmart and are far enough off the beaten path to St. Louis that commercialism hasn't ruined the quaint, historically-kept little stores with the original brick streets, interior woodwork and flooring, etc. Mom & Me is the name of the LNS, and it was how our friend described it and much more. It's full of light and roomy, taking up two stores, organized into sections that make it very shoppable, and I've never seen such beautiful wall racks of completely stocked fibers of every kind you could possibly want. And the fabrics..... Oh My!!! My grandmother, whose looks skipped a generation and caught up with me, spent the latter part of her life with her mouth hanging open. I found myself looking up at all the models and wiping the drool off on the shoulder of my sweatshirt while shoving my jaw up to meet my upper mandible---hard---as a reminder to keep it shut. Richard gave me plenty of money, but I restrained myself because I was holding back a bit for a dash through the other stores, lunch at the place the Mom of the store suggested and the ice cream parlor that had homemade ice cream. I bought Sylvia's breakfast as we left town, and I bought her lunch and ice cream because she was driving. We take turns like that. Next time, the food will be her treat, and I'll do the driving. Lunch was charming and delicious, but neither of us were sure about the ice cream parlor chairs we sat on. We both hung over on both sides, and I prayed mine would stand up under my weight. I also said a silent prayer that the ice cream parlor would have something besides those chairs to sit on. Prayers were answered---a bar with the old-fashioned mirrored, woodworked wall behind the counter, tables with wide-load chair seats and also roomy booths. I ordered two dips of ice cream---one of monster cookie dough and one of Irish coffee, both in a waffle cone. I'm not exaggerating---the dips were 5" in diameter. They played 40's music, and everything was authentically 1940-ish. It was wonderful. I'll take a pic of my smaller stash haul, but Sylvia spent $150 without batting an eyelash. I asked the Mom of the store if they would ever have a website, and she said that no, she wanted to keep it brick & mortar only and not get into the modern aspect of shopping. The Me of the store was taking the day off, but that is her daughter, and she's a busy mom. We got on their newsletter list, and they have an 800# where they do telephone mail orders, but I can go to the store here in town for everyday stuff. We'll be driving there just to see what's new. It's an easy drive anyway. We had a great day, and it did me so much good to get away, and Sylvia and I laugh all the way to and from everywhere we go. Mom said she'd remember us.... called us Mom & Me virgins, and said she would remember our names cuz we're so much fun. She has a huge St. Louis trade, so that impressed me that she was so friendly with us. Oh, and I was also impressed with the fact that she cuts your fabric and writes the name of the project and color and type of fabric on the paper she pins on, then serges the edges for you on the spot.

When I got home, I felt like I had had a breath of fresh air and am looking forward to going back.

Back Soon....

Off on a blogging journey. Coming to your blog soon.

Lousy Pictures But.....

the antics just crack me up. It never fails. When I'm trying to get pix of anything on a flat surface, at least one of my 3 cats shows up, and they rule. This is supposed to be an online Biscornu class I purchased from a friend who has a growing ONS. She offers free finishing classes, and she sells the kitted materials with a nice Dinky Dye freebie. You choose your color of the Dinky Dye silk, and she zig zags the edges of fabric so you're all ready to go. Mary Kathryn has a beautiful blog I love to visit when I have time, of which I've had none lately. I love shopping with her, as her shipping is dirt cheap, and she is an extremely fast shipper. Sweet as honey too.
As you can barely see my blurry image above, I have my printed class pages all printed, together with my fabric, new Dinky Dye scissors, Dinky Dye silk in beautiful variegated hues you can't see at all, and my chart propped against my sewing machine. Here you see my Caiti walking across my nicely laid-out stuff. Nothing is sacred in my house.
And here is my Caiti, who, after walking the length of my sewing counter and disheveling everything to suit her taste, plopped down and just looked into the camera as though saying, "C'mon, Mama! Take my picture!"

S'more Stash

Several small Solos recently purchased from Silkweaver. It's always fun to see how close they are to the pix on the site. They're usually pretty close.

Then, there are accessories. I love gadgets. One can never have too many Piecemaker needles, and the scissors are one of Dinky Dyes' new scissor line. Then, there is that gadget I couldn't live without---a magnetic needle puller. Wonder if I'll ever use it, LOL! Had to have it though.

I really have been swamped lately, and I do so appreciate all your lovely visits and comments, so I vow to get around to visit all of you very soon. I'm still playing catch up with so many things in my life.

A Finish

Stitching on this fabric was a bit of a challenge, so it took me longer than I had anticipated. This is Kitty Cottage Sampler by Little House Needleworks, and I stitched it on Terra Cotta Ragusa, a huge bargain piece from Silkweaver. I knew someday I'd be glad I had it for certain pieces, and I liked the floss toss of this design. I also think I'll do LHN's Thread Pack kit with "Watermelon" chart on this same fabbie. Lord knows... I have plenty of it! Trouble is.... if you've ever used Davosa, you know what I mean by this being a challenge. It's a nightmare to work on. Threads slip underneath so they disappear. But like the determined, petulant child I've remained, I persevered, and although my stitching is not as neat as I like, I do like the overall looks of the piece. There's a rustic nubbiness to the Ragusa that I love with the chart and thread colors.

If you haven't noticed, I'm really stuck on Little House Needleworks designs at the moment. I like the clean, simple looks, but I digress. I jump from one designer of the year to another. Quite a contrast to all the Mirabilias I've collected of which I haven't finished one yet. Oh, the pitfalls I wallow in.

Behind Again!

Holy cow... just can't seem to stay in the groove these days. Things are going well with me, but I got so far behind on housework, reading backlogged emails, and so many other things that need to be tended to, I just can't keep up with it all. I'm getting there though. At least, I got my kitchen sparkling and all 3 bathrooms. Yes, three.... what was I thinking when we built a house for two people? I'm getting the newspapers, junk mail, and other clutter out of the house just in time to bring out my fall decor clutter. Not much time to stitch, but I've managed a few stitches here & there and need to get pix of those. There are still more new stash pix to share......