Quaker Moon Finish & A New Start

Yesterday I finished Quaker Moon.

Bent Creek Quaker Moon

Started:  10/10/11

Finished:  10/30/11

Fabric:  Recommended 32 count Summer Khaki Belfast linen

Threads:  Recommended WDW, GAST, and CC

I also started Helga Mandl's Autumn Pinkeep from the October 2011 issue of The Gift of Stitching.  I am stitching it on 32 count Antique Ivory Belfast using the recommended ThreadWorx #1042.

Quaker Moon Progress

I was finally able to sit in my new chair for longer than one minute and do some stitching on Quaker Moon.  I am using petite black beads for the various pumpkins' eyes.  I don't do French knots.  Or should I say I have tried and failed to do a French knot and decided to do beads.  Plus I like their uniform look.  Now, threading the beading needle, well, that's a whole other story. 

On a funny note, The Stepdaughter came into my office after school a few days ago and said, direct quote, "we made babies in school today."  I said you did WHAT?!?!??!?!  Her health class had to make "pretend" babies out of those small, clear ornaments that you can fill with stuff.  After a few minutes when I could breathe again from laughing so hard I said you might want to word that differently when you tell people.  LOL.

Are any of you considering doing the Crazy January 2012 Challenge?  I am considering it, but kitting up 15 projects at once...well, I don't know.  But still considering it.  

October TUSAL

Well, it's that time again, folks, TUSAL!  In rearranging and redoing my office/stitching space I have once again starting placing my orts in a glass container.  I think I did pretty good this month!  The threads are from October Word Play and Quaker Moon.

Stitching Station Redux

Now, you all know I have been awaiting the arrival of my new stitching chair for my office.  It arrived TODAY!!!  Here is how my stitching corner looked before:

And here it is after:

I have put the StitchMate and the daylight floor lamp in the closet for now.  And the old chair and foot stool is now in our bedroom.  I am going for simplicity here, folks, and space is WAY limited in my office.  When I say I have been obsessed with perfecting how everything goes on that side table, it is an understatement.  The table is low, hence the books.  Every time I looked over at the table lamp or stood up from my office chair and looked in that direction, I looked directly into the light bulb.  Um, no.  And reaching for threads or scissors or anything, and it was like I was bending down every time.  Again, no. 
 

Luckily I inherited BF's mom's entire collection of hardback Stephen King novels when she passed in 2009, and they make perfect stacks.  But of course, I had to put Jane Greenoff's The New Cross Stitcher's Bible on top.  How could I not?!??!???!

But I am OCD in that everything has to be just so.  And I wanted a different kind of stitching area.  The floor lamp bugged me, so I went to Office Depot and purchased this clip on Ott lamp, which so far is wonderful, and I can take this lamp on retreats with me.  And the basket on the floor now holds my WIP's, as the table space is limited.  I know it is hard to tell, but I literally have like 12 inches from when I sit at my computer desk to the edge of that side table where my stitching supplies are, so compacting everything is way necessary.  Not to mention that I can just pick up a Qsnap and start stitching.  The StitchMate, while wonderful, took up a lot of space in that area, not to mention every time someone walked in the room, or the dogs came in, someone would inevitably bump into it, and cue me having a heart attack. 

So, here's to hoping my brain can rest about my stitching area now and I can actually do some stitching. 

P.S. If you look to the far left of my "after" pic you will see our smallest dog, Layla, in her bed that resides in my office.  She stays in here most of the day sleeping.  Oh, the life of a dog!  LOL.

October Word Play Finish!

I finished With Thy Needle & Thread's October Word Play today. 

With Thy Needle & Thread October Word Play

Started:  10/10/11

Finished: 10/24/11

Lakeside Linens 28 count Light Exemplar

Recommended GAST and WDW

Jill and I traveled to In Stitches in Alexandria, Virginia yesterday for one of their lock-ins.  We had a great time!!  In our welcome packet we had a JABCO pin.  I decided to put it on one of the handles of my clear tote bag.  

Here is the stash I purchased: 6 x 6 Q-snap, Zecca needlework magnets, Lizzie Kate's Ho Ho Ho Quick it (love this!!!), With Thy Needle & Thread's November Word Play, and the recommended fabric for Little House Needleworks Little Miss Sunshine.  Also in our welcome packet was a $5 coupon and we received an additional 20 percent off our purchases! 

