Crooning a Tune in June

June's goals included:

• Work on the marquoir I did get some done. You can see my progress in the photo. Compare it to the last progress picture.
• Finish Alex's birth sampler (and send the damn presents!)--I did send the presents which should arrive before the kid outgrows them, but I haven't worked on the sampler since I showed it to you here.
• Work on an anniversary present for the dude--nearly done. New photo below; compare here.
• Work on Anna's Bird (UFO) I didn't get to this one.
• Start Promise of Summers to Come--Oh, boy did I ever! You can see it below; compare here.

For July

• Work on the marquoir
• Finish the birth sampler and the anniversary present
• Start the 60th birthday present

I think I'm going to stop there and see how far I can get!

Punch Something

I told you recently that I had purchased a couple of punchneedle books to refresh my skills and figure out how to finish this type of project. I was reading my new books this past weekend (where did the time go?), and thought, oooh I should punch something.

I went upstairs to look for my punchneedle patterns. One. I found one--the one I bought last March at camp, but I can't find the punchneedle I also bought on that trip. I kept looking. And now I realize I can't find at least five patterns. I do have three, though. All I'd like to do is start one. So could you come over and dig through the "craft" room and find the punchneedle and the missing patterns? (Yes, it's clear something needs to be done--and soon, the contractor is coming to hang the ceiling fan!--but I get so disheartened looking at the mess. Where's Clean Sweep when you need them?)

On to the book review.

New Punchneedle Embroidery: Basics and Finishing Techniques (Charlotte Dudney) I was sold by the last two words of that title. I've always wondered wtf to do with finished punchneedle pieces, okay the one I have done--didn't stop me from buying new patterns, nevertheless. This book delivers. The book includes a short history of the technique, almost twenty pages on the basics--from the supplies to troubleshooting, and 18 patterns. They include a variety of animals, a seasonal series, a really cute bowl of flowers, and a tulip pattern that would be adorable as a rug for a doll house. The finishing section is great. It shows how to make an eyeglass case (a small bag really), a fabric frame, mounting for a preset opening (like a box), mounting on foam core board, finishing with cording (where was this when I needed it?!), a whipstitched edge (looks like a little rug), archival framing, and applique. None of the techniques use glue, which I always worry about with my work (except the perforated paper ornaments, I'll glue those). Nearly all techniques would also work for finishing cross-stitch. Love the book!

Punchneedle Creations (Pamela Gurney) Amazon suckered me with this one; it was a coupled with the other. I figured for a few dollars more, but I'm not head over heels with these designs. The best thing about this book is that it shows you the many, many fibers you can use to punch including, but not limited to, silk ribbon and yarn. Who'd have thought it? There are 14 pages on the technique, and if you've ever done this you know that is a thorough examination of the process! The book includes a secion on sculpting, shaping, fluffing (no, not that kind), and getting the shaggy look. Twenty one patterns are included: some are pretty, but there is also a pattern for a dog where the fibers have been combed so it looks like fur. It totally freaks me out--and I like dogs!

Both books contain sections on troubleshooting, but the Dudney book has it set up as a Q&A, which is a little easier to navigate. Gurney's reads more like the thought process she must go through when she is trying to fix someone else's mistake. Maybe that would work for you.

Public Service Announcements

• Go on a knitting cruise with Debbie Stoller.
• Free shipping from Keepsake Needlearts through July 4th.
• One more day to vote for your favorite duct tape prom outfits. (Even if you get there too late to vote, you have to see what these kids have made from tape.)
• Stampin' Up! new catalog releases online July 1. I could drive out and get mine from my rep today, but I'm waiting until she has the party.
• The 4th edition of the Needlecrafters Travel Companion is available. Without this guide, bestpal and I never would have gone to Endicott, NY in the mid90s.
• The Needlecase is having a sale on DMC and Anchor. (The DMC can only be sold in the U.S.)
• If you're in Southeastern PA, The Kutztown Festival starts this weekend (through July 8). Penna Dutch and early American handcrafts: Handmade brooms! Quilts! Blackcherry soda! Stuff you don't feel like making yourself! Chow-chow. And an ox roast.

Stitch N Pitch Philadelphia

Last night in hot and humid Philadelphia, the Phillies played creamed the Reds. And there were lots of stitchers and knitters on hand. I forgot I had my camera until the sun started going down. Missed snapping a photo of the owner of Loop throwing out the first pitch...



Here's a sneak peek of the project I am working on for the contest. That's a pretty good Phillies P, isn't it? Cathy, who I got to see for a brief moment, thought so. Or at least she was real polite like.

