Finished the Wave

Good morning!  I want to start today welcoming my new followers and thank you for the nice comments I received on my last post.   I am always surprised that people want to read what I write and take the time to comment.  I don't always comment on blogs but I do enjoy reading the stitching blogs.  There is so much talent in this world and your projects always give me something new I want to do.  

 Glad you liked my projects a couple of weeks ago because today is almost a repeat of projects with progress. First, I want to show you my Wave project.  This was a pilot project for Diane Herrmann.  This project is impressive in person.  The colors and the design are wonderful.  It was a very relaxing piece to stitch.  I was cursing eyelets and beads by the end because I could see the finish line but my progress was going slow.  I am really happy with the star fish.  I am not sure I have ever actually done a bullion knot.  I did do a few practice knots to get the hang of this.  They did end up hurting my fingers but that is most likely my fault for wrapping too tight around the needle.  I am not sure how I am going to have this finished.  There is a bedroom in the Bonita Springs condo that has a blue coverlet so this would be perfect in that room.

 Our guild had our second Libby Sturdy class last weekend.  I really did not get that much accomplished on this piece for the amount of time I spent with Windy City Santa.  I don't expect to get much done in classes but I spent most of yesterday on this project as well.  In class, I managed to get in the Ferris wheel.  This is a Jessica stitch with a couple of spokes and a few French knots.  This went along swimmingly in class and then I am picking out encroaching Gobelin later in the day.  Who knows what will work for you on a given day and what won't.  Since my last post, I did finish all the buildings on the right hand side of his jacket, the yellow in the skyline, a bit of blue in his coat, and I worked a bit on the ground/snow.

Finally, so I can add a little variety, I will show you my silk gauze Flamingo.  I really did not do all that much but I got a few more threads into the background.  This is an Erica Michael's design that was sold at EGA National Seminar in Naples, FL last year.

Maybe I will be able to get another post in this week because I might have more to show.  DH is hanging out with my parents in Florida the week.    My father's mental health is not that great so DH is hoping to give my mother a break.  DH is so much more nurturing than me.  He cooks, cleans, golfs, climbs ladders, fixes thing, and in general will have more patience with dad.   Plus, someone besides their children can sometimes tell them better to get him signed up in day care or hire some help.

Another bonus with him traveling is that he usually gets job offers while he is away. He is close to getting a full-time job or a consulting job with four different companies.  If this trip does not get him a job, we will be in Belize in a couple of weeks.  Dealing with interviews and head hunters while out of the country is always interesting but if he gets a job, it is worth it!

That is about all that is going here.  A week alone means quick dinners, a few household tasks, and evenings of stitching which sounds wonderful.  Now watch everyone come around and want to do stuff since I am alone which is very kind but it will cut into my stitching plans.

Slow but steady progress

Happy Monday!  I have been doing some stitching but it seems I can work a few hours but I am not making great progress in any one sitting.  Windy City Santa is ready for our second class with Libby Sturdy next Saturday.  All my homework is done plus I finished the water, added the boats, added the grass, and finished a few more buildings.  I am happy with what I have done.  This piece was chosen as my 2012 challenge piece to finish by next January.  

I have also been spending some time with the wave piece.  I am almost done with row 21 of 26 row in the total project.  Then I will need to add eyelets and the starfish near the white thread (where the water meets the sand.)  I am working on this piece because it has one set of my 12 inch stretcher bars.  I need a frame that is 12x12 for a class I am taking on February 18th and 19th and I really do not want to buy bars if I can help it.  I will have to take Frog Stew off for the other set of bars but this is the economical thing to do.  If DH gets a job this week, then I may be over this economizing thing and buying one more 12 inch set. 

I have also been busy reading library books.  I finished 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.  This book was around 950 pages so it was like reading 3 books and it took a while.  It was pretty good but  not sure I would say you have to go out and get this book unless you are a fan of the author.  This is the first book of his that I have read.   Now I am reading The Tigers Wife by Tea Obreht.  I am about half way through this book.  Again this one is OK but I am not telling anyone to rush out and buy this either. 

