The Last Sunday Stitching for 2021

 Here we are the day after Christmas and the last Slow Sunday Stitching in 2021. I am happy to say I had time yesterday evening to get some stitching in and pleased to present the last Goddess of the Month hand embroidery for 2021, Airmid (also known as Airmed, Airmeith or Airmedh) is the Irish Goddess associated with healing, and particularly herbal healing. She is also associated with gardening, nature, family and loyalty.

I completed the stitching late last night, washed off the stitch and wash product and hung her up to dry, this morning I snapped her photo wrinkled fabric and all.   Here is a close up of the foraging bag at her hip.

This is one of my favorite images of Airmid by Jane Brideson, she does some of the most beautiful pieces of Art I especially love her Cailleach pieces. This is the link to her website take a look http://theeverlivingones.blogspot.com/

On her website she has a list/map of flowers and plants used in the Airmid image. I haven't decided if I am going to do a new monthly challenge for 2022.  I may just continue on with goddesses. Currently I am in the midst of creating a new Greenman piece and I'm also planning to put together a quilt this year using this lovely goddess fabric I purchased from Spoonflower for a shop Magic in Your Living Room, there is also an Etsy shop of the same name.

There are 2 different fabric panels, one surrounded by a yellow border and one with out a border.  I

am planning to use all of the squares to make a quilt, then I had an idea to alternate each block with a hand embroidered block using a basic goddess shape.  Nothing is set in stone so I will let my ideas brew until I have a final decision.

Here is a look at all 12 Goddesses I hand embroidered during 2021

All these pieces have to be trim to the same size if I decide to make them into a quilt, if not just trimmed and finished possible ideas prayer flags, framed or mounted and made into a book.

Well there is time to decide.  This week I have a few things I want to finish up and things to get done before the start of a brand new year. But for now I need to toss something in the oven my sister and her family are coming later today.

I am linking my post today at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching. https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/12/slow-sunday-stitching_0245668423.html

I hope you all had a wonderful Holiday season, whether it was Christmas, Hanukah, Diwali, Kwanza, Yule or Festivus. And I hope you all have some time to stitch.

Slow Sunday Stitching and Spools of Floss.

 The hand embroidery for the November goddess of the month is complete, she has been washed and dried but still needs to be ironed.

I love how she turned out and the expression on her face is just perfect for Baba Yaga.  I need to choose which goddess will be for December.  

About two weeks ago while scrolling through one of the hand embroidery Facebook Groups I found out that Anchor embroidery Floss was available on spools and was being sold at Joann Fabrics so you know I had to make a trip over to my local store to see if it was available, it was so I happily chose 20 spools.

These are 6 strand floss with 10.9 yards of floss selling for .75 cents per spool. Well this weekend Joann's is having the Doorbuster sale and the spools are on sale at 5 spools for $2.00 or .40 cents each  so off I went to Joann's first thing this morning and bought 55 more spools.

I originally tried to buy them online Friday night however you have to buy a minimum of 2 of each color you choose which I didn't want.  Now you might think ugh plastic spools, and them eventually in the landfill but I use empty spools for other crafting projects and haven't thrown away an empty spool in years.

I also picked up another skein of Lion Brands Skin Tone yarn for a project I have in the making.  

I bought the color in Cedarwood, below are all 12 colors in the collection, they are on sale at Joanns too.

I'm linking my post today at Kathy's Quilts https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/11/slow-sunday-stitching_0702395746.html

November and the Stitching is Good

 November is moving through the days so quick my head is spinning.  Thanksgiving is on the horizon and then straight on decking the halls for the Christmas and winter holiday season.  

Running a home based business for 5 online shops is crazy busy this time of year, usually things get hectic in the last week of October straight on to the New Year, this year however with delays in unloading cargo ships things have picked up at the end of September and has kept at a steady pace.  

