Jan 28/18

The weekend was kind of quiet here as the fella' has come down with what I have diagnosed as the flu. He does not have a fever, but he has the muscle aches, headache and sick feeling. He spent the weekend camped out in bed or in the over-sized living room chair so I spent the weekend stitching and looking after the four critters. Here are two bookmarks that I stitched in between nursing him,  letting the dogs in and out and in and out and feeding the cats. I stitched the one on the right on Saturday night and the one on the left on Sunday (today). They are both adaptations of patterns for beaded bracelets, done on a scrap piece of ivory 14 count Aida and stitched with threads from the scrap bag of threads.

I am not sure just yet how I will finish them. The current idea is to cut a piece of cardboard that is slightly smaller than the stitched area, iron the corners and baste the stitched piece so that it forms around the cardboard before attaching a piece of felt to the back either with glue or sewing. I should finish them sooner rather than later as I am using a scratch pad as a bookmark in the book "The Bronze Horseman" that I am reading for my Friday night book club.

The other bit of sewing I did this weekend was the repair on the comforter that the puppy has been pulling apart. She had pulled open a seam and was pulling out the stuffing every time that she could get into the spare room. I mended a hole along the seam that was almost 2 feet long!! Good thing that the puppy is cute!!

Happy stitching!

Jan 24/18

Stitching has been happening here this week; I am just too tired to take a photo tonight of where I got to last night with my stitching. Here are some things that have been also happening around here this week. I found this cute little Valentine's card pack when I was card shopping on Monday. A close family friend is in a nursing home back in New Brunswick so I try to send her a card every month to keep in touch and to brighten up her room. These cards came with stickers and perforated shapes to glue on to the cards to customize the designs. Paper craft has never really been my thing, but I like how these turned out.

This little cute bundle of innocence belies the little turkey that had dumped out the cat water fountain and played in the water, spreading it far across the floor.

That same little turkey also renovated the comforter on the bed in the spare bedroom. She did this in the 20 minutes between the fella' leaving for work and me getting up. It looks like it snowed indoors.

Over the years, the animals have had their way with our couch and chair and I have not been able to find a couch that I find both comfortable and suitable for our house. The bones of our furniture are still perfect with no sagging of springs or deformed cushions so I am loathe to get rid of a structurally sound couch just because it looks like crap. Every time I vacuum the furniture, I have to stop and hammer the sides back on and there is a large amount of hair that is weaving itself into the fabric. After hours of looking, I finally found a slipcover that was acceptable to both me and the fella'. The cushion covers were found at IKEA this past weekend. Pictured here is my stitching corner where all the magic happens. You can see my OTT floor lamp and some of the projects and tools stashed on the book shelf beside where I sit.

Happy stitching and good night!

Jan 22/18

I just put the last stitches into this book mark! It was one of those things where I was determined to finish before I go to bed tonight which was a challenge because I did not pick it up until 10:30pm. My day was spent resting because last night I strained the muscles that I tore in my back on Boxing Day and then we had supper with friends. The pattern on pinterest was designed for some kind of bracelet, according to the link when I clicked through on the link. I loved the colours when I saw the pattern and decided that I had to do the pattern as a cross stitch. The piece is stitched on a cream 14ct Aida with threads from my scrap bag. My scrap thread bag is finally starting to look a little smaller with all of these projects that have been stitched using those threads. Is it weird that I was a little excited by how much thread this project used and that my scrap thread bag was just that much emptier? The piece is stitched 2 threads over 1 with a full cross and I guesstimate it to be 2 inches by 6 inches. 

As a volunteer, I do a shift or two per month at the opportunity shop run by the local health auxiliary. I usually go in at least half an hour early to tidy up and to put up any donations that have come in. I had a few minutes before I opened the doors the other day so I dug around in the craft supply bin and found these kilt pins. Who knows how I will end up using them, but they are kind of interesting and I am certain that I can find a way to use them.

Edited to add: TUSAL time! My apologies for being a few days late on this month's effort. My TUSAL includes thread, some perforated paper and a few other odds and ends chucked in as I worked away on my book marks and ornament this month. What's a TUSAL? Please click the link on my side board.

Time for bed. Happy stitching!

Jan 14/18

Reading is something that I have taken up again. Last summer, I started to make an effort to first read Canadian authors and then, I joined a book club formed by another military spouse so that has opened my brain up to some books that I may have never otherwise read. All of my book marks have either disappeared or were donated when I was packing to move to Nova Scotia. This pattern was found on pinterest and stitched on a 14 count Aida with threads from my scrap bag. The Aida is a yellowy beige colour that is not showing well in this photo. This book mark reflects my love for the felines who live here and my love of reading.

My eyes were getting tired as I was putting in the last stitches. Today has been a productive day even though I have been in relaxed mode all day. Two continuing education lessons were completed this morning, a letter was handwritten to be included in a parcel that should have been mailed before Christmas, two loads of laundry were done, the puppy had a play date with the puppy of a friend from the book club, I walked the Lab before supper and this book mark was stitched. Whew! Off to bed I go now.

Happy stitching!

Jan 13/18

A quick little project on this wintry night.

I started this late this afternoon and just put the last stitch into the fabric a few moments ago. I used this font again and threads from my scrap bag on a scrap piece of opalescent Lugana. I quite like how the different colours have come together in the lettering on this fabric. Now to decide how to finish these two pieces that I have stitched.