On a less refined note and probably where my mind needs to be right now.  Loved catching up on the Bachelor and 24 Hour Catwalk yesterday.  Recently, I watched half of the this seasons Dexter and this is another great season.  Finally, I finished season one of Boardwalk Empire.  Loved it!! 

We did have a big weekend and the Happy Monday comment is more to psyche myself into believing it.  On Friday, about 15 of us went out for Tapas.  It was a good time but we got home late.  On Saturday night we had friends over that we met on our trip to the Turks in December.  They came in with a ton of wine and we killed it all.  DH made a wonderful meal of shrimp and scallops with a chipotle butter sauce for starters, the main meal was a cassoulet and an asparagus dish with poached egg and pancetta.  For desert, he made a tort.  This turned into another late night so by last night I could not get relaxed even though I should have been exhausted.  Oh well, the work week is to straighten out the bad habits from the weekend:)

Hope everyone has a great week with lots of stitching time.  Cheers!

Beautie!!

 Today is a day to celebrate the finish of Beautie Spot.  Excuse the wrinkles and the poor photos.  Beautie has been traveling and has to go to Guild on Saturday so I can show everyone that I finished my challenge piece.  The second picture is so you can see the spangles.  I am supper happy that this three, maybe four year, WIP is done.  I am not sure what I am going to do with this.  People suggested a fire screen and that is a good idea.  I do have a fire place but I am going to think on this for a while.  If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. 

I have also been making progress on Windy City Santa. I am working on the homework for the class in February. I finished his mittens, I worked on the background, I did the green down the center of the coat and I worked on the buildings. I was a little intimidated by the building but once you get going they are not that big of deal. Part of the homework was to finish the building to the far right so we can put the Farris wheel in. I think I will continue to work on this for a bit since I am happy with my progress. Maybe I will make this next year’s Guild Challenge piece. This one has been in my WIP pile for several years.

The big news yesterday was DH quit his job. We found out Saturday night that the company he was working for was shopping his job. He was not happy at this company and was looking for another job so this was the final straw. They mutually agreed that it would be best if he just left the company. It will all work out for the best. He worked his contacts yesterday and he has a third interview for a global roll with an investment bank. He has an interview today with another investment bank and he started his consulting company back up. He is going to help a friend market a product he developed. I would say that was pretty good progress for one day out of a job.

Have you seen the latest issue of Bon Appetit? They have veggie tart on the front cover this month. It was a ton of work to make but it is delicious. I am looking forward to left overs for lunch. With my chef unemployed, there will be lots of good eating at our house. He was taking requests from the neighbors last night.

That is all around here. Hope everyone is getting into the swing of the New Year and has tons of time to stitch.

Libby Sturdy Class

 Hi!  This was a big stitching week for me.  I did not have much going on most of the week and worked on my stitching in the evenings.  Saturday was a class on Windy City Santa with Libby Sturdy.  I had a lot of what she was teaching done but it was a good class.  It help build my confidence and I will get this piece done.  It may take a while but I am not as intimidated by this piece as I once was.

 Early in the week I worked on Frog Stew.  I finished couching the moon and the cauldron.  I added the logs and flames below the cauldron.  (One of my logs looks like a boy's private parts.  I really need to change that!!)   Finally, I worked on some of the blue sky.  That stitch covers a large area of this piece so I thought I could start working on some of the completed areas and not leave this all for the end.

Finally, I did spend a bit of time with Beautie Spot.  I am working on the Dodo bird.  I made a mistake somewhere and I am having to stitch my way through this mistake.  It has turned me off this piece and right now it is a chore to work on. Once this bird is done, I only have one more big motif.  This is my Guild Challenge piece so this needs to be done by January.  

