Leaving for a few days

It's been a couple of days since I posted and, sad to say, a couple of days since I've stitched. We leave tomorrow morning for Virginia to visit my family. Normally we fly, but because mom wants to send some things back with us, we are driving.

I think just about everything is done and I do plan to take stitching with me. So I promise progress shots when I get home. (Super Bowl Sunday...Go Steelers :-)!)

In the meanwhile, I do have a great suggestion for any of you Bram Stoker fans (Dracula, Vampire legends, etc.) This book:

Is a FABULOUS read. Spooky...progressively more so with each chapter, but not loaded with graphic violence. And a very, very interesting premise. Unlike any version of 'Dracula' you've ever seen.

I know I've been tagged by Isabelle and I will try to get back before I leave to have a little fun with that. Thank you, Isabelle...for your lovely note and all of you for reading.

I wish everyone smoothe sailing and happy stitches.

Blessings,

Julie

A stitchy kind of day...

As I write this, we're getting a dusting of snow and it's a beautiful night in the north country. It's been an amazingly mild January here in Minneapolis. I am NOT complaining. I do hope we have good weather this coming weekend and the following weekend, as we're driving out to see my family in the DC/Northern Virginia area.

I spent a part of today stitching on John Clayton's Neuschwanstein Castle. Here it is with just over 4000 stitches completed. I'm coming up on the halfway point of this one. I love working this chart. His designs are so easy to follow and his use of color is wonderful.

This is how it will look when it's finished:

Isn't it lovely? I normally work patterns which include a variety of stitches, but sometimes it's very restful just to focus on the criss-cross row. :-) The only thing I will do differently the next time I work one like this will be to do it on the recommended 28 ct. I'm doing this one on 32 count and sometimes it gets really, really tight.

I also worked a bit on 'House on a Hill today. Here's a progress pic...without much progress. :-)

I am working the grassy hill beneath the house. The stitch used is called the Rumanian stitch. It's basically a satin stitch over 8 threads with a tie down over one thread. I find myself challenged because I am an inveterate stab stitcher...I almost always use a q-snap or a scroll frame. Well...these pieces are too small to use either comfortably. So I'm stitching in hand. And this particular stitch is much easier to execute using the sewing method. Wo...talk about having to concentrate. The end of the story? No frogging out, but I got a headache after one and a half passes on the hill and will wait until tomorrow to finish. Still, I really love the look of the stitch and can't wait to see it finished.

Kimberly, thank you for your comments. I really enjoy getting them. I do appreciate your advice on Twister and had actually already decided to change the colors. I'm not fond of her mix for my home. I'm guessing this is a really complex pattern to compensate, so it will be good practice. I would like to do this and Genny Morrow's Kaliedoscope (sic?) and hang them side by side.

Tomorrow night is Guild night. :-) I'll have dinner with a friend, then we're off to stitch-in...and I'll write an entry after I get home. It should be an interesting workshop.

In the meanwhile, be safe and thanks for reading,

Blessings,

Julie

I wanna play in my stash

Good Saturday morning!
I am off to work shortly, but wanted to wish all of you who are having 'stitchy days' smoothe sailing without any frog attacks! (I hate those, don't you???)
Although I enjoy what I do, it would be so nice to be able to kick back and spend the day with needle in hand (between bunny trails, of course!) and going through my stash.
I am STILL trying to get my stitching room organized. In September, I bought a complete set of DMC racks from a local LNS that closed (VERY, VERY SAD thing...since it was my favorite store). At any rate, I had to pull all of my somewhat organized stash out of the closet to install the racks. Then...I got sick...and work on my room came to a screeching halt. Yuck!

So...I'm still working on it. The DMC racks are in and filled...well, mostly filled, but I still have this pile of other stuff (most books) that needs to go from the floor of my room back into my closet (walk in type). And I do have a teensy (at least in my wonderland it's teensy) problem with room. But I will get it put back together. And then...I will post a picture. I'm not certain I'm brave enough to do a before picture.

My tour through my stash is what decided me to stitch only from stash this year (with the exception of classes or limited editions). I am organzied (for the most part), I have thousands (literally) of projects I love and want to do and if I keep buying new things, I will NEVER get to them.

How do I organize? Well, my charts fill a three drawer file cabinet and I am running out of room. My kits and kitted projects fill about 8 32-qt Sterilite bins, which I keep in the closet. I have master sets of Weeks and GAST fibers on rings with extras in each color in a zippered bag. Most of my other fibers, I keep in sets of small drawers on my shelves above the computer.