I brought along Bent Creek's Quaker Moon and made some progress.  Two people bought this pattern because they liked mine so much!  I always find it amazing how different a piece looks stitched compared to the photo.

I forgot my camera.  Boo!  I wanted to take some pictures.  Next time!  I now keep my camera in my clear tote bag, so it will never be forgotten again!

Gadgets

I love gadgets, especially needlework gadgets.  Here are the newest ones I've acquired.

A needlebook with my initial from Crystal's Creations & Gifts on Etsy.  This needlebook was featured in the newest issue of Cross Stitch & Needlework.  I love their new feature on the newest needlework gadgets.  And at $9 I thought this was a steal!!  One can never have enough needlebooks.

 I have wanted a clear tote forever and recently purchased this one from The Stitchery, including the clear notions bag on top.  I will be using these bags for the first time this weekend at the In Stitches lock-in.  One can never have enough totes either!!

 I also purchased a new pair of traveling scissors.  I love these for their antique look.

And finally I worked a bit on Quaker Moon last night.  Progress!  Oh, boy, I had to laugh as I uploaded this photo.  Once I looked at this piece in a photo I realized the right part of the moon is a candy corn on the inside!  Last night while stitching that part I thought, okay, they are just filling in the moon a bit.  Hahahahahahaha. 

P.S. While at The Stitching Post this morning picking up some much-needed needles and a Q-snap, I ran into the lovely Astrid!

Giveaway Alert!

Kathy of A Stitcher's Heirlooms is hosting a wonderful fall giveaway!  Go here to check it out and enter!

And Lisa of Hocky Mom Stitchin' Hobby is hosting a fabulous blogoversary giveaway here.

Stash & Some Updates

I received some new stash in the mail today, two Shepherd's Bush kits, Creepy Pin Cushion and Get Scared.  Love SB!!!

I also have been working on Bent Creek's Quaker Moon, completing the owl last night.  You can see my Zecca magnet peeking out at the bottom.  New favorite magnet!!!  And they come two to a package.  Love them.

And I have been working on With Thy Needle's October Word Play, although I haven't stitched on this in a few days.  Boo!

Autumn Stitching!

I have been stitching the past few days on two new autumn pieces.

First up is With Thy Needle & Thread's October Word Play.  I LOVE these and can't wait to get November when it comes out.  I am using the recommended overdyed threads, but I changed the fabric to Lakeside Linens 28 count Light Exemplar.

Second is Bent Creek's Quaker Moon.  I started with the owl.  I am using the recommended threads and fabric, 32 count Summer Khaki Belfast linen.

I purchased one of those Namaste Buddy cases for needlework supplies.  Mine is in Eggplant.  LOVE it!  I am going to use it when I travel to the In Stitches lock-in on October 23 in Alexandria, Virginia, and also the Needlearts Stitching Retreat in Laurel, Maryland from November 11 through the 13.  My first retreat!  And Laurel is only about 20 to 25 minutes away from me, so win-win!

Happy Wednesday!

Office Re-Do~Part 1 Complete

Before:

After:

My new stitching chair will not be delivered until October 25 (boo!), but then my office re-do will be complete.  I will be sure to post a before and after pic of my new stitching station!

I did a bit on CCN's Merry Christmas ornament from his year's JCS ornament issue, but am hurrying this post up in between breaks from work. Busy week. So, I'll take a pic of my progress on it next time.

The Four Agreements

I read an article today that really resonated with me.  It summarized the principles in the book The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.  These agreements are not easy by any stretch of the imagination, but these are items that I am going to strive to put into practice immediately, as I know they would make my life less painful and mentally taxing a lot of the time.

The article was written by Mary Kelly-Williams, M.A., a contributor of Stepmom magazine.

1.  Be Impeccable With Your Word ~ No slander, gossip, maligning or being catty or unkind towards another.  While it may feel good at the time, ultimately it hurts our hearts and souls wasting precious time on disparaging another human being.  We look and feel better taking the higher road.

