To my Canadian Friends and Bloggers

Summer of Love floss arrives and waiting for a delivery

On Monday my clothes washer decided it didn't want to spin any longer, have you ever noticed these things never happen after the wash cycle completes?  So after pulling out all those soaked clothes I called a repairman, he gave me the bad news that it could be repaired however the cost for the part alone was more than I paid for the washer and it was repaired for the same problem about two years ago and at that time I was told if it happened again I would probably need a new washing machine.

So after paying for the service fees, I did a little browsing on Lowes website and found the washer I wanted and off I went shopping for a new washer.  The model I wanted was in stock, on sale and more than $100.00 less than the part to repair the old washer.  To make me smile even more not only is the delivery free it will be delivered today.  My only disappointment and to me a silly rule is you have to purchase new fill hoses otherwise the person delivering can't set it up.  So I have the new hoses the exact same ones I bought 6 years ago for the old washer, again because I wouldn't have the washer set up if I wanted to use the old hoses.  One more good thing, the old washer will be removed for me so I don't have to concern myself with that drudgery.  

I am looking forward to doing the laundry not because of the new washer, I'm now 4 days behind in my laundry and it piles up quickly.

Yesterday afternoon I had to clear part of the garage in case they want to enter through the garage to my laundry room, I had planned to do some heavy cleaning and clearing in there last month but I was fighting that darn bug and didn't have the energy, so yesterday besides clearing the walkway to the laundry room I did some clearing off of the shelves, I managed to donate 4 boxes of books, a box of glassware, a bunch of miscellaneous items that I haven't touched since I moved here in July of 2011. I have a few more shelves to go through I'm sure there will be more things to donate when all is done. Most of the stuff in the garage are shipping boxes in various sizes for the Ebay and Amazon business as well as garden tools, some of my sons keepsakes and holiday decorations.  It will be nice to have a few empty shelves for a while.

Late last week the embroidery floss for the Summer of Love Stitch at Home challenge arrived in the mail, I chose A Whiter Shade of Pale colors. 

 I think a part of me chose the colors because I like the song though I like neutral colors and thought they would work well in any design I choose to make.  I want to tweak my design a little bit then I should begin the stitching this weekend.   I'll include the link again for the challenge just in case it sounds like something you would be interested it.

http://www.sfneedleworkanddesign.org/rules-and-entry-form/

Washer Update:  The delivery guy used my old hoses so I can return the new hoses for a refund, he said they are the same stainless steel lifetime hoses that I just bought, I knew this but hey it's nice he used the old hoses that still look brand new.

Hopefully I won't need to call the Maytag repairman for my new machine for at least 10 years or so.  

May Ramblings

I spent Mother's Day yesterday with my son who was sweet enough to take me to two of my favorite places, The Kanapaha Botanical Gardens in Gainesville and The Waldo Flea Market which is about a 30 minutes apart.

I love strolling through the Botanical Gardens when the flowers are in bloom though May in Florida can be hard on flowers as well as the drought we have experienced over the years. Still the scent of Jasmine was almost intoxicating, some roses were in full blooming glory and the bamboo trees took my breath away.

some potted plants

more in pots

lizard posing for a photo

roses in the herb garden

Buddha among the Bamboo

Bug sculpture

The day was perfectly balanced with sun and clouds, a nice warm breeze and the wonderful company of my son.  The day before we had much needed rain for most of the day and it was nice to wake up to sunshine and my own garden thriving though it was too early for the blooms to be open.

I finished the hand embroidery on the Goddess of Willendorf piece she is just off the hoop though so she will need to be pressed before I finish her and while looking at the photo I may add another flower between the two flowers above her head.

hand embroidered Willendorf

If you aren't familiar with the Goddess of Willendorf she is inspired by: The 'Venus of Willendorf' is the name that was given to a female figurine that was found in 1908 by an archeologist named Joseph Szombathy in a Aurignacian loess deposit near the town of Willendorf in Austria.

The statue was carved from oolitic limestone and was colored with red orche. It measures 110 mm in height (4.4 inches) and is dated 30,000 and 25,000 BC.

