A Work in Progress

Several years ago when we were getting a new laptop for one of my children, the salesman tried to sell us a wireless printer. I recall making a "mom" remark to my son along the lines of "If you can't get up to walk over to the computer to print, then you really are lazy." Well, readers, it's time to eat my words. It all started when our desktop's hard drive filled up and I got a new laptop. It was a bit of an inconvienence to take the laptop to the printer, hook up the USB cable and print, but I lived with it. Then the printer gave up the ghost. It was a gradual decline. It copied one sheet as it always did, but subsequent copies began taking 15 or more minutes to exit the printer. Still I lived with it. Until I began to do my taxes and needed to print reams of on-line statements. It was time to get the wireless printer that came free with my daughter's laptop out of the box. It's new and shiny and finally, after, oh, five or six att...

I know better. I really do. My "Keep Me" sampler was finished in July and languished in a pile of things waiting to be framed. One night in December, I decided to take a break from writing Christmas cards (which, frankly, were a bit of a chore at that point) and get my sampler ready to take to the framers. Like I needed to spend more money in December. When I took it out, I noticed a smudge on the top that would show when it was framed. I decided I could spot clean it. You know, just a little dab of water on the spot. And you also know how one thing leads to another which caused the overdyed threads to run. A lot. Panic ensued until I remembered the "cure" for this problem. Suffice it to say that "Keep Me" was soaked within an inch of its life and all of the dye came out. My framer helped me pick out a lovely green frame that I perfectly compliments the greens in the sampler and I couldn't be happier to have this hanging on the wall.

You may recall this post in which I decided my personal challenge this year would be to work on WIP for 15 days in January. I am happy to say that I successfully completed the challenge and can show you my work on Jane Longstreth.* This sampler is in the Vassar Collection, but was done by a girl who lived in Chester County, Pennsylvania. I was drawn to this sampler because of the colors in the flowers in the border, but also because I live very close to Chester County. Jane has been a WIP for (ahem) some time. The chart called for 28 count linen, but I decided to do it on 36 count. Not usually a problem, except that I didn't account for the over-one parts of the chart. The lettering is not so bad, but the stitched in those flowers are tiny ! The stems will eventuallyhave leaves on them, but the directions say to trace the leaves on the chart and fill them in with stem stitch. I'll have to re-size the leaves to fit the higher count fabric and that is what has left Jane langui...

When my nephew and his wife announced that they were expecting a baby, I, of course, decided to make a quilt for the new little one. The Schnibbles quilts seemed to be about the right size and I chose "Scratch" from Schnibbles Times Two. All it required was a charm pack or two, some background fabric and backing. I chose Barnyard Buddies for the charm pack and a very cute fabric with cows and pigs for the backing. My nephew is originally from Iowa, so the quilt was named "A Little Bit of Iowa." Aren't all those farmyard animals cute? Well, I found out that those Schnibbles patterns are a little more challenging that they look. I had never done setting triangles but soon mastered them (in my opinion). My biggest problem was with the coin rows. They were supposed to measure 30 1/2" (which miraculously the 4-patch rows did), but mine kept coming out 31 1/2 or 32". After some fiddling, I got them to measure correctly and am pretty pleased with the pieced ...

I spent Friday night working on "Snow Garden" ( not Snow House as I said in my earlier post). It's the first in Blackbird Designs Anniversaries of the Heart Series. I'm stitching all twelve of these on one large piece of fabric. This was my New Year's start and the plan is to finish one chart per month so the sampler will be done by the end of the year. That's the plan, anyway.

It's that time again! Head on over to Heidi's blog to sign up. I'll be working on Snow House from the Anniversaries of the Heart series by Blackbird Designs. We had another snow fall in the Philadelphia area last night and have a 2-hour delayed opening for school. Our second one this week. I'm getting a bit too used to these leisurely mornings, but not to shoveling the snow--better pack my lunch and get out the door! Look for a picture of my FNSI progress tomorrow.

I had grand plans of making more frequent posts this year, but then we entered the first week of January. I returned to work and my husband flew off on a four day business trip but two of my children remained at home on winter break, causing our household to enter a sort of limbo . They stayed up half the night and slept most of the day away while I maintained a more normal schedule. And what was up when my daughter announced that her friend was coming over on a Wednesday night and they commandeered the family room just as I was going to get settled in there with my stitching and the DVR? That never happened on a week night when she was in high school! Then there was my feeble attempt at imitating Michelle Kwan . We had a small snow storm the first Friday in January. Our driveway was mostly clear by the time I came home from work and walked out to get the mail. Unfortunately, I stepped on the one and only patch of ice and my foot flew out from under me. Next thing I knew I was flat on...