Looking Back to Move Forward On this Slow Stitching Sunday

The last day of January, the last slow stitching Sunday for this month and some health news updates.

On Wednesday I finally got the results of my CTA scan I had done in November,  I found out I have 3 clogged abdominal arteries which may be the reason for some of or all of the pain I have been having since March 2020. I have to have a consultation with the Interventional Radiology group to discuss stents to open the arteries or other options. It’s been 9 months since all this abdominal pain started and I still don’t have any real answers, My son gets married in less than a month and I would like to be able to enjoy the day pain free and maybe even eat a piece of wedding cake, but somehow I don't think that is going to happen. 

On Friday the doctor did another Endoscopy mainly because the report from the other doctor was either missing parts or written badly and one of the biopsy results was missing.  So my doctor let me decide now or June when it would be a year since the last one,  I chose now I want answers.  The results so far all my internal organs look good and I don't have Barrett's Esophagus (which the other doctor diagnosed). I am so glad I stopped seeing that doctor.  I will have the results of the biopsies in a short time. Now I'm waiting on the Radiology office to call me to set up an appointment.  

There will be light at the end of all this, from Jan 7th to the 21st I had two full weeks of no pain, no nausea and an actual appetite, it was like being me once again but I didn't let myself over do anything because at the start of all this after the first time in the hospital I had 2 weeks of normal and then it all started over.  I will say over the last 9 months I had a few good days but 2 weeks is the longest, so yes light at the end of the tunnel and at least so far the pain isn't bad enough to send me to the hospital, or it is but I just learned to live with it.

Here is a photo of my new glasses I mentioned in my last post. They are light weight clear blue frames, I picked them up on Tuesday, I love how they fit I wanted clear frames but all the ones I like were sold out so I ordered a second pair with clear frames, I like having backup glasses on hand.  I Purchase them from Lenscrafters.

On the needlework side of things for Slow Stitching today I'm going to put in some hand quilting on the first quilt I ever hand pieced. I began in October 1990, over the years I put off completing it and just work on it every now and then but I decided 2021 is the year to finish it. 

Every other block alternates a heart in the center and a red square center.  The heart piece was actually from patch work yardage I bought for just those heart pieces.  According to my Quilt Journal entry October 1990: The cutting and measuring is time consuming as I am using a ruler to make cardboard templates and scissors to cut my pieces (still my preferred way to cut). I spent 5 days marking the pieces and adding seam allowance and cutting all this entirely by hand.

By Thanksgiving day 1990 I have 12 blocks pieced, then put the quilt aside to do some Christmas crafting, on January 5th I had pieced a total of 15 blocks, and on January 12th 1991 all 35 blocks have been hand pieced and on January 22nd 1991 the quilt top was completed.   

Twenty years have passed since I completed the top and according to my journal entry regarding the backing fabric: Bummer my backing is 5 inches too short and I purchase 1/2 yard more than required according to the pattern book.
However, this turned out to be a road trip to the quilt shop in Allentown NJ, my late friend Sandy and I headed to Allentown to the Quilt Barn at least once a month, so the disappointment didn't last.  I did buy the necessary fabric and basted the quilt which according to the journal was my least favorite part. 

I began the hand quilting on February 2, 1991 I put it in the small standing quilt frame I had purchased at the newly opened Leewards, after two hours 1 square was hand quilted, I had the flu and a raging fever at the time. But hey it's slow stitching.

According to my journal after 6 squares I decided to quilt without the frame and just worked with the quilt on my lap, living in New Jersey at the time in a pre-WWI building (very drafty) it was nice to have the quilt on my lap while I worked.  On March 31st I added a loose binding made from strips of muslin to the quilt because the batting fibers were getting in my eyes and mouth wreaking havoc with my allergies, I have since changed to 100% cotton or wool batting.  Funny this more than anything stands out probably because even today loose fibers irritate my eyes quite a bit.  

