DEFINITELY WORTH REPEATING

This was my post three years ago today, but it is just still so....true!

PHOOEY

I finished the stripes portion of the flag in the wee small hours of the morning, and decided to move the snaps so that I could move on to finishing the stars part today.

Oh dear.

Something just seemed...off about the blue, and although I knew I needed to add one more row, it wasn't lining up correctly no matter how hard I squinted at it or counted and re-counted.

Drat. I somehow got that entire blue section in the wrong place and off by several threads.

So I paced and fretted and fretted and paced until I realized there was only one solution.

 It took me the better part of three Sopranos episodes, but out it all came, and after a bit of sleep and a couple cups of damn good, I'm ready to try try again today.

A few quick errands to run before I thread up for the day! It's a scorcher out there in Hoosierville today, so methinks the sooner I get out and back...the better!

Ciao!

A LITTLE FUTZINGDAY SPINSTERCATION BLISS...

 

Hello, Dearies.

I'm having one of the best kinds of mornings...quiet, slow, happy, and peaceful. I slept until I woke up, had my two cups of damn good while perusing the papers, and then enjoyed a nice small healthy breakfast while puzzling the puzzles.

(Rich is in New Jersey for a few weeks visiting his mom, so I am having to adult and do things without supervision.)

(Beware.)

I've promised myself to behave, and a full 24 hours in...I'm happy to report that I have done so. The weather/smoke and pool maintenance have forced me to entertain myself with stitching and TeeVee, so other than an occasional plunge into the iPad thingie, I'm managing very nicely.

If all goes according to plan, I should be able to finish the stitching portion of Star Spangled Banner today or tomorrow, and then start the beading portion thereafter. Did I mention there are beads on this one? Yup. Hundreds and hundreds of them. I do think, however daunting all of that beading is to me, that this is going to be really very pretty once completed fully.

Our EGA South Bend guild had our annual field trip/shop visit to House of Stitches on Monday night, and I was delighted to find a few things to add to my late Summer stitchy basket:

I know that the top one is called Spring Heart, but somehow it just felt more like Summer to me, and the colors in the bottom one seemed almost like Fall. (Yes, Betty. I do realize that it is not mandatory to stitch seasonally, and to imply such is not necessary, but it's how I roll, Girlfriend. Live with it.)

(For newer friends of this here blog, Betty is the name I've assigned to the person(s) who feel(s) compelled to write to me on a regular basis to complain, excoriate, yell at, and generally hate on Yours Truly over here. She (he) used to gut me completely with their hate, but now I have affectionately begun to think of her (him) as the Old Man Muppets in the theater complaining about the show and I get on with it.)

So back to needle and thread I go. My Starbucks points are burning a hole in my pocket, so I might actually indulge in one of their cold brews this afternoon rather than a homemade one. I typically pour a Kirkland cold brew can into a big cup of ice and add a protein shake, or sugar free CoffeeMate and a pump or two of sugar free syrup, but sometimes you just have to return to the Mothership.

Cheers and Ciao, Dearies! I hope this finds you safe and well. Come tell me what's blowing your skirt up today!

MY BRAIN HURTS

 This sucker is one of the hardest things I've done in a while! All of these specialty stitches really require intense concentration, so I feel like I'm getting a good mental workout every time I thread up!

Off to the pool!

PART ONE...COMPLETE

I'm all set for the next meeting of Hoosier Heartland, Dearies! I finished the center block last night while watching the NBA draft with my JB. He watched for the outcomes...I watched for the fashion. 🙄

We were supposed to be playing the golf right now, but the day dawned with both of us deciding to just have a "rest" day instead. Sometimes it's nice to just re-charge oneself, no? (I, of course, know well what it means to re-charge, since I seem to rest an awful lot lately).

(And yes...I do so with impunity, because I'm still pretty tired from the last ten years or so of my life.)

So I'm lingering over my damn good and will enjoy the paper and puzzles before getting on with the day. I have a hankering to start something new, but I'm not sure what that will be just yet. I hadn't planned on playing in my stash until next week, but maybe a day flipping through charts and fabrics and threads is just what I need?