As busy as I have been I have had time to get in some stitching, the hand embroidery for my October goddess Elen of the Ways is complete:

I am currently working on the November goddess, Baba Yaga:

If you aren't familiar with Baba Yaga here are some interesting bits on Baba Yaga the ‘old woman’ of autumn was called Baba by the Slavic inhabitants of eastern Europe, Boba by the Lithuanians. This seasonal divinity lived in the last sheaf of grain harvested in a year, and the woman who bound it would bear a child that year. Baba passed into Russian folk legend as the awesome Baba Yaga, a witchlike woman who rowed through the air in a mortar, using a pestle for Her oar, sweeping the traces of Her flight from the air with a broom

Here is a image I like the heavily costumed Baba Yaga below with all those lovely charms hanging from her shawls.

My Baba Yaga reminds me of this image below by Rima Staines not elaborately dress though which would have been fun to stitch.  

I did draw a second image of Baba Yaga in her flying mortar and pestle but the proportions didn't look right so I nixed it.  

Back in June of 2016 I took part in a Goddess a Week challenge and created this Baba Yaga for week 2.

She was hand embroidered and crayon tinted on white on white print cotton fabric. I am linking my post here at Kathy Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/11/slow-sunday-stitching_01273866207.html

When I'm not stitching I have been reading Goddess Bless by Sirona Knight and will start Gateway to the Modern Crone by Jude Downes this week.

I will leave you with a bit of humor

Stitching and Reading On a Slow Sunday

 It has been over a month since my last post, time is moving so quickly I can barely catch my breath.  I can't remember a time October went by in a flash.

Over the past few weeks since my last post I have been catching up on reading, stitching and keeping up with my cardiac rehab and two weeks ago I was hit with a stomach bug that lasted a few days.

Currently I am reading Hemlock by Susan Wittig Albert, this is the latest in the China Bayles Mysteries.

I have loved this series since the beginning because they are full of herbal information that started me to seriously begin my own herb garden years ago.  They are a fun read with the earlier books at times having laugh out loud passages that make people notice you when you are reading in public.  The books and characters have evolved over the years and the stories always pull the reader in.  This is the 28th book in the series, the first book, Thyme of Death first caught my attention in 1992. If ever I was to reread a book this series would be it.

While looking for something on the table where I keep my current embroidery projects, I found Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman I bought last year,  I had put it aside while I was ill and not able to really absorb a book they way I like. Well needless to say a few pieces of fabric squares were placed on top of the book and you know for me out of sight out of mind. 

I am glad I put it aside when I was ill because I really enjoyed this book, waiting until I felt better was a wise decision because the story just flows from page to page and I couldn't put it down. I wanted to finish it before I start the newest book, The Book of Magic, which concludes the Practical Magic series.

It always surprises me as I've grown older how hard it is to concentrate on a book when the body is in so much pain, when I was 20 years younger I read to relieve pain unless it was a headache. The last year and a half changed that completely, happily I am for the most part on the other side of the extreme abdominal pain.  So reading and stitching happen on a daily basis for the most part.

I am finally caught up on the Goddess of the Month hand embroideries I have been working on since January.  July goddess Isis is stitched, those wings took forever.

For August there is Kali, the arms look rather sickly but after several changes I just left them and began stitching.

The goddess for September is Ariadne and after looking at the piece I think I may add a small maze in the corner which I originally had drawn then removed it. For now she is stitched and that makes me happy.

The photos were taken right after the pieces were dried so they need to be ironed to get out all those pesky wrinkles.  For now though I am working of the October goddess and the ironing can wait.  I still plan to make these into a quilt or prayer flags and once all 12 are done I'm sure I will have a better idea of what to do with them.  I'm really glad I came up with this personal challenge for the year, it has kept me stitching though days when I thought I wouldn't pick up a needle and thread again.  I am trying to come up with a new challenge for 2022 to keep me stitching, though I don't think it will be too much of a problem since I am feeling much better and the cardiac rehab has been quite a help for the energy.

My visit to the cardiologist office on Friday went well, and to my surprise this lovely Witch was in the waiting room to greet patients.

