Memorial Day Weekend

I am not sure why we would say "Happy" Memorial Day weekend... we are supposed to be remembering those who gave their very lives to keep us free, so the mood is more grateful and somber to me. To support our troops, we are going to donate half of the sales of our new cross stitch design to Wounded Warrior Project-- there is currently a matching gift program in effect, so it will be doubled. It's our way of saying thank you to all who have served-- your sacrifices will never be forgotten. 

It looks like the entire weekend is going to be a wet and chilly wash for the entire northeast... what a shame! I will be stuck in my sewing room. I am once again at that place where I am working less and less on more and more projects-- but have not quite reached the point of doing nothing on everything, so a few things did move along this week.

I kept my promise of doing before and after pictures-- nope, too ashamed of my office yet, but I did this front garden last weekend.

I dug out all the deer food, aka tulips, and the bulbs looked nice and healthy so I'm on the fence about saving them for the fall. It is really hard to get a second year of bloom out of a tulip bulb-- but maybe since I was denied a first year of bloom, I might be rewarded next year. Then I also dug up and moved the yellow shrub to the left--- in our NJ home, one of the neighbors commented that my plants might as well come with wheels because they moved all over the yard. True statement.

Then I cleaned up up all the ivy and juniper mess and planted coleus and marigolds. Mr. SFO thinks they are too evenly spaced, and I tend to agree, but let's see what happens when they fill in. They can always be moved. Will the comical stalk grow back this year? I certainly hope so.

Then... look what got dragged across the finish line!

So I had four more sashings to do, and on Wednesday, it came up my back TODAY'S THE DAY! And I did them all, one after the other, in very little time. Now that I'm an expert at aligning them, yup, it's finished and I won't be needing that skill for a very long time, I hope!

Not only that, but you can see in the top photo two of my wild rose borders are done and a third started. This is scheduled to be shown at a smaller quilt show my guild is hosting this year. They wanted to do something-- we've already missed one big yearly show-- and it's going to be at a greenhouse in Hyannis, MA during the Hydrangea Festival in July. They were looking for flower themed quilts-- so if this isn't a flower themed quilt, what is? I won't have the rose borders on yet, but I'm just going to bind it anyway. Then, the plan is, to enter it in next year's AQS shows fully finished. Do you think I can do it? If I start working more and more on less and less, (this project has a lattice between the center and the borders and will be quite finicky) until I am spending all my time doing everything on nothing with this piece, it might just happen.

I got this table runner bound-- it is Kit 12 from the Frivols tins series-- that sounds like I finished the dozen doesn't it? But no, I've been know to eat dessert first and am no respecter of numerical order. 7, 3, 9, and 2 are still left with maybe a couple others.

I noticed now that I have the longarm, the biggest pile has moved from those needing quilting, to those needing binding. I don't mind binding, except for the dreaded moment when it is mostly sewn on and you have two ends to attach-- are you with me, there?

This week I digitized a beautiful cross stitch alphabet--

This is a set I really want for myself-- for gifts, and also I want to add a saying in a border around my cross stitch cottages.

I want it to say, "Whatever things are true, what ever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, think about these things." I think it matches the sentiments perfectly. 

I also want to come up with four seasonal colorways, and some gift ideas, so I'm not sure when this would be released-- there are 26 letters in two sizes and ten formats-- a TON of files to sling around.

This weekend, I'm sitting down to make a list of June designs and at the top of the list is the Stitches of the Sea finishing kit-- yes, it's time, and Set Five of Carefree Highways-- we're almost halfway through the states! We're also going to start a Summer Twist free stitch-a-long, to match our Autumn and Spring Twist pieces-- did you finish those?

I now conclude with a photo of my little drawing desk which is more clear now than it has been in quite a few months! I'm gradually trying to up my game in the organization department. This isn't a before and it's not an after-- it's in between.

I have had this desk since I was a teenager, and many happy hours have been spent there. I'm looking forward to more this weekend.

Happy(?) Memorial Day to you!

xox

Carol

POOF!

Two weeks are gone-- so much has happened and at the same time so little! Know the feeling?

If you guessed I am busy working on uploading sets to the new website, you'd be right for most of that time. My organization system is at best, disorganized... yes, my actual sets are all in one place, but they now have to be matched up with their photography and text. I have gotten to be a real Sherlock with finding lost things on the computer-- but that is only half the battle...

...the other half is a frequent problem of mine lately--NOSTALGIA-- and in those folders are pictures of yesteryear that immediately send me into a state of bittersweet. You see the problem... cats and kids alike loved to interrupt my product photo shoots and they still haunt my file structure. From 2006... 

Not much sewing happened last week which was why I had nothing to post... I have a bunch of projects that are 95%-- that last 5% of a project is 200% of the effort for me! I'm calling the pieces "residual sewing" and I have a list. I like making lists, I just don't like following them; nonetheless, it is gratifying to find the list in weeks forward and see that a couple of things got done.  This week, out of mental health concerns, I allowed myself some stitchin' time.

I have been getting up at 6:30am and starting right in to organizing ten years of mystery stitch projects, so morning hand stitching is pretty much out the window.  This may be an avoidance tactic for me-- I really have to force myself the work on the linen project now-- the counting is totally insane on these fancy stitches. At first, I thought lighting was the problem, but now I realize that even stitching outside at high noon on a clear day on the spring solstice at the equator would be of no help. I'm torn between putting this away again and soldiering on. We'll see what happens! 