I hope your day is wonderful and that the weekend ahead gives you whatever you need most! What's blowing your skirt up? Come tell me all about it! 

IT TURNS OUT YOU REALLY CAN TEACH AN OLD SPINSTER NEW TRICKS

 We learned how to make Dorset buttons at Guild tonight! Oh, what fun! If you don't know what a Dorset button is, pack a lunch for a long trip down a very lovely rabbit hole!

IN WHICH THE SPINSTER PLAYS NINE WHOLE HOLES!

 

SUNDAY TBLT'S AND STITCHING

 

FEE NEE

Here she is, Dearies! This is my finish of Brenda Gervais' "Summer At Cherry Hill". I made a few changes...namely omitting the grass and border, and adding red glass seed beads to the dress, flowers, and cherries. (Sorry, but they don't show up very well in my craptastic photo).

Forgive a short post today, please. Some wicked vertigo hit me last night as I was finishing this, and I feel like I'm trying to stand on the deck of the SS Minnow. The whole room is tilting and bobbing about. Probably an inner ear thing, but I'll go get it double-checked just to be sure, I promise.

Happy Weekend to one and all! What's on the Fun Menu?

MOVING RIGHT ALONG ON A LOVELY US FLAG DAY...

 

Am I the only one who finds moving a project on q-snaps both satisfying AND frustrating? I do get so excited to view a piece in its entirety to see how far I've come along, but the prospects of getting the fabric back ON the q-snaps perfectly straight makes me gird my loins.

(What can I say? The years may have mellowed me a bit, but you just can't take the crazy out of crazy...you know what I mean?)

If you look at the photo of the finished piece on the left, you can see that the entire tableau rests on a big patch of green. I like the green, I really do, but I also like the idea of skipping it so that the moteefs on the bottom will actually show up better. (That, and the fact that I really don't want to stitch all of that green and would prefer to call this one finished without it.)

What do you think?

JB is taking the air on the balcony, and I'm going to thread up and enjoy a few hours of stitching before dinner. I did my chores today and am clean and sparkly after a nice long shower, so this is a perfect little reward. All I need now is a cold brew boost, and we can call this FutzingFlag Day complete!

Happy Flag Day, Dearies!

DELIGHTFUL DILEMMAS...

Sunday dawned here in Hoosierville with a spot of rain, heavy grey skies, and much cooler temperatures. In other words...bliss for a hermit Spinster with an entire day to her very self. (Never fear, Dearies. My beloved JB has not flown the coop. He's at the golfing place in LaPorte, IN and will return to Yours Truly later this evening.)

So the day has begun with the necessary accessories:

Despite its ability to hold a full 40 ounces of damn good, I am careful to only fill her with a good strong 18 at a time. If I'm super disciplined, that means my usual two cups (thus a total of 36 ounces for the day) are enjoyed over a nice long stretch in which I read:

For as long as I can remember, this has been my Sunday treat. I often collect a few weeks' worth and devour them by section every day or so, but only after I've finished the SB Tribune and all of its puzzles. I figure I better enjoy the physical papers for as long as I can, since I'm pretty sure there are only two or three people in the world that still read the news this way and soon we'll be all electronic.

Once a few little chores were finished, I loaded up my sippy cup for the day with lots of iced lemon water:

I broke all kinds of rules with this one, but I vow from this point forward that every new sippy cup that enters CS2 shall cause the removal/donation of at least one old sippy cup from my collection (that we really can't talk about because it's positively shameful in its abundance).

(But I am, after all, a careful custodian of BellyBean, and he really needs as much hydration as possible to be healthy, so this sippy cup obsession is...medicinal.)

Now we get to the Delightful Dilemma part of the program. Your very own Spinster Stitcher now has THREE toys in her current toy basket to play with:

Oooooo! I am so excited to thread up and play today! But which lovely selection will it be?

If only I could stitch three things simultaneously. Alas. But this is positively absolutely the vest best dilemma that I've been faced with, so while I contemplate, methinks I'll ask Alexa to play a little blues and then I'll get on with it!