Another memorable entry in April of 1991 I attended my first Quilt Show and loved it there were two others in April we attended.  I also put the quilt aside to begin plans to move to Florida in June 1991. There would be no other entry until June 16, 1995, My mother passed in 1991 a few weeks after I arrived and my son and I returned to NJ in December 1991 to tie up her affairs in NJ, I had packed everything in storage in Florida.  We moved back to Florida permanently in May 1994 and on June 16th of 1995 I found a quilt shop in Dade City, the one quilt shop in Ocala at the time, the Quilting Bee,  I would see it everyday on the drive to the hospital when visiting my mother had since closed. 

The quilt shop in Dade City was nearly a two hour drive which was fine with me, the shop in Allentown NJ my friend and I used to go to was a long a drive too.  In the time I went back to NJ, I had made several 9 patch baby quilts and taught my son Nick how to hand piece starting with 6 inch squares.  In 1996 I attended my first quilt show in 5 years, in 1997 I began a Joann's Quilt block of the Month, and in August 1998 there are 2 quilt shops in the county, so no long drives to Dade City.  Over the years the quilt shops in Ocala have closed, with new ones opening and then closing as well.  There is one quilt shop on the other side of town which I attended several classes including hand embroidery class in 2015 that reignited my love of hand embroidery, sadly those classes ended when the instructor moved away. My first quilt journal has no entries after August 1998, when I moved back to NJ for 2 years I didn't record anything even though I made a few baby quilts and wall hangings, there are brief mentions of them in the journal. I began keeping a stitchery journal so I record my projects in one volume when the mood strikes me.  Mostly I keep a running list of embroidery floss colors for project patterns I have, and the start and finish dates of my hand embroidery projects.  So today I will enter my first entry into the quilt journal since 1998.

I am linking my post today to Kathy's Quilts for the Slow Sunday Stitching, the link is here take a look there are so many wonderful bloggers stitching up some lovely projects and maybe with a story to share as well. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/01/slow-sunday-stitching_31.html

Before I go just a heads up to anyone interested The San Francisco School of Needlework and Design is having another Stitch at Home Challenge, 

Info can be found here https://sfneedleworkanddesign.org/rules-and-entry-form/

I signed up last night and ideas are swirling in my head, I also have the final touches on the February goddess for my Goddess a Month project and more embroidery has been done on the Brigid's Cross.

Happy Stitching Everyone and thank you for visiting my blog.

September a Slow Stitching Sunday, Some Crochet and a Few Things to Read

September is National Sewing Month how are you celebrating?  I am working on the early planning for a new project for the next San Francisco School of Needlework and Design's Stitch at Home Challenge which has the Theme of Make Do & Mend for more information please click the link   https://www.sfneedleworkanddesign.org/rules-and-entry-form/

Sadly enough my entry for the last challenge didn't make it to San Francisco, it was returned to me the package damage and the frame broken, lucky for me the embroidered piece was undamaged so much for paying for priority shipping, I can tell you that package was not handled with care.  It's unfortunate that our postal service seems to get worse with every passing year.

My Greenwoman #2 piece is progressing slowly but than that's what slow stitching is all about isn't it.

I will be linking up to Kathy's Quilt blog today for Slow Sunday Stitching so click the link and have a look.
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2018/09/slow-sunday-stitching-photo-challenge.html
Also Kathy has a new photo challenge of where we like to do our stitching when the weather is good.  For me my favorite place for slow stitching in good weather is always at the beach.

hoop and sun rise

my chair and essentials

My last trip began at sunrise with a nice long walk along the water's edge picking up shells and stones and just enjoying the sounds of the beach, gulls and sea birds calling, the ebb and flow of the water and the breeze blowing through my hair before sitting down to stitch a little beach motif.

Issue number 99 of Inspirations magazine finally arrived, it was due in July but somehow was lost in the mail, after contact via email the issue arrived a few weeks later.

There are some lovely projects in this issue I would like to give one or two a try, like the little bag on the cover.  My subscription runs out with the next issue (I won't be renewing) which should be arriving soon, it would be nice not to have to request a replacement copy out of the 3 issues I received so far only one was mailed to me on time, I find this quite frustrating and to be honest while the projects are lovely most are not something I would make myself and since it's an Australian publication the shops and events listings are pretty much useless to me.  But it is a lovely magazine if you love embroidery.  I'm going to use the free pumpkin pattern from Supermom No Cape and get a start on autumn stitching.  Click the link and have a look at what other bloggers are stitching.
https://www.supermomnocape.com/pumpkin-banner-embroidery-pattern/
The Shell stitch afghan I am crocheting is coming along there is 14 inches in length so far using just one cake of the Mandala yarn.