I just love witches and it got me thinking perhaps for 2022 I will stitch a witch on month.  I have several purchased patterns of witches I have bought over the years so I would use those. Several by Crab Apple Hill Studios and Not Forgotten Farm and I think Bird Brain Designs.  Tracing those onto fabric and stitching them up would take less work than drawing my own patterns.  Well it's a thought.

Speaking of Crab Apple Hill studios I bought this sweet witch doll pattern it arrived last week.

She is the sweetest little doll and I can't wait to start working on her, but that won't be for a while yet.

Well that's about all I have for today I am going to link this post up to Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/10/slow-sunday-stitching_01561972765.html  I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted.

I will leave you with a little humor If you are like me you get at least 2 calls a day.

It's been a while, a year older and what's happening in my world lately

 Goodness has it really been over a month since I posted on my blog, time has a way of flying by without notice at times.  I turned 66 years old on the first of July, my son and daughter in law took me to lunch at a lovely Italian restaurant and heeded my No Cake rule, settling for cake for dessert after lunch which we ordered by the slice which we took home because we were way too stuffed to eat it.

A few days later my sister and great niece Tessa who is now 8 took me out to lunch too.  And wouldn't you know it brought along a cake, with an edible chocolate candle.  After lunch we came back to my house and had cake.  It was good, so good in fact I packed it up and sent it home with her.  My brother in law has a big sweet tooth and honestly I am not a big cake person and since the abdomen problems my appetite has been so off and I knew it would go to waste.  I'm more a salty person than a sweet lover.

My sister let my Tessa pick out a few things for my birthday and I have to say she has good taste. The tote bag is a Leoma Lovegrove design and I just love her art, she is a south Florida artist and her designs just speak to me. (I bought a lovely wallet, sunglasses and a stainless steel cup for myself in May). There is also a lovely straw hat and plush beach towel. Not in the photo is another stainless steel cup, a personal fan and a frames photo of my son and Tessa together,

On the morning of my 66th birthday I has the follow up appointment with my cardiologist to discuss all those test.

There seems to be a problem with blogger, I know I wrote an entry for the first day of summer with me still undergoing all the test my cardiologist scheduled.  Well it was lost, this is the 3rd time a post was lost I lost a post on Mother's Day in May and a post after that as well in early June.  I wonder if anyone else is having that problem.

Well after all those test one of the first problems we are addressing is the obstructed arteries on the left and right side of my neck so next week I am having stents put in also another stent to one of my heart arteries. This isn't an answer to the abdominal pain but if it wasn't for that I would have been clueless.  

The other problem we addressed is getting my heart rate up, it's been in the mid to upper 50's for about a year but in the last 6 months or so its been in the 40's which is too low. Well to fix the doctor dropped the dosage from one of my blood pressure medications again this time to 25mg.  After the first week I'm happy to say my heart rate is back in the low 60's where it should be and on a happier note so far my blood pressure has been in the normal range.  Now the heart rate thing may have been avoided because last year when I was in the hospital and my heart rate was so low the doctor there dropped the same medication to 25 mg.  But after a month I went back to the old dose of 100 mg.  When I first saw my cardiologist he dropped it to 50 mg.  and when that didn't improve the heart rate it went down to 25.  How about that the doctor at the hospital knew what he was doing all along.  I am not always a good patient.

The stent surgery is an out patient procedure and I should only be in the hospital 6 hours, I have to bring an over night bag in case a problem arises.  I just hope the arteries aren't too obstructed like the ones in my abdomen and they can get the stents in.

All this is a blip on the graph compared to my youngest sister who just had a implantable cardioverter-defibrillator inserted to restart her heart if necessary. Right now her heart is working at 15% compacity and life gets scary when you are in the ER and the doctors stop your heart and restart it to regulate the heart beat.  I'm so glad they were able to restart her heart.  