This is the bag o' loot we got for being among the first 1000 to buy our tickets. Those are some serious needles (size 19). I felt a lot safer taking public transportation after the game with those on me. We also got some patterns, class schedules, coupons--including $$ off from Fireside Stitchery, fiber wash, and a Phillies calendar. But that tote has to be the cheapest thing going. Touching the fabric made me feel dirty. But only a fraction dirtier than I already was from all the sweat.

The crafters were in right field. We had to contend with the sun and foul balls. And then when the lights came on, my coworker and I were just three seats away from actually having them on us--that is, we were in the dark. Fortunately, people are nice and the women sitting next to us moved down so that I could see to stitch. The woman behind me ("Why isn't Cole pitching? He's a starting pitcher; he should start every game!" "I'm going to take a picture of Utley's butt." "Go get me a water ice." "I want to go to the Alley Store."), well let's just say, she wasn't One of Us. Those knitting needles might have been a danger, but he took her to the Alley Store just in time.

How to Make Cross Stitch Cool?

Here's a question from one of the coolest cross stitchers around (not me): how to make cross stitch cool? How do we get new blood circulating? How do we get big like knitting? How do we help the industry support all the designers we love so well?

The dude thinks we shouldn't go cool. He thinks the best things are the dorky things, but that's because he plays chess in one of the most anti-intellectual countries around (that's us, the U.S.). Other countries celebrate their chess players, other countries show chess on t.v. But here, we can't even set up a chessboard properly. (Well, why, when it's just for show?)

I've been mulling over the question but I have no answers. I just do my part stitching in public and giving all the public service I can--this morning on the El a woman asked me if I didn't need a hoop to do cross stitch. I told her you could work in hand. Her sister is a stitcher. She wanted to make sure I didn't think she was the big dork...or something. Anyway, I thought since I was heading out to stitch publicly--at the baseball tonight--that I should make sure to be a cross-stitcher. I had thought about bringing a knitting project. But it's easy to be a knitter--knitting's cool. So I will stand with the dude in dorkiness and cross stitch tonight. And if I can get this project done in four days, I'll enter it in the stitch n' pitch contest. If you see me tonight, be sure to say hello. I'll be the big dork with the cross-stitch project.

We have a Winner

Yesterday I totally forgot to bring the patterns I was considering for my aunt's 60th birthday present to my cousin's house so that she and Sissy could peruse them. Then I remembered that I had gathered them together for you to see!

Separately, I brought them into the study so they could see the choices. Both of them picked the same one, so I am going with it. It also happens to be one of the smaller ones--you all were so right that I did choose patterns that may not be completed in six months. (Peaceful Garden--I'm still going to do it one day!) When my cousin saw the one they picked, she said, "That's it!" even when she had two more to see. (The dude picked this one before I ever asked you all.) My sister showed similar enthusiasm for:

Animal Samplings by Hillside Samplings.

I ordered the fabric and NPI silks today! I have great belief that this will be done and framed in time for her special day.

La-D-Da

My first scan! I could have smoothed the fabric out a bit. We've had this printer for months now, and I finally scanned my stitching. Since my camera is on its last legs, even this wrinkly scan is better than the photos I normally post.

This is La-D-Da's Sweet Dreams stitched with the called for floss on silver linen of some sort. I am replacing the words with my nephew's birth statistics. I hope to be able to finish it by the end of the month. I probably won't give it to them until we see them at Christmas, though. But if I am done before July, I can take it to my framer in NH and get the family discount. I can pick it up in October (we're going to see the leaves!*) and bring it to England when we visit in December.

*I was born and raised in NH, but I haven't had a proper autumn since 1991.

Update on the Dude's Anniversary Present

I've been stitching this on the bus--only on the way home when the dude's not around. I also spent some time working on it on the recent trip. It's going pretty quickly. I might even be able to get it framed!

I didn't want the flower to be so stripey, so I've been taking random stitches with the red. That's why it looks like it has freckles right now.

Yesterday on the El, a man told me it was pretty--I think it's the colors. He asked what it was going to be, so I showed him. He told me he also liked the pillow (this is one of SamSarah's Doubles so there is also a felt version). Then he asked if I sold them. I just smiled and said it wouldn't be profitable.

PS For more about Stitcher's Paradise, check out Kathryn's links in the comments below.

Sparkle Plenty

I have been so horrible about opalescent fabric. I may not have told you I wasn't crazy about the project you did on it, but I thought it. Oh, I thought it.

And when I was at Stitcher's Paradise... I bought some. For the two Vegas patterns. It seemed completely natural. And now we learn why we never say never--and never make fun of people to their faces. Oh sure, you think you'll never wear the latest trend or stitch on opalescent fabric, and the next thing you know, you look like Britney Spears (only with covered lady parts) or are holding a piece of Picture This Plus Crystal Fog.