The weather was kind of crazy today with a high of 18C (in January in Canada???) so I spent my afternoon shopping at this amazing yarn shop in the Gaspereau Valley and shampooing dog barf out of the back seat of my car. The yarn shop, Gaspereau Valley Fibres, is a must-see for any one who loves yarn and colour and cool experiences. The shop is in one of the old out buildings of the family farm and is so interesting to visit. There are yarns and finished products displayed all around the main room. Looms are set up to show you how weaving is done on the looms they sell. The woman I spoke with was so keen to share her love of weaving with me and passed on so many helpful ideas on how to get started with the table top loom that I am going to borrow from my mother. If you ever happen to find yourself in Nova Scotia, a trip to Gaspereau Valley Fibres should be on your list of things to do if you have any interest in knitting, weaving, yarn or interesting country road drives. 

The temperatures have been dropping rapidly this evening so we should see the return of winter tomorrow. I think that I would rather have had the precipitation come as snow because the flooding that is going on is scary. Tomorrow will be an icy mess in this part of the country. Fortunately, it is Sunday so we can be lazy and stay home!

Happy stitching!

Jan 10/18

Hot off the needle!

This piece is stitched on a scrap of white opalescent Lugana with threads from my scrap bag and using this font. You can kind of see the shimmer of the fabric despite my lame photography skills. I have a second piece of this Lugana in blue and I am thinking about stitching the word "Peace" on it. These scraps were a beautiful find in my stash the other day. I have great difficulty in throwing away anything so it warms my heart to make something so pretty out of a scrap that is a mere 4" by 7".

My difficulty in throwing things away or to give up things like clothes that are in great shape clash with the fact that the fella' is in the military and moving is a way of life. I was ruthless with my clothing last week and finally parted ways with lovely tops that I purchased during my university years. The chances of me ever fitting into them again are slim although by the time I ever did fit into them, the tops would probably be back in style again. The two boxes of clothing were almost immediately taken to the local thrift shop so that I can not change my mind about keeping any of the clothing. I am also trying not to buy more cross stitching materials until my current stash has been further reduced (Dear Reader, stop laughing!!). Of course, the moment that I make such a decision, I come across some beautiful fabrics for a wonderful price on eBay and I have to close down the computer before I lose my resolve.

Well, I should head to bed. The fella' went to bed early, filled up with lots of medications to treat a gastro-intestinal virus. A good night's sleep should help me to ward off the germs he has brought into the house. Happy stitching!

Jan 7/18

So, what to do when a surprise snow storm hits and the temperatures have been -20C or so with the windchill? Well, curl up on the couch and stitch, of course! Our weather has been frigid since Christmas with a constant flurry of snow that is amounting to a decent amount of snow. Yesterday, a dumping of 15cm of snow fell and there was nothing in the forecast. This picture is of our way of embracing winter. The temperature last night may have been -26C with the windchill and we stood as close as we could to the firepit to gain any warmth, but we were having FUN!

I just put the last few stitches in to this cute design that I started yesterday on a scrap piece of 28 count linen. You can find the pattern here on pinterest. I used threads from my scrap bag with a little supplementation from my DMC stash of skeins. The stitching is probably 4" by 4" if I remember correctly from my measuring of the cloth when I pulled it out of the fabric stash. Heart shaped ornaments are really catching my eye these days. Not sure why the affinity for hearts, perhaps because there has been a fair bit of emotional and physical healing in this house these past few months. There is something soothing to me about hearts.

Stay warm and happy stitching!

Jan 5/18

Blogger is agreeing with me tonight so here are the photos that I tried to upload last night. The first wall hanging was done with the contents of the Janlynn kit.

The second one was stitched on a scrap of Monaco that I had in my stash. I could not find a hanger at our local craft shop but they had these painted wooden craft sticks (20 for less than 3 bucks) so I grabbed a bag of the sticks along with some bells.

The kit did not have any backing material and I felt that the hanger looked unfinished without any backing so I slip stitched the hanger to felt that I cut with my new Olfa cutter (so fun!!). The picture does not show the sparkle in the felt very well. I thought that the sparkle, although hidden unless one has flipped over the piece, gave the hanger a fun element.

Cardinals are my favourite birds and I had several pairs at my feeders and gardens when I lived in the neighbouring province of New Brunswick. They are slowly making their way to this area as I have heard that they make regular appearances in the next town over. I have yet to see one here at my feeder although I think that I may have had a female cardinal at the feeder over the weekend. Some people say that seeing a cardinal means that an angel is visiting you. I don't necessarily believe that, but the romantic in me is not quick to discount it either.

Happy stitching!

Jan 4/18

For some reason, blogger is not uploading my photos and I can not be bothered to figure out how else to get them to post so instead I will leave you with the following thoughts. A windy, rainy and generally ugly storm is hitting our area today so I have spent the day finishing two Christmas gifts that should have gone out this recent Christmas. My step counter is not showing much activity despite my feverish stitching and crafting. I checked my Weight Watchers activity list to see if hand sewing qualifies as working out in any way because my hands did not stop moving for hours. Shockingly, it does not.

Happy stitching!

Jan 1/18

First finish of 2018!!

I finished this piece while watching one of "The Hobbit" movies this afternoon. Then, we bundled up the dogs and took our puppy to see the ocean for the first time. The dogs had fun running free on the beach and taking a good sniff of the shoreline. Tillie, the puppy, started to shiver so we headed home after about 20 minutes because she had snow and ice hanging off her from running through snowbanks and sea water pools.

We had a quiet New Years Eve and New Years Day in an attempt to recover from the past few months of illness and holidays. The weather is overcast with just enough flurries that we run a shovel across the deck every so often. Several days of flurries are adding up to a decent amount of snow on the ground and making the driving a little interesting.

I hope that everyone is having a good start to 2018! Happy stitching!