Goalus Augustus

My goals for July were modest:

• Work on the marquoir I did work on it, but not as much as I would have liked.
• Finish the anniversary present (here)
• Finish the birth sampler (left)
• Work on the 60th birthday present (below)
• I also worked on two birthday presents that will soon be winging their way to their respective recipients.
  

So I'm making my goals for August ambitious:

• Work for five hours on Anna’s Bird
• Work for five hours on Tree of Life Window
• Work for five hours on Watercolor Geraniums
• Work for five hours on Apple Sampler
• Work for five hours on Tall Flowers Sampler
• Work for five hours on Promise of Summers to Come
• Work for 10 hours on the marquoir
• Work for two hours on Elizabethan Rose
• Work for two hours on Majestic Rooster
• Start Liz Turner Diehl, 18th Century Knot Garden
• Start either Christmas Carols or Snowman Stocking, Bent Creek
• Start either Jillian’s or Elisabeth’s stocking, Shepherd’s Bush

I will be up in Maine for a vacation. Just me and the parents, so I should get loads stitched; the dude is going to England for his friend's 40th birthday party. (How come I'm taking the cheap vacation?)

Back to Stitching

With the August birthdays pressing, I actually picked up a needle on Sunday night for the first time in ages. I have nearly completed one present (just an inch or so to sew up!) and I have started the final push on the other. I really feel like I'm back in it. I know I can also finish the birth sampler this month, but I am very disappointed with how things are going with the marquoir. I have joined a yahoo group that stitches French samplers every Tuesday--but how many Tuesdays have I stitched on this?--and every once in a while I hold it up to the wall where it will hang (impressively no doubt) but I just have such a hard time stitching it. I love it...and I will love it when it is done, so how come it's so hard to do?

I had semi-planned to take up the carpeting in the craft room this weekend, but instead I was consumed by shopping, movie-going, lawn mowing, and cleaning. I can recommend Ratatouille which was adorable, although I did have to pick my feet up off the floor when the rats swarmed. We finally watched The Departed as well. Having grown up in the 70s watching the Boston news stations, the beginning of that movie was a true flashback. My father's a big fan of Howie Carr (how I am related to him, I do not know), so he followed Whitey Bulger's career with interest bordering on obsession. Even though the movie wasn't about him, it was, you know? And now the dude wishes he had read the book my dad lent him, doesn't he?

Follow Where They Lead

I didn't get a chance to post last night because I was working on a little project for Sissy. I think she's a little blue. As she put it today, "I have been dating for 20 years, and I'm just tired of it!" I wish she could find someone. I know she wants to have kids, and she's old fashioned that way--first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Sissy with a baby carriage.

She must have been desperate because she asked me to go shopping with her today. But I was a trooper! I dragged myself through the King of Prussia Mall for five hours, no complaints. That's a lot for me. But it's nothing in the scheme of helping my sister. She's coming for dinner tomorrow (my cousin is out of town, so the next best cook is doing Sunday dinner).

The notebook (it's one of those b/w composition notebooks) didn't come out quite how I planned, but it's not a bad first go. The quote by Louisa May Alcott says "Far away in the sunshine are my highest aspirations. I may not reach them, but I can look up and see their beauty, believe in them, and try to follow where they lead." The center strip has been covered with glitter. I'm thinking of making stationery sets for my sisters-in-law for Christmas--including a matching notebook, but only using things I have on hand. I have to get the craft spending under control. Our visit to the financial planner has shown me that!

Mental Health

Yesterday I took a mental health day, but I didn't stitch. I brought stuff that's been sitting for months to Goodwill; went grocery shopping; had a mammogram; and made more cards. I had some odd cut paper from when Sissy and I used the envelope template. So I decided to make cards with it rather than have it continue to fall off the top of the filing cabinet every time I opened it. You can see some of the results here.

I also worked on those presents I started ages ago for my friends with August birthdays. You'd have thought starting at the beginning of July would have guaranteed they'd be done by now, but no...It took some time, but I have found both projects (they walked off) and the fabric cuts I made for the backs. Sheesh. The house only has three bedrooms, and only one of them is a pig-sty (the "craft room"), how can I lose stuff so easily? I really, really, really have to make the craft room a priority.

Craft Gossip

A while back, I was going to point you to Craft Gossip because I had been finding some interesting info there. Then the needlework editor started bitching about not getting paid from another job she did, and I didn't think you'd be all that interested. But go now. She Has Lost It. She is blogging about her Craft Gossip boss on the Craft Gossip website. Too, too much of a whack job. It's like Lindsay Lohan for the needlwork set!

EDITED: Sorry gang, it's been taken down. You'll just have to take my word for it...

Busy Weekend

I didn't have time to stitch this weekend because I was

• making cards, mostly ones I CASE'd from my new favorite website
• visiting PAFA
• reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
• weeding the garden
• painting the shutters

That's two items off my 101 Things list in two days! But what should I do with those "bloom" cards? Get well cards? Thank you notes? "Bloom where you're planted?" Actually, I hate that quote. What's it supposed to mean? Stay where you are? Never try to better your situation?

Book Review: Heartfelt

I bought this book last week as a reward for having lost 10 pounds. (Go me!) It is freakin' adorable. And I think I will finally be able to finish the felted patchwork blanket I started making for our friends who moved to Montreal four years ago. This book contains just the kind of info I need on sewing that blanket--it's had me stumped for years (except the year the scraps lived in the storage unit--I didn't think of sewing it at all that year).