I have separate bins for yard, fabric, sewing and knitting patterns. I also have 2 sets of drawers to hold my framing equipment and all of my cross stitch fabrics.

I have a library of stitching-related books in a floor to ceiling bookcase, counters installed for a desk/work surface, a small couch, my beloved Dazor...and a partridge in a pear tree (just kidding on that last, lol) I have also found that baskets are my friends.

Can I stay home and play? No? :-( Oh well, then...it's off to work I go. Have a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Julie

My accomplishment for the day...

I now have a house for "House on a Hill". I know it doesn't look like much, but it sure took some time. Here it is:



It's going to be a busy weekend between work and social activities we have planned. (Dinner with friends tomorrow night and more 'Serenity' with friends on Sunday night (See previous post). Both will be wonderful evenings, but neither will allow for much stitching. Oh well...a BALANCED life is the important thing, right? It's just that I have more than enough stash to keep me in stitches for the next 300 years. LOL

The other fun thing I did was to finish adding photos of my finished pieces to my webshots page, so if anyone is interested, that's everything I have here at the house.

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend...with many, many stitches and a lot of laughter lighting the way.

Blessings,
Julie

Yawn...stretch...what do you mean it's mid-afternoon?

I'm sure...after yesterday's post...you've all been awaiting the answer to: did she get any stitching done? Um...no. :-(

Today, it's 2:24 in the afternoon. It is a day off and I should have more than made up for what I didn't get done yesterday, right? Um...no :-(

It has to with mid-life. Actually, as mid-life goes, things are good and I love the fact I still wake up in the morning looking forward to what the day might bring. (Thousands and thousands of bunny trails, probably :-)).

But the one of the more challenging things my late forties has gifted me with...and I use the term 'gift' with a good deal of sarcasm...is the inability to sleep. I finally gave in a took a Unisom at 4 this morning. I got up at 11. I WOKE up about 20 minutes ago.

Now...I'm gonna go stitch. (I know, I know...you've heard that before, but this time I AM!!!!)More later, including some pics. ( I did add some previous finishes to my online album already today.)

Blessings to all,
Julie

So much to do, so little time...

Why is it whenever I think I'm going to get some good stitching time...it fizzles? I can tell you why...I like hopping down bunny trails too well. :-) For example: This morning, intending make a major dent in 'Neuschwantstein Castle', I decided I needed something to drink. So...into the kitchen to make a pot of tea. After loading a few dishes into the dishwasher, wiping down the counter and pulling something out for dinner, I go back to my stitching room, with aforementioned pot of tea in hand.

Whilst pouring said tea, I spill a couple of drops on my work surface. Can't have that with linen and colored string about. Ergo...another trip to the kitchen, this time for disinfectant wipes to clean up tea. End up cleaning my whole desk (which...given the killer dust bunnies behind my computer was a pretty darn good idea.) Go through a couple of piles of paper before deciding I really want to stitch!

Return wipes to kitchen, stop off at bathroom on my way back to waiting needlework. The bathroom in our house is synonomous with 'reading room'. Pick up 'Body and Soul' magazine. Read article. Remember this is my free issue and if I want to continue to receive this fine magazine I need to pay Martha Stewart. Come back in stitching room, sign in, pay invoice on line. Read a couple of e-mails, then....

remember I haven't downloaded the pictures in my camera, blogged in over 24 hours or defragged the system in recent history.....

Sigh...you get the picture. (While reading this entry today please hum along with me...'here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail....)

So, I have one stitching picture to share. A little bit of forward progress on my Merry Cox. That was accomplished at stitching group last night. Even there, I managed to do more talking than stitching. Sigh....

Sorry for the crooked scan. :-(

One of the things I did get accomplished was setting up my albums on my Webshots site. So, if anyone would like proof that I do, indeed, finish things sometimes, this is the addy: http://community.webshots.com/user/juliejc1958100. These are just the pieces I have up at home and I have a few more waiting to be loaded. One day I will try to get pictures of pieces I've done as gifts. It is kind of fun to see some forward progress.

Well...one more bunny trail comes to an end. :-) Now, before I head for work...I'M GONNA GO STITCH!

Blessings to all,

Julie

Nitey-night

It's well past midnight as I write this, and I need to be heading for bed. It was an unproductive day, stitching-wise, but a good day in other ways. After work, DH and I went to friend's for dinner and TV/Movie night. They are introducing us to the show 'Firefly'...the series on which the movie 'Serenity' was based. After we finish watching the episodes (there are 15 of them) we will watch the movie. I love the series and am sorry it was so short-lived! I made crockpot ribs and potatoes...so it made sense to have a 'couch potato' night.