Happy Sunday!

GETTING USED TO THIS WHOLE HEINEY CRACK OF DAWN THING

Good morning, Dearies!

I'm up, showered, almost fully caffeinated, and ready to go to guild. Today is ANG (needlepoint), and we're starting this lovely piece: 

I'm looking forward to it, since it feels like forever since I have played with a counted canvas piece. 

(Counted canvas is when you stitch the design onto a blank piece of canvas by looking at a chart -- just like you do in cross stitch, but this time you're working on needlepoint canvas instead of fabric. This is different than painted canvas, in which you stitch on top of an image that has been painted/applied to the canvas.)

(Yes, Betty. I know that you ate already intimately aware of this fact, but I do get a lot of questions about the various types of needlework that I do and show on this here blog, so please zip it.)

It looks like it might be a pool day today...the first of the year! I'm looking forward to attempting my old lady exercises again and floating the day away like a contented manatee.

Then, I can either play with the new project, or I might continue:

I finished the bees, bee house, and all of the cherries last night, so I'm feeling a bit of momentum with this one. Could a finish be in my future? 

The sun is shining and the birds are tweeting sweetly, so I suppose I better get moving. Time to break out the Wagner power painter and get some makeup on before I have to go!

Happy Weekend to one and all! Do something fun and come tell me all about it!

WHY I REALLY NEED TO GO BACK TO WRITING THINGS DOWN IN A PRETTY PRETTY NOTEBOOK, BY THE SPINSTER STITCHER HER VERY SILLY SELF

You all know me too well, Dearies, because you knew exactly what I was going to do.

Yup. Ripped that super dark stripe right out and decided to put this in time out for a while.

And then...

As I was washing my hair and muttering to myself in the shower, I decided that life is too darn short for me to continually bow down to challenges, so I decided to solve the problem.

The chart calls for Apple Cider for the tree trunk, which is what I used. But why was it so OFF?! So I pulled my thread ring and started flipping through the colors, and said "Eureka!"

Directly behind Apple Cider was Cidermill Brown.  And three skeins of it! And...wouldn't you know that good old Cidermill Brown is the EXACT color that I had been using, but because I'm a colossal boob, there are no notes anywhere that tells me I substituted colors. 

As soon as you could say "Write it down, Spinster!"  I had the tree finished and happily moved on to the bees.

Tomorrow I will find one of the bazillion lovely little stitchy notebooks I have stashed away, and I'll start writing things down.

Now I just wish I knew what the heck fabric I substituted!
 

I LOVE THIS THING OF OURS

Gingher mystery solved and questions answered, thanks to stitchy friends both near and far. If you're contemplating acquisition of every single edition...GIRD YOUR LOINS!  These are most definitely collectors' items and can be very very spendy.

(Methinks I will continue to be grateful for and happy with the ones that I have thus far.)

(Unless, of course, I win the lottery...in which case I will fund the discovery of artificial kidneys, cure cancer, solve world peace, give every stitcher enough pin money to buy all of the things, and then go on a quest to find every single one on the list).

2000:  Cheetah, Emilia

2001:  Gloriana, Laurel

2002:  Abigail, Katelynn, Penelope

2003:  Audrey, Gabriella, Leah

2004:  Casandra, Lindsay, Olivia

2005:  Amanda, Lanell, Sophia

2006:  Alyssa, Jamie, Julia

2007:  Ashley, Bianca, Glory, Maria

2008:  Emma, Freedom, Roberta, Sarah

2009:  Criss, Elena, Mia

2010:  Charlene, Ella, Sonia

2011:  Alicia, Tessa

2012:  Emily, Jennifer

2013:  Julia, Sharon

2014:  Barbara, Eve

2015:  Wren

2016:  Sawyer

2017:  Lauren

2018:  Eleanor

2019:  Juniper

2020:  Evelyn

2021:  Rynn

On my personal stitchy front, I fished through my WiP basket last night and decided to give a little bit of love to Brenda Gervais' "Summer At Cherry Hill".