This week, I did catch up my Corey Yoder Christmas BOM... only to find out that May's shipment will be late. I don't understand this-- I would have thought all that fabric was already in stock? There's enough extra from months 1-9 that I'm sure I could get it done if I applied myself.  

Block Eight...

Block Nine...

You can see there is a note pinned on the quilt...

And if I could write one back to "my past self," I'd sure like her to know I AM DOING JUST FINE, THANK YOU, and no, I think I will leave that patch the way it is. The nerve!

This was a finish this week-- from the January Sew Sampler box I made a table runner and two pillows. (Note that in this case only, I refer to a finish that is 100% finished, and not 99.9% of the way there.) There's still enough fabric left for one more pillow-- I hope with all my powers of being I don't succumb to that urge. Those pillows are wicked hard as can be-- next time I will lie down and put my head on them in the store... so for looks only, I'm afraid... two softer pillow forms are not in the budget.

This is my grandmother's tray... so perfect!

No progress on the pears, and no May table runner! I'm learning to be kinder to myself... what a month it was. I had a peculiar dream that my friend on Pear Street moved (the set is a gift for her) and I can only hope that is prophetic, because these items are going to have a serious problem when I try to wrap and remove them from the office on Pond Street.

Now that the website is totally redone, it inspired me to work on other areas of my life-- my sewing room for one! I always say I'm going to take before and after pictures-- but the "before" right now is beyond shameful! I sorted through my precuts, and this time was able to part with quite a few. There is a group on Facebook called Sew Sampler Swap-- mostly it is to sell and trade your unwanted Sew Sampler box items, but they do have one post each month that is for any fabric. Everything I had got snapped right up, and after shipping, I calculated I'm getting back 75 cents on the dollar. While I'm in that page, the struggle to not pick a few things up is REAL! 

(This is a picture of the AFTER-- in case you wondered.)

One of the joys of sorting-- look what I found! Twenty-four extra log cabin blocks from a QOV my friends and I made a couple of years ago-- someone BADLY miscalculated how many we would need--NOT ME! heehee! 

There are a couple of July birthdays in my family, so I'm hoping to whip up a little throw (could that count as the May tablerunner of the month?). My son recently got chickens-- he's very patriotic, born on the 5th of July, and I'm dreaming of a red, white, and blue chicken quilt that says THESE COLORS DON'T RUN. It seems quite humorous to me, but some people don't get it? Maybe the chickens are more courageous in other parts of the country, so it doesn't seem funny to them. That quilt is a long way off by any stretch, I'm afraid!

In just looking at the square footage of "design floor" used in this establishment, it appears I may have badly underestimated the home office deduction for taxes!

Great news-- "WE" are almost done with the new website! It is my pleasure to say "WE"-- because after I gather photos, text, and zip files, my "Georgia Peach" as I now refer to her, is uploading, tagging, and documenting. Did you ever find a person who is willing to take on YOUR problem and put a shoulder to the wheel? I didn't-- SHE found ME! These are the instances in life that prove to me there is a loving God above... I am beyond grateful. You don't know how close I was to calling it a day and finding employment at Joanne fabric. Now, thanks to the fabulous "R," we are looking at a new summer stitch-a-long, a Stitches of the Sea finishing kit, more cross stitch, more birds, and some new ideas with the artist-in-residence, too. HURRAY! A debt that will never be able to be repaid.

Finally, here's a sneak peek of coming attractions for those of you hang on every word and who read to the end...  like aliens, unicorns, and rainbows with pots of gold, I believe in you.

xox

Carol

Happy Mother's Day!

 Happy Mother's Day! 

I say that, knowing it can be a tough one... for the first ten years of my marriage, I adamantly did not want children. People assumed we were infertile-- I mean, who could NOT want children, so many inappropriate remarks came my way, back in the day. I pretty much hated Mother's Day!

Now, of course, I love it... I changed my mind and ended up with a bouncing baby boy and then a girl, and best of all, they are now out of the house! So it proves that time can turn things around... but that being said, there are people with strained family relationships, families with no mother,  people who want kids and can't have them and on and on. So just wishing you the best, on this day-- enjoy it, wherever life finds you.

The bouncing baby girl sent me these:

Wouldn't they make a beautiful embroidery?

... and the boy is going to come over tomorrow and help start up our lawn sprinklers, and so, I am satisfied. 

I gave birth with the help of my "angel" to the new website this week... so I have nothing to show in terms of sewing! The launch went well, and I can't tell you how much it means to me to see all the old names pop back up in the new back of store. There is this fantastic globe in the app that shows where my customers are all across the planet... is one of those dots down there you? 

WELCOME!

About half the sets are loaded, and I am now confident we can move everything in time! I feel like I have been sitting in front of a computer screen for days... (I actually have been, heehee) I did go out today and celebrate a bit in my garden. I'm sure you can tell I love flowers from the website!

I'm glad I got these pictures of my tulips last weekend... Mr. Peter Rabbit got them during the week! Some were pulled right out of the ground with the bulb attached... Mr. SFO sweetly tried to keep me from seeing it, but I mean, it was kind of funny. So it more likely was Mr. Deer... I can just see him biting, pulling, and tossing them to the ground!

I tried a product called "Deer Scram"... it's supposed to be coyote urine, and I don't like using it because it smells enough to chase away all the people, too. So obviously it doesn't work, either! Next fall, I will be dumb enough to plant more anyway. I love tulips.

The daffodils must be the brussels sprouts of the animal world-- they always remain untouched.

Tomorrow, I am really hoping to get at least half a day in my sewing room-- I miss it so much. 

Happy Mother's Day again-- hoping you can find some YOU time on this day.

xoxo

Carol