Dan (DH) suggested I bring some stitching with me, but I am the kind of person who either wants to watch a show or stitch. I guess I focus pretty intensely. As a rule, I don't enjoy TV and when I stitch, I stitch to music, books on CD or even to silence. I am comfortable with quiet. :-)

As promised, I am sharing a photo of class pattern for the Merry Cox piece I'm stitching. I am so looking forward to taking a class from her again. If you ever get the chance, she is a fabulous teacher. This particular series of classes is offered by The Criss Cross Row (www.crisscrissrow.com). This is the second set of classes Merry has taught for Marsha and the third time I've been priviledged to attend a class offered by the Criss Cross Row. I can give enthusiastic reviews! Everything is done to the highest standard.

Isn't this project FABULOUS!?! The shaker carrier is part of the class and we will leave with a finished or almost finished project! I am also taking another class during the weekend. More later on that.

Isabelle...you are a dear. Thanks so much for your comments and your instructions for creating side bars. I will give them a try when my mind isn't befuddle with sleep. If you have trouble finding Alum...e-mail me and I will send you some. A small container goes a LONG way!

Well, I'm off to bed now. I hope all of you had a wonderful day!

Blessings,
Julie

Morning sometimes hurts!

Read that...I was up wwwaayyyy too late last night. Not stitching, but catching up on all the wonderful blogs out there.
I did get about 2 hours of stitching in last night. I worked on the Merry Cox piece and now I have...a woman! :-)

At least it looks like something now. :-) I will post a picture of the pattern this evening. I wish I knew how to get those cool sidebar pics of works in progress, but one day.

Isabelle...thank you so much for your nice comments. It was so fun to open this up and read them this morning. To coffee (or tea) dye fabric, put about 4 cups of cooled coffee (or tea) in a large bowl and add a scant 1/8 teaspoon Alum. Stir to combine. Dunk your fabric, swishing it around to thoroughtly saturate it. You can go anywhere from 1-5 minutes, the longer you keep it in the coffee bath, the darker it will get. Once it's the color you want, rinse in a cold water bath, then blot fabic with a towel or paper towels (don't wring). Hang fabric to dry, iron and stitch.

You can get kind of cool patterns by twisting and rubber banding sections, then placing in coffee bath. This produces light and dark areas. That's an area for experimentation:-)

Tonight is our Firefly/Serenity night with friends, so I just put some ribs in the crock pot and am off to work for the next few hours.

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

Blessings,

Julie

New Year's Resolution-Part One.

One of my Christmas wishes was to become a 'blogger'. As you can see from my first entry, I had a brief flirtation with the idea, but it didn't last. But my needlework...the doing, the teaching, the fondling stash...is an enormous and gratifying part of my life...so 'Joybells Jottings' is coming back to life.

For the first quarter of 2006, my goals are:
1. Finish John Clayton's 'Neuschwanstein Castle'. Here it is at about 23 days:

2. Finish the pre-work for Merry Cox in March: I'm taking two classes, House on a Hill Beckons to Thee and the Williamsburg Sewing case. This past weekend, I coffee dyed fabric and cut it. Then...sigh of happiness...I started House on a Hill. Here it is after an hour or so of work:

Impressive, no? LOL

3. I've joined the Mirabilia/L&L SAL. (Thank you, Carol.) My first project will be to finish the L &L 'In the Arms of an Angel'. Here she is at about one year.

Next up: I need to give her a face, then lots and lots of gold braid.

4. Finish Muggsy's treat bag (Muggsy is a VERY cute Boxer friend of mine.) I don't have a picture just yet, but next time I work on it, I'll do a photo or a scan.

5. Finish my Indigo Rose 'Babes in the Woods' Handbag. This one I just got started on, but I will take a pick when I get a little further along.

6. Start and finish Kreinik's 'Boxer' silk gauze kit. This will be the topper for a box for...guess who? That's right, Muggsy's dad.

I love reading other needleworker's blogs and I just hope I can slowly figure out how people do all those fun graphics. I know just enough about my computer to be dangerous. LOL

Well, that's the plunge for today.

Blessings to all,

Julie (Joy is my middle name and Joybells, my dad's nickname for me...so hence, Joybells Jottings. :-))