I was fighting off the last vestiges of the bug I had for two weeks so I plan to be back to my normal self this week and hopefully not as tired as I was over the last few weeks so I can start a few of the embroidery projects I have planned.

I will link up at Supermom No Cape and Kathy's Quilts today.
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/05/slow-sunday-stitching_14.html
http://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-stitchery-link-party-110/

First Week of May and Some Slow Sunday Stitching

I am finally over that nasty cold I came down with at the end of April, it wasn't so much the cold symptoms that were nasty but the overwhelming tiredness and need to sleep which usually with a cold seems to hasten getting over it not this time, it seemed the more I slept the worse I felt, and not sleeping wasn't an option.  As soon as I sat down I would begin to drift off, then after a few hours sleep I would wake with a too much sleep headache, which would make me close my eyes and back to sleep I would do, what a cycle. Thursday afternoon I began to feel awake I hadn't had to take any cough syrup for 3 days, I wasn't blowing my nose all day, sneezing or coughing as much.

I actually had the chance to pull out my embroidery and put in a few more stitching in the Goddess of Willendorf piece I am working on.

top flowers

Those flowers took me nearly a week to complete, my long short stitching needs lots of practice but I do like the overall look. My fingers ached by the time I was half through with each flower and I needed to take a day break in between, and the itchy watery eyes from the cold kept the work out of my hands for the most part.

leaves and vines

When I began to feel better I was able to load up the needles with green flosses and start the leaves and vines on the bottom of the piece.
I'm just starting the other leaves and vine section since I have my needles full of the green flosses, I

don't know if anyone else fills up several needles at a time with the colors they are using but I always have, it makes things flow easier when I don't have to stop to thread the needle.  I do that when I hand quilt too though for hand quilting I have 10 to 20 needles threaded and waiting.  For embroidery depending on the area I have 3 needles of each color I'll use.

I have my piece drafted for the Stitch at Home challenge sponsored by the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design.  The challenge, Summer of Love, coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Be-In at Golden Gate Park.  My design is reminiscent of a 1960's poster,  I am trying to decide whether to use white cotton fabric or a light denim colored cotton fabric, I'll know more once the 3 color DMC floss arrives.  I think I mentioned in my early post DMC is a supporter of the challenge and once you sign up you choose from several color palettes of embroidery floss DMC will send to you at no cost. What I like is you get to select your main choice and 2 other just in case the first choices aren't available. The challenge is free to anyone here is the link if you are interested it taking part in this challenge.
http://www.sfneedleworkanddesign.org/rules-and-entry-form/
You also have the choice to send in the finished piece or a photo of the finished piece for the exhibition.   Also you must use the 3 colors from DMC. You are not limited to embroidery other forms of needlework are also welcome.

I'll post my piece once I have it ready to stitch, knowing myself I will tweak it a few times before I transfer to fabric.  Right now I am trying to decide if I want to trace my pattern onto the fabric or scan my pattern and print it on the stitch and wash away product which I love using though at time can be a bit difficult to stitch through depending on the fabric.

I am linking up to Kathy's Quilt today https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/05/slow-sunday-stitching.html
and Monday I'll link up at Supermom No Cape http://www.supermomnocape.com/

Here is a link for a new stitchery challenge from the San Francisco School of Needlework and Design

I thought I would share this link with you, I just signed up to be part of the challenge, here is a snippet from the rules:

You may use any needlework technique that you like. Examples include; embroidery, appliqué, quilting, or goldwork. You may also incorporate techniques such as fabric painting, drawing on fabric, or dying fabric; but your design must still include needlework of some kind. 

and another snippet here:

DMC has sponsored this challenge and each participant will receive 3 skeins of DMC threads to include in the piece. You must fill out Part 1 of our Entry Form in order to receive the DMC threads, and you must use these threads as a part of your piece

All the rules and entry forms can be found by following the link.
http://www.sfneedleworkanddesign.org/rules-and-entry-form/

Happy May Day!