I realize I didn't tell you very much about the store. For a smallish shop, they have a ton of stitched models. And they really love monsterbubbles because I've never seen so many of her patterns stitched up in one place. They're so great. They also had a couple of really unique finishing techniques which I asked permission to photograph. But I didn't say, "I'd like to photograph them so I can pop 'em up on my blog," so you'll have to settle for my descriptions. Unless someone from the store writes to me and gives me permission to post them. Both were smallish pieces (4x4 or 5x5) finished as wall hangings. On one, a fringe of ribbon was hanging from the bottom all the way across (all different color ribbons, probably 5 inches in length). The other one had a similar fringe, but it was made from whole skeins of floss. Twenty two of them--I counted just for you. It looked like bullion fringe. So beautiful. And not cheap. That floss was overdyed. Wowza, what an effect.

Last, but not least, hanging in a corner near the front of the store was Tall Flowers. People, I am just going to have to sit myself down and backstitch because we were wrong. I've seen it in person and it needs the backstitch.

Aren't you glad I went? If you ever find yourself in Vegas, go. It's worth the trip. But try to carpool; the round trip taxi fare from Caesars was $45. (I do have the number of a cab driver who knows where it is, if you need that...)

Another Aunt Turns 60

When I was in Vegas with Auntie Em, I had the sudden realization that she too will turn 60 this year. My other aunt received the Drawn Thread Alpine Garden piece that I made. But Auntie Em is my favorite aunt. (You can't have favorite children, but you are allowed favorites among your other relatives. Auntie Em is my only maternal aunt; auntie Alpine Garden is my favorite, but not only, paternal aunt.) Em knows she's my favorite, and she knows what my dad's sister got for her 60th birthday. Fortunately, I have realized this more than 6 months before her birthday ( December 27).

I've got to get started! I'm going to bring some things over to my cousin's (Em's daughter) for her and my sister to look over on Sunday, but here's what I'm thinking so far:

Drawn Thread Cloister Garden

Drawn Thread Sanctuary

Moira Blackburn Peaceful Garden

Hillside Samplings Animal Samplings

Blackbird Designs something from A Fine Collection

I also considered DT's Souvenir Sampler, but the dude thought I should stitch something new. I'll take your votes, but I have to tell you that my sister's and cousin's have more weight.

What crafts have you tried?

I found this craft meme when I was poking around:
Bold the crafts you've done, even a little; italicize the ones you'd like to try; and strike the ones you are not interested in.

Glass blowing You do not want me to play with fire!
Glass beadmaking
Stained glass Acetylene torch?
Mosaics Maybe for a home decor project.
Handsculpting clay We totally had to do this in art class.
Clay wheel pottery They want you to think Ghost, but it seems really frustrating to me.
Polymer clay
Lace-making
Macramé or knotwork I was around in the 70s.
Quilting My mom had a quilt shop.
Sewing clothing Home ec. So sad.
Sewing curtains/slipcovers/home decor I think you've seen the evidence.
Millinery Do people even wear hats anymore?
Spinning Knitting takes me long enough!
Tatting
Rug hooking
Weaving I can't tell you the number of polyester potholders I've woven.
Tapestry
Batik Crafty child of the 70s...
Shibori
Tie-dye I used to do the tieing for the dude
Silk painting The dude's aunt does this. I'll leave it to her.
Sun painting
Multimedia collage Two of my college projects--in English classes--were multimedia collage. It was fun.
Flower arranging
Cake/cookie decorating Another afterschool class I took to stay out of trouble.
Painting (oil/acrylic) I used to paint scenes on my bedroom window with acrylic paints.
Painting (watercolor) Childhood art class.
Painting (airbrush) Seems spendy.
Pencil/charcoal drawing More of that art class that gave me panic attacks (and I was about 5).
Colored pencil drawing
Leather carving
Leather painting But I am going to try to dye a leather chair someone gave me.
Leather stamping Camp: leather belt, letter dies, hammer. Ugly, but great stress relief!
Lino/rubber stamp cutting Middle school art class.
Doll work I had a doll house (ill fated) and I've made doll faces from pantyhose.
Beading
Scrapbooking
Die cutting Is this a craft unto itself? Seems like some of these are part of a more interesting larger craft.
Shadow boxes
Shrines/mini-shrines My dissertation director had a Day of the Dead shrine that I always wanted to copy. So I've thought about it. But now I have my own Dia de los Muertos figures.
Candle making Remember those candles you made in the orange juice containers with ice? Or by fluffing up the wax with an old eggbeater?
Soap making
Applique
Crewel embroidery Where it all began...
Punch-loop embroidery I've done it once, but I think I'm forgetting how. So I bought a couple of books which I will review soon.
Crochet I've rarely seen something I had to make that was crocheted.
Cross-stitch
Knitting
Needlepoint
Patchwork
Origami
Paper marbling
Papier-mâché
Paper Tole I won't lie to you; when I was a kid I thought this stuff was cool. Now, not.
Quilling I taught myself how to do this after seeing some ornaments at a craft fair. My mother used to run the Christmas bazaar at my high school, and she would make me quill ornaments. Then sell them for a quarter each. I grew up holding my bowl and asking, "Please, sir, may I have some more?" too.
Woodworking Everyone in my middle school took wood shop and metal shop.
Wood carving Working with sharp knives and resistant material sounds like a bad idea.
Wood burning Wood shop again.
Stone carving See wood carving.
Metal jewelry work
Armor making I'm not in the SCA.
Wire work
Fleece washing Is fleece washing a craft unto itself? Am I really washing some fleece and going on to the next fleece washing project without doing something with this washed fleece? This list sucks.
Fleece dyeing I'm guessing I'm not dyeing if I'm not spinning
Drum carding This is a separate craft from the rest of this crazy (fleecey) list?
Handpainting fibers
Material cutting What now? I've cut fabric for patterns, does that count?
Eclectic Spinning As opposed to all the other kinds of spinning I want to do?
Kettle dyeing Again with the dyeing!
Needle Felting. I've been thinking about getting these kits.
Wet Felting
Wool Felting
Solar Dyeing I wouldn't say never.
Lampwork beads I would say never.
Soap Carving What am I, in jail?
Decoupage
Wood Turning I know we had the equipment in wood shop, I must have.
Thread Making Is that a craft or an industry? I think it's more spinning, and I'm starting to hate the woman who wrote this list!
Foam Carving Um, what? Okay, this. No.
Furniture Recovering
Furniture Refurbishing
Drift Wood crafts Can you say tacky?
Sea Shell Polishing There's such a thing as sea shell polishing? Apparently it devalues the shell for collectors, so I won't.
Rock Polishing I had one of those rock tumblers when I was a kid--impossible to use. I didn't get very far, but if we find the machine in my parents' attic, there are opals in there.