When I first saw this wishing well colorway I thought it looked beachy and decided to make this up in the shell stitch. I am planning to combine it with the colorway on the left.

There are some similar colors so I'll give it a try and if I don't like it I can unravel and just keep using the wishing well that I started with.
I started reading Samhain Secrets yesterday, I had pre-ordered it from Amazon and it came 2 weeks earlier than expected, its the 4th book in the series and I pre-ordered the next book due for release March 2019, I will link my post here https://www.gsheller.com/2018/09/yarn-along-september.html

for the September Yarn Along, click the link to see what other bloggers are reading and making with yarn.
Well before I sign off to get some stitching done I will leave you with a few more photo beach photos

hag stone and sunrise

sand dollar and sunrise

Have a Safe and Happy Labor Day Weekend

A Slow Sunday with all types of Stitching

July days in Florida are not for the faint of heart, with the humidity rising along with the temps it makes for some sticky days.  I am in the second week of a summer bug, the fever returns every few days though not 102 like it was for 3 days running, the cough is nearly gone but the nausea lingers daily, the one good thing is I'm making progress on my stitching though some days I just felt so miserable I just laid around and slept for hours.

Friday was a full on rainy day and I was feeling well enough to sit up most of the day so I made lots of progress on the granny square afghan I am crocheting for Tessa.

I like working with this Mandala yarn, the way the color changes saves me the time of changing colors and weaving in all those loose ends. The changes aren't always perfect but I like just letting the work flow, one of the groups I'm in some crocheters will cut off sections of the yarn to have a more even flow, I suppose that's a great idea for symmetry but to me it's a lot of extra work.

Yesterday I decided to unravel (frog) the a few rows of crochet I had completed on the Ruana I'm making, the stitches didn't look quite right to me, not realizing I wasn't seeing too clearly while I'm under the weather.

After looking at the pile of unraveled yarn I had second thoughts (after frogging 519 stitches) ugh! So I re-crocheted all those rows and then worked 2 more rows.  Do you ever do something like that, look at something not sure if you are happy with how it looks so you undo all your work only to realize it was fine?   I do it more often than I care to admit.

I'm nearly done stitching the Stitch at Home Challenge piece,  I think to finish it I will use a hoop as a frame so I can hang it.

If all goes well and hopefully feeling better I plan to have it completed this week or early next week which will give me plenty of time to make the August 15th deadline.  My fingers are holding out fairly well with all the stitching and crochet, but the right side of my neck gets so stiff I can barely move it.  Well if it isn't one thing it's another, we do suffer for our Art don't we?

I will link up to Kathy's Quilts today for Slow Sunday Stitching, hop on over to see what Kathy and other talented bloggers are working on:  https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2018/07/slow-sunday-stitching_22.html

I'm feeling a bit weary so let me post this, make a cup of tea and try to get some stitching done today.

New Moon again and time for the Totally Useless Stitch A Long

Well yesterday was the New Moon so I am a day late but I can still post my orts for the TUSAL aka:Totally Useless Stitch A Long over at Its daffy cats blog:   https://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/2018/05/totally-useless-update-wait.html

My photo looks a bit washed out must be either the lighting or photographer error.  The orts were from the Greenman and the Antlered Goddess pieces I recently finished hand embroidering.

Green Man pattern Urban Threads

Entering the Forest on Beltane Eve my design

The few white threads are from the Sashiko style piece I have been slowly working on the kit is from Scarlett Rose Celtic and is called Aine.

On Monday the package of Kreinik threads came in the mail, these are for the newest stitch at home challenge which you are required to use in you piece and are supplied by SFSNAD.