Dearies, I'm not going to lie. As soon as I pulled this out, memories of dialysis flooded over me, and it took me a minute to get my bearings. Do our projects hold onto memories for us? I admit, not all of the memories that came were sad...some were very happy as I thought about my podmates and nurses and techs and all of you and the incredible support I received through it, but along with that came the fear and the pain and the panic and the grief and the realization that so many patients pass away without the gift of transplant.

(Hmmmm. Note to self. Must find a new Dr Melfi. Stat.)

Now, back to the piece. As I stitched and stitched I was kind of in a fog (see reason above), and when I stopped for the night and took a look at what I had completed was kind of bummed.

The color striping is really really evident. I hadn't really noticed it (see reason above)...but I'm wondering if it's too extreme. When I look at the chart cover, I notice that striping does exist, but is mine too much?

So that's the dilemma for the day...a very mild one to be sure, but something for me to put some thought to as I putz and futz and splosh my underthings in the washing contraption.

Happy Thursday to one and all! What's new with you?

CALLING ALL CARS

Dearies, I hereby call upon Spinster Nation to help a girl out. One of our stitchy friends has asked me a question, and it got me to thinking about it....but much further and to the point of crazypants obsession (surprise, surprise).

Question from normal/rational stitchy friend: Spinster, do you know if there was a 2023 Designer Series Gingher scissor release?

Spinster: OMG! I now need to go on a multi-hour snipe hunt through the hinterlands of the interwebs to find the ENTIRE LIST of every Gingher Designer Series scissor EVER!

But then my better angels of my nature said "Nope. You have laundry to do and things to write and futzing  and putzing and napping to get done, and SURELY there's somebody out there who will know the answer to this."

(In case you are unaware, GDS scissors are enamel handled embroidery scissors that came out (I think) starting in 1999 and were released periodically.)

Here is my collection all the way back in 2010, along with the dates and names of those I knew at the time:

 1999: Audrey, Rosa

2000: Emilia, Rosemarie, Cheetah
2001: Gloriana
2002: Katelyn, Penelope
2003: Gabriella
2004: Lindsay, Olivia
2005: Amanda, Lanell, Cassandra, Sophia
2006: Julia, Alyssa(*), Jamie
2007: Ashley, Maria, Bianca, Glory
2008: Emma, Freedom, Sarah, Roberta
2009: Criss, Elena, Mia
2010: Charlene, Alyssa (*), Sonya, Ella

My collection has grown a bit...but I forgot to pay attention to dates/names as I went.

So.

Is there anybody out there who would be willing to pass along a complete list of all of the Ginghers that have been released, or if you don't know that...any idea if there was a release yet this year?

Thank you, Dearies!

IN WHICH THE SPINSTER STITCHER BLOG TURNS 15

 

I honestly can't believe it. As soon as I find my words, I promise to post them from my heart. Until then...the very first post that started it all:

Jun 6, 2008

OUT OF THE SHADOWS AND INTO THE LIGHT

Well....climb aboard the crazy train, folks. After spending a year happily lurking on every stitching blog, I decided it was time to jump into the fray. This first post will be all about me, since I'm sure you've been perched on the edge of your chair just waiting for this very important information.

My name is Coni and I am the Spinster Stitcher. Now, for those of you easily offended by the term "Spinster", relax. It is my intention to reclaim the title and make Spinster Stitching the most fabulous thing on the planet.

I'm 42 (ahem). Never married, no children (hence, the Spinster). I live in Mishawaka, Indiana with my dog Stewey. Stewey is a nine-pound bundle of love dressed up in the form of a shorty Jack Russell terrier. More about him later.

I've been stitching since 2003 because my sister told me I was going to. She had moved in with me for a bit and decided that staring at the walls each evening was not her idea of fun in the big city. So we stitched. And stitched. And stitched.

In 2005 I converted the bonus room over my garage into a bona fideSpinster Stitching Studio. Pictures will follow, but I must warn you that my alternate name was The Anal Retentive Stitcher. You see, it's all about the organizing, and I do confess to spending countless hours up there tidying to my heart's content.