SBQ: Storage

This SBQ was suggested Jennifer:

How do you store your WIPs and other projects that you have kitted up?

Oooh! See how organized! There are all my kitted projects in a cheap plastic tote. Inside we find kits either in the original packaging or some sort of plastic bag. How charming.

Lest you think I'm all organized, here's the long shot. Go ahead and click on it. But the thing that is happening to my eyes is similar to what's happening with my camera. The photos it produces look fine when they are tiny, but blowing them up demonstrates that they are completely blurred. It may be time for a new camera.

Anyway, soon everything in this room will be cleared out so that we can start redecorating. Yay!

More G-Ma

Thank you for all your kind words about my grandmother. Because if she met you, she wouldn't be that kind. In retrospect you might be able to laugh at the things she would no doubt say to you but you might feel a little sting and your eyes might well up if you encountered her in person. (Worse still, if you farted in the stall next to her.)

There is an epilogue to the Michael Mina story. The one where she is in such an expensive restaurant that they don't even print prices on the women's menus. Where they have a little ottoman for your purse to rest on. Where you shouldn't get drunk and pick up your entree with your fingers. That one.

We were all gathered at my cousin's house shortly after mother's day this year. I brought sandwiches from Reading Terminal Market for everyone to sample. (It's a lot easier bringing sandwiches than it would be to haul this crowd from Exton into the city. They are so not city people.) My cousin picked up a giant blondie from the supermarket bakery for dessert--even though she makes the best desserts ever! Anyway, my cousin cut it up and put it in front of her. My grandmother picks it up in her fingers and asks, "What's this?" I had to bite my tongue, and the dude and my uncle were shaking with laughter. My dad says, "It sure as hell isn't a filet mignon!" I almost peed.

Back and Bettor Than Ever

Bettor, get it? Cuz I was in Vegas. Oh, I'm a real card.

Getting out of Phillie last Thursday night was the damnedest thing. Our flight was delayed for 2.5 hours while they got us a plane and then a crew. ("We assumed this crew would be your crew, but your crew is coming from Greensboro.") What did we see in those 2.5 hours? A woman at our gate getting attended to by EMTs (she was well enough to board); a felon being extradited to Albany, NY (don't let them tell you they can't open the doors for you because we watched them do it, after they had held the plane for more than 30 minutes for this guy); and a belligerent girl yelling at everyone because we were late leaving for Las Vegas (she was not allowed to board. Period.) Fortunately, my sister had gotten us upgraded to first class. Which is nice, but not as nice as spending time in those airline clubs. You think you don't need them, but trust me, you do.