Lots of lovely colors in this bag o' bits which now has me rethinking my entire idea for the challenge. I guess its a good thing I sketched several different ideas, however, now I'm thinking of creating a design around the colors of threads I'd use. Here is a link for the challenge:
 http://www.sfneedleworkanddesign.org/rules-and-entry-form/

Slow Stitching bits and Some Sunshine.

Another cold snap made it's way here to north central Florida we were at a balmy 29 degrees at nine o'clock this morning.  Winter in Florida does keep me on my toes and this week has surely pushed my buttons so I'm glad to be starting a brand new week.

On Thursday I had several appointments in the morning,  I was heading out for my appointment on the other side of town and instead of wiping the condensation off my windows with a towel as I normally do I decided to just roll the windows down so I didn't waste time. Well you know Murphy's Law tends to catch us when we least expect it the my passenger side window decided at that moment not to go back up. The rain came in the early afternoon lucky for me I had plastic over the open window and drove it to the repair shop.

It's fair to say my stress levels are up along with my blood pressure, though I did explain to the doctor what my morning was like, so this month I will once again be monitoring my blood pressure as she was quick to point out my last few visit my numbers were elevated. I'm attempting to get in as much stitching as I can, I spent some time yesterday preparing a few pieces of cloth with small random designs to have ready.

I finished the stitching on my mixed media self portrait for the San Francisco School of Needlework & Design Stitch at Home Challenge, along with the hand embroidery I  used crayon tint and beads.

self portrait

I have also been drafting a pattern for the next challenge  here's the link if you are interested:   https://snadviewfromwindowchallenge.tumblr.com

I began to add some stitches to the January crazy quilt block, pulled a few out and put it aside for a bit.  I feel stuck at this moment and I find myself rethinking the block.

a few stitches in

One of the small random bits I worked on yesterday while the winds blew about the leaves and the temps outside dropped lower and lower.

a bit of sunshine

I will be linking up over at Kathy's Quilts today for Slow Stitching Sunday check out the link to see what other talented bloggers are slow stitching this week.
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2018/01/slow-sunday-stitching.html

I am once again taking part in the Facebook Group 1 Year of Stitches here is the group link if it's of interest to you. It's an all hand embroidery group with a new admin with most of the members from 2017 continuing on this year and many new members   https://www.facebook.com/groups/1294313713974098/

There is also a Facebook Group A Year in Stitches which has also continued on for 2018, it's also an all hand embroidery group with many of us continuing on this year.   https://www.facebook.com/groups/ayearinstitches/

Cloudy Sunday Skies and Slow Stitching

A few days ago my youngest sister posted on Facebook she was in the hospital with blood clots in her heart and lungs and an aneurysm in her heart, complications of the blood thinners her doctor put her on for a blood clot in her leg a few days prior.  Oh and she recently had a heart attack that she didn't know she had. ( I'm familiar with that one myself).
She is currently in ICU and wreaking havoc with her IV pulled out twice while she was trying to get comfortable, twice her husband hit the emergency call button in error and she is ticked off because she can't have salt or caffeine ugh yeah you are a heart patient yesterday she ranted because they didn't give her ketchup.  At least she is keeping her sense of humor about her while she endures endless testing and blood transfusions and I used to think I was a difficult patient.  I am but that's another story for another day.  So while I am posting today on a positive note with plans made everything can change in a flash.

On the stitching front after more tweaking than I care to admit I have finally begun the stitching on the Summer of Love Stitch at Home Challenge, here is a little peek at my progress:

a good start

The progress on the Zenbroidery Peace Symbol is progressing nicely despite my apprehension of the fabric stiffness I really enjoy stitching with it. I am using mostly variegated embroidery floss:

stitching along

A little over a week ago I purchased some lovely hand dyed threads/floss from an Etsy shop, the colors are just beautiful and the threads reminded me so much of the seaside I just had to have them.

Beach Colors

The assorted threads are from a sampler packet the colors just spoke to me whispering sandy beaches, tide pools and sea shells:

And the single blue just says ocean to me so I will be drafting a few designs over the next few weeks.

Here is a link to the Etsy shop. https://www.etsy.com/shop/colourcomplements  I will be visiting it again soon to buy more since one can never have too much embroidery floss or fibers.