Okay to other things, stitching has been coming along quite steadily with my June goddess Yemaya stitched, I need to wash off the stitch and wash product and will iron it soon, she was completed on June 30th. This photo is before she was completed, all those little stars and flowers are not going to be in the completed piece, I plan to add a few beads and shells.

I started the July goddess Isis on the evening of the 2nd of July.  She is coming along rather nicely.

 I used these two images for inspiration, the Katherine Skaggs prayer card and the figurine, I thought the hashing lines would make a nice texture for the clothing.

Progress on this is steady though I stopped on Friday evening when my thumb started aching from the needle.

I'm trying to decide if I like the metallic thread for the ankle cuffs, well I have plenty of time to decide,

I am also rethinking the collar, I should have made a print out and used colored pencils to test colors, oh well snipping out threads is unpleasant but nothing I haven't done before.  

I recently purchased a new stitchery book, this one Mystical Stitches by Christi Johnson spoke to me.

I have also felt that stitching for me was like a ritual of sorts, when I make something for another person I always think good thoughts for that person.  Similar thoughts or intentions go into my goddess and healing dolls.  Reading the book I felt like the writer was speaking to me directly or had pulled thoughts from my head and put them on paper when it dawned on me that other people feel the same way about their stitching work.   The book covers the basics of hand embroidery, tools, fabrics, floss and threads and stitches.  It includes how to make the basic stitches, how to prepare your hoop and trace fabric.  It's a good book for the beginner as well as the seasoned needlecrafter.  There are pages of symbols and includes full size patterns to get you started.  I follow the artist on Instagram.

I am linking up to Kathy's Quilts today https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/07/slow-sunday-stitching_01989290241.html 

Oh I just noticed my Happy 4th of July photo never posted either. Gee I sure hope this one gets posted.

Oh made it through Tropical storm Elsa with lots of rain and now the yard is overgrown and my lawn guys haven't appeared in a month so it's time to replace them, this isn't the first time they haven't showed up and we had some nice days before and during the storm.

The two photos show the rain flooding my driveway, usually the rain doesn't come up to the covered patio.

Hope you are all having a wonderful Summer.

Last Slow Sunday Stitching for May and Catch Up

 Time surely flies, I can't believe the long gap between my post for the month of May, there should have been a Mother's day post but something happened while trying to post and it was lost, sadly this is not the first time that has happened and I'm sure it won't be the last.

So here is a bit of catch up for the month of May, in the early weeks of the month the weather was true Spring weather with cool mornings, dry air and lots of sunshine.  For Mother's Day my son and daughter in law took me out to lunch and to Washington Oaks state park because I wanted to see the gardens there. 

I was thrilled because for once I didn't miss the rose garden in full bloom, usually when I visit a botanical or park with gardens I miss the blooming roses. Not this time.

The day was perfect for the visit, bright sunshine and cool breezes it lies along the intercoastal waterway where people can fish from the shore, there were a few boats on the water.

There were some statues, lovely interesting trees, lots of native plants a few fountains and lots of flowers.
 

Throughout the month I have been having some medical tests done by my cardiologist, I will be having more throughout June. I'm looking forward to the end of the testing, happily none have been invasive and I have been in and out in about 20 to 30 minutes.

My slow stitching has been progressing and yesterday I finally completed the stitching on the March goddess, Hecate, I haven't washed off the stitch and wash product but here she is with the hand embroidery done.

The design is not my own this is a pattern from Urban Threads, despite all my doubts she turned out nicely and I do like the results. Here is the link to Urban Threads where you can find a variety of hand embroidery patterns https://www.urbanthreads.com/

I also completed the April Goddess, the inspiration for this goddess is the little reproduction statue of the Minoan Snake goddess shown in the first photo.

And the hand embroidered Snake goddess for my personal Goddess a Month challenge for April. I completed this about a week ago.

I am linking my post to Kathy's Quilts here: https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/05/slow-sunday-stitching_02080809229.html

The weather has turned quite hot with the start of the Memorial Day weekend summer begins.  I wish you all a safe and happy weekend and let us not forget what this weekend is about.