I do it all. Cross stitch, needlepoint, canvas work, and hardanger. I'm taking a crewel class in two weeks, so my attempt at becoming the veritible Spinster Stitchy Goddess will surely follow.

Here's what I can promise you, my faithful readers: 1) I'll try to keep the swearing to a happy minimum. 2) I won't go on and on and on about my Stewey, who just happens to be the love of my life and I would marry him in a heartbeat if only he could wear pants. 3) My stitchy pics will be blurry, out of focus, generally terrible in terms of lighting, but somehow "hopeful".

So buckle your seatbelts, kids. We're off!

IN WHICH THE SPINSTER'S HEAD SPINS ROUND AND ROUND

If you've been reading this here blog for any length of time, you might remember how my head spinning around usually meant that I was deftly re-creating a scene from The Exorcist, even though I was not allowed to watch it but have gathered enough from cocktail party conversation to learn that a head spinning around is usually a bad thing involving demons and projective vomitations.

(And, yes. I am certainly allowed to watch the movie now, but I'll stick with happy sappy love stories or anything involving a spunky heroine who reads books or owns a needlework shop.)

(Thank you and amen.)

My morning started bright and early with real clothings and mascara and lipstick, a quick trip through the Starbucks, and then on to the morning session of my EGA Guild. 

Have I mentioned how excited I get to see my Guild Ladies? I always promise myself that I'm going to behave myself and listen more than I talk and not bounce up and down in my chair like a six year old with ants in her pants, but...nope. I get completely overwhelmed with the joy and fun and inspiration and fellowship and Big Chill Experience of it all that I want to suggest finding a big house where we could all live and stitch together like some kind of middle-aged sorority house with very very good lighting, a two story library overlooking a pond, and a staff of people to brew our damn good and do our laundry.

But I digress.

Here is the state of the Spinster Stitcher Stitchy Union at the moment:

I feel like it took me forever to find it, but on the left is a basket big enough to hold most of my needlepoint projects that have been languishing under the bed since I went on the cross stitch binge. There are several painted canvases that need completing in there, as well as a few that need starting. Now that I have re-joined that guild too (ANG Hoosier Heartland), there just might be a chance that these lovely friends come back out to play!

Rosewood Manor's "Good In Everything" continues along. I was knocked senseless at the guild meeting this morning by Miss Julie's finish of another Rosewood Manor piece called "And A Forest Grew", so it inspired me to come home and pull this out immediately for this afternoon's fun:

I seem to be making pretty quick progress on the Kirk & Bradley canvas. This is a painted canvas that I purchased for an after transplant project, and I originally intended to stitch this one all in tent stitch. After a bit of deliberation, however, I decided to try some different stitches, and I am just tickled pink with the result! I selected each stitch from a few little stitch books that I have here, and feel like I've overcome a little bit of that "painted canvas paralysis" that usually causes me to fall into a big fat puddle of frustration tears when faced with a painted canvas.

My dear friend Lou said he'd like to see this as a beach blanket and asked if I was up for it. 😲 I don't have the heart to tell him that a needlepoint beach blanket stitched with these silk fibers would be a bit spendy, but that it would also take a small team of stitchers and a large team of therapists to see it to conclusion. 😬

And finally, because I just couldn't leave well enough alone, I decided to fish Shepherd's Bush "Come Tarry" out of the Naughty Basket and give her some love this week.

It's not her fault, actually. I'm the bobo that messed up the verse and am now having to do the rest of the sampler with the words all together instead of scattered throughout, but as Annie Hall likes to say...la dee da. La dee da. La dee da.

So now I've got this nice lovely stack of companions to conversate with this week. My next guild meeting will be on Saturday, and that will be the start of a new counted canvas piece, so I will truly have my stitchy bases covered!

I'm off like a herd of turtles, Dearie! It's 6pm and I've not hydrated very well today, so I better get moving!

 

Here's to the week ahead and all of its charms and shenanagins! What's on your to do list? Come tell me all about it!

MAKING PROGRESS...

 It's hot hot hot here in Hoosierville, so I'm playing with cool pool colors on a beautiful sky blue background!