In a few weeks I will be heading to down to the gulf coast of Florida for some rest and relaxation on Sanibel Island for a much needed vacation. So yesterday I headed out to Barnes and Noble to pick up a book or two, I had one book in mind that I wanted to get and I'd see what else caught my attention, I had my membership card and two 20% off coupons in purse, I just love a bargain.  So I browsed and found the book I planned to buy thinking it would make a good beach read:

I found a few other books my guilty pleasure three cozy mysteries to crack open when my fingers are too sore or stiff to stitch. 

Then I headed over to the crafts section to see what was on the shelves in the embroidery category, not much two books I already had and a copy of Embroidered Mandalas which wasn't in very good shape, some of the pages were bent and wrinkled, some felt loose too beat up to buy so I passed on it but did jot down the title.  I headed for the checkout with my books, handed the clerk my member card and to my disappointment didn't have my coupons with me, I had grabbed two JoAnn's coupons and stuffed them in my bag.  I did save ten percent and I have my beach read and a few others so all is good.

When I arrived home there sitting on my side table are the coupons, all was not lost, I went to Barnes and Noble website and ordered the embroidered mandalas book, which online was 30% off, I had my 20% off coupon and membership gives me free shipping.  Oh I do love a bargain,

The Mandalas book has 25 iron on designs to use in spiral bound book so I can easily iron the design onto my fabric.  I don't know about you but when I trace patterns with intricate designs I always miss something or my hand goes awry and the older I get the worse my tracing is.  Here is a link for the book. https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/embroidered-mandalas-lark-crafts/1124986242?ean=9781454710417

I'll need to prepare my stitchery projects to bring along with me on vacation though I may just start a new project or two to work while I'm away.   

This sweet little piece on a hexie I may trace and work on vacation is from the new issue of American Quilter magazine arrived with my Yoga journal I haven't had the time to read them so I'll pack and take along with me.

The cover on the AQ reminded me one day I want to make a Mariners Compass quilt may be this is the year.  I am linking up at Kathy's Quilts today for Slow Sunday Stitching here is a link why don't you hop on over and take a look at what other bloggers are slowly stitching today:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2017/06/slow-sunday-stitching_18.html

MONDAY JUNE 19th UPDATE on Summer of Love:
My stitching was certainly slow yesterday but I did get further on with the Summer of Love challenge piece.

The vines are complete and several of the leaf sections are done. Today I will be working to finish the remainder of the leaves then move unto the peace symbol. I'm linking my post over at Super Mom No Cape: http://www.supermomnocape.com/vintage-embroidery-monday-and-stitchery-link-party-115/
Where other bloggers are working on hand embroidery projects stop on over and have a look.

Hello June

Well Hello June you have arrived and brought with you our first mid-day rains which is much needed. Today also marks the start of hurricane season which we really don't need but those daily rain showers would be nice.

I have been working on my winter Goddess hand embroidery piece though I am kind of dragging my feet on it, I'm just not sure I even like the piece at this point and keep asking myself if I want to finish it.

Here is a look at my ORTS from January 1^st to June 1^st I'd say I accumulated a nice little pile of bits and pieces of threads, floss and some yarn too. Not bad for 6 months of stitching my jar is half full.

Orts January to June

Orts Jar

I have a new project I plan to start crocheting this month, it's this lovely Ruana pattern from Two of Wands I bought a few weeks ago.

I don't usually crochet during the warm weather season but I just loved this pattern when I first saw it I knew I wanted to make it right away. Here is a link to the site I purchased the pattern from:

http://www.twoofwands.com/patterns/women/playa-ruana-pattern?category=Ponchos+%2B+Ruanas

There are other crochet patterns and some lovely knitted patterns too. 

I want to use the Shawl in a Ball yarn I purchased a few months ago from Lion Brand yarn I was just waiting for the right pattern, I think this is the one. Here is a link for the yarn http://www.lionbrand.com/yarn/shawl-in-a-ball-yarn.html

I also need to get started on the Stitch at Home Challenge embroidery project the August 15th deadline will be here before I know it so its time to stop tweaking and get stitching.  

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/