I was hemorrhaging money Friday morning, so I decided to take a cab to Stitcher's Paradise where they would give me something in return for the bills I gave them. I got two exclusive designs--the Vegas sign (kit) and an M Designs word tree that said Las Vegas (and all the accoutrements to stitch that one). I also Not Forgotten Farm Potted Fancy, Birds of a Feather Kindness Begets, and a Hinzeit Beer chart and a frame for it (my dad is a beer wholesaler). In celebration of having spent/lost over $300 (I had bought breakfast for my extended family of 8) I had the cab driver drive through In N Out. Oh how I miss you double double animal style. I got back to the hotel and ate my burger. Mmmmmmmmmmm burger. Then I stitched a bit. Then I decided I couldn't hole up in my room all day, but I knew I couldn't go by the pool--it was 111 degrees--so I sat my fat ass back down at the video poker machine (the crack cocaine of the gambling world). Eventually, this hand came up: A (C) 10 (C) K (C) J (D) J (C). Normally, I'd take the jacks because that gets you paid and the odds of a royal flush are so astronomical, I thought the one my grandmother got in April 2001 was the only one I'd see. Ever. But what the fuck, I'd only lose 1.25 by gambling, but I could gain $1000. When the queen of clubs came up I seriously thought I was hallucinating. There I was all by myself with a royal flush on my screen. A ROYAL FLUSH. I cashed out and got my chit. (Caesars, and probably all of Vegas, doesn't give real money any more; your machine prints out a ticket of your win which you cash in at little ATM like things. You can, of course, use the ticket in a different machine.) I held on to that ticket like a tornado was going to come whipping through the casino and take it off to the tin man. I called my mom, who didn't answer, and just then my cousin walks in from parking the car. "I won!" I shrieked at her. I was the first big winner, and I didn't put too much of it back. Like enough that when I said to the dude that I wanted to use my winnings to get the Pottery Barn Project Table, he said sure. Almost everyone came back a winner. Which is always a happy coincidence. (Even the dude tied for 2nd in his chess tournament. His rating lept from 1665 to over 1700 because his tournament rating was in the 1800s. I'm so proud. You're my boy, Blue!)

At any rate, besides trying to come up with a good memory of my grandmother at her birthday dinner, things went remarkably well mostly, I think because my mother's schedule was largely ignored. At the birthday dinner, I could come up with lots of hilarious but inappropriate stories. Oh, okay. Like the time she got really drunk at Michael Mina and picked up her filet mignon in her fingers and asked, "What's this, a brownie?" Or when she told my 16-year-old sister, who was waiting tables but cleared the Thanksgiving dishes two at a time, "You can't make a living on your back all your life." Or after my mother was hospitalized with diverticulitis and they were in a public restroom together and a stranger in another stall farted, my grandmother said, "Sounds good since you had it fixed," thinking she was addressing my mother. (That one still sends the dude into hysteria.) But I'm pretty sure you would have figured that any 85 year old who wanted to fly across country to celebrate her birthday in Vegas was going to be some kind of a character. I can't even remember what I came up with but the mussles were fantastic.

Answers

I don't know if I'll be blogging from Lost Wages, but I know I can't leave for Vegas without giving you the answers.

1. “I got a meeting with the Bobs in a couple of minutes.” Office Space, perhaps one of the most brilliant satires of working life in America.

2. “Boy, oh boy, am I a boy.” Some Like It Hot, Jack Lemmon realizes that he can't marry Oswald. Billy Wilder was a frickin' genius. This movie stands up even today.

3. "Cromwell will not come till sunset, and her lips grew strangely white... as she breathed the husky whisper, curfew must not a-ring tonight." Desk Set, a movie for all my librarian friends. When Miss Warriner types in "curfew" for "Corfu," Bunny (Katharine Hepburn) recites this poem that EMORAC brings up.

4. “Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.” Old School, you'll see a theme here, how much I love dumb movies. A reformed (and married) "Frank the Tank" tells the college kids what he's got planned for the weekend. Whenever we go to Home Depot, we always say this line. (And you have to draw out tiiiiime.)

5. “Say now, wait a minute. Let's get this straightened out right now. If you're nursing any silly notion that I'm interested in you, forget it. You're just a headline to me.” It Happened One Night I'm a sucker for the screwballs.

6. “Round tones, round tones. Now, let me hear you read your line.”

“And I cayn't stan’ 'im.”

Singin' In the Rain, I do a most excellent imitation of Lina Lamont, and this is my line. She's learning how to speak for the talkies.

7. “This is the Voice of Doom calling. Your days are numbered, to the seventh son of the seventh son.” Philadelphia Story, I wasn't going to give you an easy one. Jimmy Stewart has been shown to the south parlor, and he's fooling around with the intercom system.