2.  Don't Take Anything Personally ~ Because it rarely is about us.  It is often the other person projecting what they think we represent (or don't) when it comes to their relationship with us.

3.  Don't Make Assumptions ~ We tend to put people in boxes and can be stubborn about letting them out.  When we assume something we react to the assumption, not the reality.

4.  Do The Best You Can ~ On any given day, do the best you can, with the capacity you have for that day.  The capacity is ever-changing.  We are human.

Busy Bee

This weekend was a busyness of epic proportions.

Friday since BF was at a race in Maple Grove, PA with a friend of his I went to bingo with my mother, grandmother, and my mother's friend.  I did not win (boo!) but had a lot of fun talking and laughing.  When I got home at 10:30 p.m. I had to finish work that I could not get done before I left and then I had to take apart my old desk and move it out of my office in anticipation of my new desk on Saturday.  Up since 5:00 a.m. and not getting to bed until 12:30 a.m.  Long day.

Those of you who saw my post on Saturday knew I was waiting for BF to get up so we could get my desk put together.  It took us FOUR HOURS!!!!!  I was so thankful for BF.  He was very patient.  He put it together while I read the 28-step directions and pulled the appropriate pieces and hardware.  The desk is great.

Unfortunately, once we got the desk together we realized the recliner I wanted would be entirely too big.  I was very disappointed.  BF suggested we look for a glider rocker for me.  We went to Babies R Us that evening and it was like I was Goldilocks sitting in this big circle of chairs, trying to find the right one.  I did not find one I liked.  But we were next making our way to Value City Furniture to order our new den furniture, so BF said just look there and see if you can find a chair, and I did!!!!  I found a recliner that is 4 inches shorter in length and width than the other recliner AND $300 cheaper!!!!

Sunday turned into discussing and organizing times with our neighbor across the street to purchase my old desk and our old den furniture.  It's great because it saves us listing the furniture on Craigslist and/or donating it, but we are going to be over our neighbor's house two nights this week to help her get everything settled.  And our new furniture arrives on Thursday.  And we leave for camping on Friday.  And this week for work my co-worker is off the entire week, so it's just me.  Lots happening. 

Sunday was also a family dinner at my grandparents' house and then I was heading over my father's to help him fix his computer, which turned into a three-hour ordeal.  And after I had just done a system restore on BF's laptop that past Thursday evening, which turned into a two-hour ordeal.  I am thinking of leaving the legal transcription field and going into computer repair!!!  LOL.

One of the highlights of the week was getting more stitching stash, although I have yet to put a stitch in anything since early last week.  In the mail I received Plum Street Samplers' Beans, Beans and Hodgepodge Cottage's Morning Brew.  I also went to The Stitching Post Sunday (they are open every first Sunday of each month from 1pm to 4pm) to pick up some fabric and the flosses for Morning Brew.   And I discovered a Blackbird Designs pattern that I had never heard of/seen before, Halloween Eve.  I LOVE this one!!! 

Well, when I looked at the color key for Morning Brew I noticed two colors were repeated.  Well, that didn't seem right.  So, when I got home I looked up the chart on ABC Stitch since that site usually has the supply list underneath that you can purchase along with the pattern.  I noticed four different floss colors listed and four floss colors not listed.  OK.  This was getting interesting now. 

So, I pulled out the color picture and compared the floss colors listed on ABC Stitch's website and the key in the pattern pack.  ABC Stitch seemed to have it listed correctly.  I am not sure what happened with the printing of the key included in the pattern.  But for those who want to stitch this one, here is a pic of the key and a list of what should be changed:

1. Queen Bee should be Sunflower
2. Grasshopper should be Avocado
3. Wild Oats should be Wavy Navy
4. The Cobbled Peach listed next to the parentheses symbol should be Cherry Tomato

I just found out my job cancelled for today, so after hitting the grocery store and finishing a load of laundry I am hoping to put a few stitches in SB's The Journey.

Happy Monday, everyone!

New Stash & A New Start!

Life has been complicated and stress-inducing as of late at my household.  I am redoing my home office and it has caused me much headache because I have to have everything just so.  I mean, I spend 10 to 12 hours, five days a week in there.  New desk, new keyboard, new mouse, new office chair, AND new stitching/reading chair!