I am not sure how much progress I will continue to get done between now and the New Year.  I have two trips to Florida planned and one to the Turks.  I am busy buying books and I have to pull together a travel project.  Speaking of books, I read Skeletons at the Feast last week and really enjoyed the book.  It is about WWII so not a real uplifting book but very well written.  It was my first upload for the Kindle from the public library.  It worked well and I uploaded a new book to read this week.  I am debating if I want to join Amazon Prime for there new offer of a free book a month.  I am not sure I need their other services available with Prime so I am just not sure if it is worth it for me.  

Well that is about all going on around here.  Tonight is the Bears game.  I know we are having a friend over so I may not get to stitch.  Boo.  Then again, he is a good friend and I may just let the boys drink, watch football and I will stitch.  Have a great week.   

Be Merry and Be Happy

Hi,  I am happy to report that the last couple of weeks have been pretty big stitching weeks for me.  I worked on my French Knot Pig.  Since the last time I showed this project, I finished the sky, all the flowers at the pig's feet and some more of the green, grass.  I love doing the FK projects!! 

 Windy City Santa has been around for several years.  I know I am going to look like a kiss ass, but this is going to be a class I am taking with Libby Sturdy at the beginning of November.   For some reason the top part of his lapel was confusing me.  I wanted to get this in before the class because I knew I could do it if I would think about it a bit.  Since the project was out, I finished the bronze stitching along the bottom because it was about half done.  Then I did the shoes because that was mainly basket weave and up right crosses.  I started the mittens but I think I will put this away until the class.  I will be well behaved in class and work on the beard if I am ahead of the others.  The beard is not done because I am not sure if I am doing it right.  In Libby's picture you can see the gray outline.  If I use all that thick wool, then the outline will not show so I am at a loss.

 I got a couple pieces back from the finisher.  Be Happy was finished into a scissors fob and Be Merry is a little stand up.  Both turned out so cute.  

Last weekend was the Windy City EGA Chapter's 30th Anniversary party. We had a very nice lunch and several former members were able to join us. We even got a couple of the ladies to come back to the Guild after a few years. Most were still stitching or working at their other art forms.

My weekend should be fairly quiet. I have our regular Guild meeting tomorrow and Sunday is the Chicago Marathon. I live at the half way mark so it is easy to get out and cheer the people on. I have no desire to run a marathon but I have a few friends running. After most runners are through mile 13, Bloody's and Mimosa's will be served. It is supposed to be a beautiful weekend!!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend. It may be our last really good one until Spring!

Slow stitching start to February

I have not accomplished much this week so I did not get in a big hurry to post anything. My EGA Guild had a stitch in at the Oak Park library on Saturday. I had a great time stitching with everyone but my progress seems minimal. I worked on my Libby Sturdy - Chicago Santa. I put in the bronze color at the bottom of his jacket. I guess any little bit helps. DH was trying to be helpful last night and pointed out that I still had a knot in this project. I had to explain that it was ok for now and everyone on a stitching blog would understand!

A couple of blogs suggested trying to stitch 15 minutes a day or put in two needle full of thread in a day. Both are excellent ideas but I have not put a stitch in the first four days of February so I am pretty sure this is not working for me. Tonight should be more relaxing so I am planning on stitching. We are all thrown off is DH is working in an office and not at home. Dinner every night is a big production of deciding if we are going to cook, eat out or have food delivered.

I worked on my Bee project by Teresa Layman on Sunday. I woke up early and this was the project I was able to grab without making much noise in the bedroom. Plus, I do not need all the proper lighting or stand to work on this project. I made some progress on the background. Later in the afternoon I had to go to one of my nephews 7 year old birthday party so that stopped my day of stitching.

Next weekend will not be that productive either. We are having a game night on Saturday with people from Kendall College cooking school. We are not game people so we are going to have to buy some games. Hopefully, this will become more about food and booze rather than games. Since everyone is a trained chef, the food should be good and creative. Sunday is the Super Bowl. I could care less about this game but friends are coming over to watch the game. At least the Super Bowl food is good!! Usually high calorie appetisers but those are some of my favorites.

That's all for now. Hope you have plenty of time to stitch this weekend. KMM