8. “Do me a favor, for your own good, put your name in your books right now before they get mixed up and you won't know whose is whose. 'Cause someday, believe it or not, you'll go 15 rounds over who's gonna get this coffee table. This stupid, wagon wheel, Roy Rogers, garage sale COFFEE TABLE.” When Harry Met Sally... This was the easy one! Everyone got it--c'mon Barbara, you got this one, right? (Jess's wagon wheel coffee table really did have to go.)

9. “Look, I've boned a lot of fat chicks in my time, sure. But, as far back as I can remember, I've never fornicated anybody.” Bad(der) Santa, truly one of the most irreverent movies of all time. Have you not seen this yet? You must. So much dirty dirtiness!

10. “Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.” The Big Lebowski, the Coen brothers are unbelievably brilliant. How do they come up with this stuff? They are the dude's favorite filmmakers, and this is his favorite of their films. (Indeed, it's where I got his nom de blog.)

11. "You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung, and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I'm sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying of that's keeping you from the finals?"

"Right now it feels a little bit like... shame." Dodgeball, Peter runs into Lance Armstrong as he's sneaking out of Vegas. A lot of this movie is funny, but it's not so much in the dialogue--Justin Bateman is brilliantly hilarious, but not eminently quotable.

12. "If you get tired, pull over!"

"If you get hungry, eat something!"

Best in Show; sometimes when I'm watching a movie things crack me up that no one else laughs at. And I have one of those laughs: I've actually made people in the movie theater laugh simply by laughing. You probably don't even remember Harlan Pepper getting these words of advice shortly before he starts naming nuts.

13. "What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?" Zoolander, where would this list be without Ben Stiller and Will Ferrell? He's talking about the scale model for the Center for Children Who Can't Read Good.

14. "I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm just 'Crewman Number Six.' I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is. I've gotta get outta here." Galaxy Quest, a very enjoyable satire of science fiction flix. And Guy's right--that's exactly who his character is...or is he?

15. "It's just like Hamlet said, 'To thine own self be true.'"

"Hamlet didn't say that. "

"I think I remember Hamlet accurately. "

"Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn't say that. That Polonius guy did."

Clueless. I really didn't like this movie when I saw it in the theater, but then I brought the video to Poland to help with ESL classes. It began to grow on me. I especially like this scene where we begin to realize Cher might have some depth. (And this film was Donald Faison's big break--where would Scrubs be without him?)

Fake Work; Cross-stitch Online

Today I spent some time at work stitching on the coolest site. Go here, if you know, you have a good high-speed connection, because this is complicated flash. You put a little tag on your needle, and you can stitch a piece way faster than normal. With other stitchers you create a landscape of the rainforest. The point, and there is one, is to raise awareness about the Brazilian environment. The flash looks really good, but I do have a quibble--the needle comes up in the center of the box. Still it does move pretty realistically after that.

I'm off to pick up some floss. Another night of not much stitching. I have to prep for Vegas and for the meeting with the financial advisor when I return.

Another Weekend in the Garden

I didn't get much stitching done this weekend. On Saturday, we went to the Elfreth's Alley Fete Days so we could see inside other people's houses. (You can read more about it here.) After lunch in Chinatown--it was perhaps too hot to have walked so far, but at least we weren't working in the garden--we sat in traffic on the way home. It took twice as long to get home as it took to get there! Unfortunately, I forgot to bring a stitching project for the ride.

On Sunday, which was overcast and much cooler, we finished up the garden. First, we removed the lawn. With a shovel and a serrated trowel. Fourteen kitchen garbage bags worth. (Why not lawncare bags? Because we have a weight limit on what the garbagemen will pick up.) We broke for lunch so the dude could watch the highlights of the French Open and I could make dinner--indeed, we had invited the family over for dinner and to see the new garden. I put together two meat loaves and peeled and boiled 2.5 lbs of potatoes. The dude went off to rent the rototiller, and I finished bagging the sod and brought the plant material from the back of the house. By 4:30, I was heading for the shower and the dude brought back the rental. This meant, of course, that we didn't do a lick of work around the house--we didn't even manage to vacuum up the dirt we had tracked in. The kitchen floor looked like we had mulched with grass clippings. So of course, when my ultraclean sister and cousin arrived, they did the dishes and vacuumed the floor while I finished the potato salad and made dilly beans (Moosewood). Anyway, the results:

Click to see "before."

Movie Madness

My friend brave astronaut put up a fun little quiz on his blog. Well, I only think it's fun because I got 'em all--but only because he has a real penchant for Chevy Chase movies. Knowing stupid movie quotes, that's what 13 years in L.A. does to you. Here's what it's done to me. Some of my favorite comedies listed by quote. You can see how you do when I post the answers next week.