Since my office is a spare bedroom in our home, and not very large, I have purged and organized like there is no tomorrow.  I do have a large closet in this room, so that has been immensely helpful.

The new chair was probably the easiest of everything, although today I am removing the arms from it.  I have had the chair in use all week and am finding that every time I use the arrows on my keyboard or use my mouse, my arms hit the sides of the chair.  Highly bothersome.  It's like I am boxed in by the arms.  So off they come off this morning when BF gets up and hopefully that will solve that problem.

Finding the right desk was difficult.  When I tell you I looked at every desk online at Office Depot, Staples, OfficeMax, Walmart, and Target, I am not exaggerating.  That is basically what I spent last weekend doing.  I told BF, I have to see these in person before buying one, as it was going to be a substantial purchase.

So, off to Office Depot, where I am armed with tape measure and paper and pen.  The salespeople took one look at me and walked the other way.  LOL.  I was in that section for a LONG time.  And I found one!  Nice and heavy and sturdy, black, bigger than the one in my office now and even has a file cabinet drawer on it, so I can get rid of my plastic file box that had been sitting on my office floor for two years now.  And the drawer in the middle opens up to become a keyboard/mouse tray!

The whole spark for the office renovation was us shopping for new den furniture.  We found a sofa and loveseat that all recline and will be perfect for our basement, where we watch television in the evenings and spend quite a bit of time down there.  The set also comes with a recliner.  I sat in it and I was a goner.  But to have said chair in my office I would need to get a new desk, as it would not fit in the room with my current desk, an L-shaped metal/glass combo that I have had for about 7 years.  And I have needed a new office chair for forever.  My old one was just purely awful.

Now, let me preface this by saying my current stitching chair in my office is a chair that belonged to BF's mother before she passed away in 2009, and that also belonged to her mother.  This chair is over 100 years old, people.  Creaky, not very comfortable, but served its purpose for me having a chair in my office to stitch on my Stitchmate or read in peace if I wanted to. 

So, in about a week this will be my new stitching/reading chair, and my old chair will reside in our bedroom by a window.  This chair reclines, folks, and is plushy, and has a corduroy look to it, but is completely soft and wonderful.

Now, what has caused me great pains and sleepless nights is finding the perfect keyboard.  I work on a laptop, and have found that over time reaching for the keyboard to type has caused me upper back pain.  So, I decided to get an external keyboard and mouse.

Well, for my work I type, A LOT, so finding a keyboard that I can easily type without fatigue is a must.  I swear that over the past two weeks I have bought and tried and returned more keyboards than I probably will own for the rest of my life.  Last night I was just done with it all.  Frustrated.  I am trying one more keyboard and then going back to typing on my laptop keyboard.

I finally did some research on the best keyboard for typists and discovered the IBM Model M.  Now, this keyboard has not been made for some time, but Unicomp bought the technology and they are manufacturing them again.  I remember typing on this kind of keyboard in my early 20's when I worked as a receptionist at a law firm.  Your fingers fly over the keys.  I ordered one last night.  My Hail Mary.  My last shot.

The key to this keyboard's greatness is buckling spring technology, where each key has its own mechanism.  Keyboards made now are made cheaper and are akin to pushing a marshmallow, as I heard someone describe it.

Now on to the stitchy news!  Down Sunshine Lane was having a grab bag sale where you spent $36 and received a grab bag of items worth $100.  Resistance was futile.  Here were my favorite items I received in the grab bag, which arrived in the mail yesterday.

I also purchased Little House Needleworks Little Miss Sunflower.  Just love this one.

And my new start, purchased fresh from The Stitching Post yesterday morning, Shepherd's Bush The Journey.

I have also been wanting a new tote to store and/or transport my smaller stitching projects.  I decided to visit the local Goodwill and see if I could find anything.  And I came upon this beauty, for $4!!!  Tan corduroy, Aeropostale brand, and I love it.  There were a few spots that I cleaned up on it, but it looks practically brand new.  I love thrift stores!

My final piece of news is that yesterday I received my Witchy Kitty ornament back from Deb at Artistic Needle.  She did a tremendously fantastic job!!!!   I especially love the backing fabric.  So appropriate!!!!

Have a good weekend, everyone!