Feeling Better!

I am not one to sit for any length of time during the day...except maybe to get lost on the computer from time to time...or stitch with my friend Jen once a week.  Being sick and lethargic is torture for me!  But...I've gotten a lot of stitching done in the last week with this cold/flu or whatever this had been.  Finished up a La D Da piece I had started some time ago (Zippity Do Da...too cute!), finished two of my designs I had pencil charted and am working on a 3rd that's still evolving.  I've had to step away from the 3rd one for a bit...nothing I seem to add really adds anything to it...I need a little distance.  So, I've started on a small piece from Blackbird Designs (Clara Ellen) to "clear the mind".

This first piece I think I'll call "Clover Pearls".  I spent many an hour as a child making clover flower necklaces.  It was always a thrill when we found a patch of red clover (with the pink flowers) to add to the pale yellow "pearls".  I remember one of our neighbors found us sitting on his lawn making the day's jewelry.  He had the best clover in the neighborhood!   After explaining what we were doing, he offered to pay us per unbroken foot for our day's accomplishment.  Seems to me he offered a nickel per foot...he kept his word and we were happy with our windfall!  Don't know what he did with his clover chain, but maybe it saved him from cutting the lawn for a few days!

There's that lace again...maybe that will be my "trademark"!  My mother found this great bag of vintage lace at a flea market.  She used to do a lot of needlework (cross-stitch, crazy quilting, knitting).  In her 80's now, she has put most of that aside and purged her stash...giving me most of it!!!  The lace is so great that each piece I stitch there just seems to be a place for it!

The next piece is "Autumn in Madison County".  I think I will finish this one as a "shelf pillow" and sit it on the bookcase next to Waller's books.  If you've never read the epilogue to The Bridges of Madison County (A Thousand Country Roads) and you liked the first one, you will like the second as well.

The 3rd piece is my take on a Scottish Sampler (celebrating my Scotch-Irish heritage).  These were usually stitched in red and green threads and I've gone for a paler version with a few other colors thrown in.  Still stitchin' and rippin'...may have come up with the final plan...we'll see how it looks!

Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut

Just had to post the picture since I just finished framing this piece.  Now...really...I have to get to charting it...no more distractions!!!!

Bye Bye Christmas

Thought it was time (past time) to take down the outside Christmas decorations.  Today was the perfect day...low 40's out...the sun was shining...the sun!...rain had stopped...snow was melting...it almost felt warm!  Temps are supposed to drop today and snow is on the way this afternoon...do it...do it now!  I grabbed the step stool, started unwinding the wire that attached the bows to various things, got the greenery off the arbor and started on the garland around the door when...things started to go awry.  The wind was picking up...gusting actually...dark clouds were rolling in...my fingers were getting too numb to feel the wire that attached the garland to the door frame...it started sprinkling, spotting my glasses.  Then I realized as I got further up the door...I had the wrong step ladder...only two steps...too short to comfortably reach the top since our front door is up two steps to begin with.  The wind, the rain, the numb fingers...no time to go get the four-step ladder!  Precariously reaching for the top (exposing skin to the cold and rain as my sweatshirt rose) with numb fingers, I pretty much yanked the last three wires off the house.  The garland is now dripping on the rug in the front hall.  The snowman flag is whipping in the wind (he can stay out there until spring).  The skies are dark, the temperature has dropped to 38 already...but it's done!!!! 

Now...on to charting the "Sometimes You Feel Like A Nut" design.  The frame was mismeasured so I had to add a bit of lace to the bottom...LOVE it!  It's always nice when a mistake turns out to be a blessing!  Will post a picture soon!!!!