1. “I got a meeting with the Bobs in a couple of minutes.”

2. “Boy, oh boy, am I a boy.”

3. "Cromwell will not come till sunset, and her lips grew strangely white... as she breathed the husky whisper, curfew must not a-ring tonight."

4. “Maybe Bed, Bath, & Beyond, I don't know, I don't know if we'll have enough time.”

5. “Say now, wait a minute. Let's get this straightened out right now. If you're nursing any silly notion that I'm interested in you, forget it. You're just a headline to me.”

6. “Round tones, round tones. Now, let me hear you read your line.”
“And I cayn't stan’ 'im.”

7. “This is the Voice of Doom calling. Your days are numbered, to the seventh son of the seventh son.”

8. “Do me a favor, for your own good, put your name in your books right now before they get mixed up and you won't know whose is whose. 'Cause someday, believe it or not, you'll go 15 rounds over who's gonna get this coffee table. This stupid, wagon wheel, Roy Rogers, garage sale COFFEE TABLE.”

9. “Look, I've boned a lot of fat chicks in my time, sure. But, as far back as I can remember, I've never fornicated anybody.”

10. “Nihilists! Fuck me. I mean, say what you like about the tenets of National Socialism, Dude, at least it's an ethos.”

11. "You know, once I was thinking of quitting when I was diagnosed with brain, lung, and testicular cancer all at the same time. But with the love and support of my friends and family, I got back on the bike and won the Tour de France five times in a row. But I'm sure you have a good reason to quit. So what are you dying of that's keeping you from the finals?"
"Right now it feels a little bit like... shame."

12. "If you get tired, pull over!"
"If you get hungry, eat something!"

13. "What is this? A center for ants? How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?"

14. "I'm not even supposed to be here. I'm just 'Crewman Number Six.' I'm expendable. I'm the guy in the episode who dies to prove how serious the situation is. I've gotta get outta here."

15. "It's just like Hamlet said, 'To thine own self be true.'"
"Hamlet didn't say that. "
"I think I remember Hamlet accurately. "
"Well, I remember Mel Gibson accurately, and he didn't say that. That Polonius guy did."

Ol' Blue Eyes

The other day when the doctor was looking deep into my eyes to see just how sick I was, she said, "You have the prettiest eye color." Usually people say "most unusual." I say they are hazel, but it's only because blue-grey and green with flecks of gold isn't one of the things you can check off on the Penna driver's license application.

Your Eyes Should Be Blue

Your eyes reflect: Innocence and sweetness What's hidden behind your eyes: A calculating mind

What Color Should Your Eyes Be?

What I like best about this is that my eyes reflect innocence and sweetness. Hehehehe.

undisciplined

I've been reading how lots of people are making themselves finish things before they make new starts, like Cathy. I, on the other hand, am the poster child for undisciplined stitchers everywhere. And here's the proof:

Cricket Collection
A Summer Place
called for R&R 30-count celadon linen and DMC

This is just so fun and summery I can't put it down. But I am trying because I would like to finish part four of the marquoir soon some time ... ever.

One Template, Three Ways

I dragged myself out last night to the stamp rep's because I made Sissy sign up for the class. We got a set of double-sided patterned paper and an envelope template and made these.

The striped "purse" on the bottom is a gift card holder and the floral and polka dot one holds cards (which we didn't make) I have plenty of leftover paper to make some coordinating cards, though.

Today I dragged myself to the doctor. She thinks I might have been sick for a month because I have "a cold on top of a cold" or it could be allergies. (The cough would just be from my regular cough-variant asthma.) The good thing is that I came home with codeine. Whatever else, I'll sleep like a baby...

SBQ: Challenging

Barbara is right. Things have been crazy around here lately. The cold that made me hoarse at MD Sheep and Wool hasn't really let up. I'm better and worse, and right now I'm in a worse. I guess I should go to the doctor, but sheesh, I have too many other things to do. A friend is in town from Los Angeles this week, and there is not one night I have available to see her. That just doesn't seem right. Next week I have to get ready for the Vegas invasion which will be here in just a week. When do I get some rest?

I haven't answered an SBQ in a hound's age: What has been your most challenging project and why? I think it would be my cousin's wedding sampler. It had a billion color changes and loads of blended needles. I thought I would lose my mind! It wasn't particularly difficult stitching, but I am really impatient. (I really should try to get a photo of that one.) The most challenging project I'm currently working on would probably be the marquoir. It's huge, and I'm working on 40 count fabric. My eyes are about 20 years older than they were when I first started stitching. I think the real difficulty of this project, though, is just its giantness.

Book Recommendation

Recently, I ordered a couple of Christiane Dahlbeck books from the French Needle: Fadenspiel and Osterfest. It was hard to choose just two of the quirky whimsical books from this designer! I'm totally in love with Fadenspiel. I'm carrying it with me every day. I just flip idly through the pages imagining all the pretty things I could stitch, you know, if I had way more time in my day for thread play.

There are about 30 patterns in this book, but really the ways you can use them are endless. Many of the motifs are shown on a variety of projects. I am a big fan of the crowns and all the hearts are so so so so cute! And a chart for ginko leaves--who'd have thought it? The path between Haverford (where I partied) and Bryn Mawr (where I studied) was littered with ginko leaves (and the unfortunately noisome berries). I might have to make something for old times' sake.

Osterfest (Easter) has lots of bunny charts, and I was charmed by the one on the cover. I'm not as thrilled with this book, but there are lots of cute things in it. I can't wait to see more work from this designer.

Garden Thyme

This weekend the dude and I took a trip out to Lancaster to buy some plants for the new landscape. We bought a lilac, two rose bushes, a buddleia bush, two PJM rhododendrons, a cherry laurel, 3 sedum, 3 phlox, 2 day lilies, and 2 salvia. We spent $50 to fill up my cousin's minivan (you couldn't get all that in a Honda Civic!) and $200.44 for the vegetation. On Sunday, we got some of it in the ground.

Before, March 2007

We had to till the soil, and cut down two 50 year old yews. (The ones on the left.) The dude went out and rented a rototiller (in the Honda Civic) and a chain saw for the yew. The only way to get the rototiller home was to take it apart and put it in the front seat. When he opened the door, he turned to me and said, "Say hello to my little friend." And you wonder why I love him! Only the tiller became my little friend, and I have the sore triceps and back to prove it.

We got the rhododendrons, butterfly bush, and cherry laurel in, but the rest of the stuff will have to wait until we remove the grass from the bed. I know we're probably doing this all ass backwards, but that's just how we work. If we waited for everything to be done properly, this post would be dated June 4, 2008.

During, June 2007

For the Dude

I've chosen this year's anniversary present. I loved this design from SamSarah so much that I ordered the floss and fabric the same day that I ordered the pattern.

I'm thinking airplane stitching...

What? Where am I going? We're taking my grandmother to Vegas for her 85th birthday. Were we talking during her 80th birthday? I haven't been blogging that long? Let me tell you...

Twelve of us embarked on a seven-day cruise, including my cousin whose kids were one and two. Okay, I could probably stop there, and you would know how painful it was, but it gets better. Sissy, the dude, and I had flown a red-eye across country, throwing off our clocks and making us cranky. The dude and I had to share a room with my grandmother. She insisted on keeping the tv on all the time at full blast, and she wanted to keep it on to sleep. When we told her she was out-voted, she cried to my mother. There were lots of little fights about what we would do and when. Getting to late seating dinner was an ordeal (and what were we thinking keeping the kids up that long?). My youngest niece was seasick the last four days. The whole plan was ill-conceived. At the end of it all, my grandmother says, "that was nice but I would have rather gone to Vegas." The dude had to hold me back. Literally. (And I use that term correctly.)

So now that Vegas is a five-hour flight (as opposed to the 45 minutes it used to take us to get there) we're taking her to Vegas. My grandmother has been coming on vacation with my nuclear family for as long as we've been taking family vacations--and we still occasionally vacation as a family. Since I graduated from college--almost twenty years ago now--every year, my father says to my mother, "This is the last time I take your mother anywhere." My parents have the shortest memories because every year there she is! But if she lives to be 90, she's getting a trip to nowhere.

We have learned a few lessons from the last trip. The dude is going to a chess tournament that weekend. My cousin's husband is staying home with the kids. My mother has scheduled us within an inch of our lives; I've taken to calling it the van Schurman invasion of Vegas. And the dude, upon seeing her plan remarked, "Mussolini didn't really get the trains running on time. People were just too scared to report when they were late."

And you wondered how I turned out this way...

Gift

Photos of my aunt's bell pull. I bet you'll be able to see the mistake no trouble. It makes me sick.














Here's the backing fabric that I'm not thrilled with. It won't really show, so it's no big deal, but actually using what I have on hand? Huge!

My boss says she has that fabric from her quilting days. You may not remember but there was a time when cotton prints for quilting wouldn't have filled a 4 page newsletter--never mind a catalog like Hancocks or Keepsake Quilting. There were some calicoes, and that fabric you see to the left. That was all. It's true. And apparently I've been saving it as some kind of souvenir.

And lo, another UFO complete!