This book has all sorts of projects that would make you look like you just stepped out of a Mary Engelbreit drawing. In a good way. Okay, if you don't like cute, whimsical stuff, you're probably not going to like this book. (I showed this book to Sissy and my cousin and they found things they liked and they are not into cutesy stuff.) Except for the bunny slippers. Everybody thinks those are cute. I think part of this feeling is evoked by the variety and combination of colors. This is one colorful book!

The projects, beside the bunny slippers, include two hats, a small purse, an eyeglass case, a needlebook, two handbags, a totebag, a pair of mittens, a pair of "adult" slippers (nowhere near as cute as the bunnies!), an i-pod case, four scarves, a floral barrette, bobbled elastic hair bands, heart and flower pins, a baby hat, kid mittens (featured on the cover), a boiled wool jacket for baby, a cosmic blanket, and a backpack. Patterns that must be enlarged are included in the back.

For my blog readers, who I assume are here for the stitching, almost all of the patterns involve some amount of embroidery, and I'm not just talking blanket stitch. Some is done by machine, but almost all of it could be done by hand. In fact, only one set--a purse and scarf--would require the machine. In this instance, the embroidery creates a texture (bubbles) in the fabric. Information about creating the felt you need (knitting it or recycling) is included and the briefest sketch of embroidery stitches is offered.
Photo copyright St. Martin's Press

Birth Sampler

I'm nearly there with this one. I just have to add the date, but I am stitching it over one, which makes it impossible to do on the bus. Well, that wouldn't matter anyway because I have been reading Harry Potter on the bus.

I will need a project for the bus tomorrow because there's no more Potter until Saturday.

I Know What Boys Want

Thank you all so much for the anniversary wishes. We did the traditional anniversary things--hung around the house and then drove two hours to see friends and watch baseball. You can read about it here and here.

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I'm happy that people found the list of man gifts useful, if even just for a laugh. I can’t believe I forgot the link to the daddy caddy in the list, however. These are those things that you give to your brother-in-law to put over his favorite armchair to hold the remote and his reading glasses. You know, if your sister-in-law will let you…

When I was looking for boy items, I found directions to decorate a shot glass with polymer clay.

And this link to a list of man-gifts at getcrafty got left out somehow.
I know! How could that list have been incomplete!

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Searching around for crafts to make for boys had its highs and lows.

Here’s a high point: a little video of “boys” using a glue gun. Why are they so dumb? Is it genetic, linked to the Y chromosome? I’m pretty sure this is one of those times when the phrase “alcohol may have been a contributing factor” is appropriate.

So this question that we are asking is one that plagues us all. It is asked at Whip Up, SuperNaturale, and a flickr group. (Visit the latter and you will see some very adorable things for infants and younger boys, mostly sewing—appliqué, aprons, clothes, and bags. They yearn for the gifts for teenagers, and I know someday I shall too.)

So, while you're sewing, how about costumes? Very young ones love dressing up. I love how they like to go out of doors dressed in their Spider Man pajamas, or, you know like my nieces who once wore their rain coats, rain boots, and carried their umbrellas to the movies when it was 85 and gloriously sunny. My nephews are totally into pirates. I was thinking, what better thing to do than arm them? I wonder if you can get a wooden sword in the wood section at AC Moore. Paint the blade metallic silver and add jewels to the handle. How cool would that be?! But my sil’s will probably kill me. You could get a “pirate hat” and attach Captain Jack-style braids made from doll hair that you have beaded. Yay! A beading project you can make for boys.
Or, to hell with it all, I can just get them some 18th C handcuffs and let them have at it. (Did I ever tell you that my oldest niece use to call them “handcups” and she would make them out of rubber bands? “Let me put my handcups on you.” When you are so adorable, how do you even know what handcuffs are?)

But back to the costumes: It’s a known fact that every superhero needs a cape. That can’t be that hard to sew. And you could add a monogram to make it special. With the recent release of the Harry Potter movie and the anticipated last book, I think you could sew robes or knit the scarf. Just find out what house is appropriate. I’m also going to recommend looking at the pattern catalogs to see what reminds you of your favorite little boy.

Appliqués: there were a lot of appliquéd onesies, t-shirts, and sweatshirts in my research--especially on the flickr site. You could do this with all kinds of fabric, but I’ve got pirates on the brain. You can find pirate fabric: here, here, here, and here. Here’s another set of appliques just because they’re so cute.

I also saw pajama style pants for day and night. Tie-dye t-shirts are another easy and fun craft project.

We know from Barbara that her boys dig the bags. (Okay, am I making that up? I can't find it on her blog now that I need it!) I wonder what age boys have to be before they stop carrying things in handmade bags? (I’ll never forget the time, very early in our relationship, when the dude was going to carry his shit on an airplane in a plastic grocery sack. The horror, the shame! Fortunately, my dad is always getting swag in small duffle bags. And the break-up crisis was narrowly averted. But I digress.)

Encourage savings.
A hacky sack!
Hand puppets, more puppets, and more.

Flipping through some of my craft books led me to decorating a cork board. You could use one of those pirate fabrics to do something like this. Or you could glue on a foam or felt design--sports, dinosaur, dragon, whatever he's into (I saw this recommendation in a book; unfortunately no link).

We don’t normally think of giving boys bath soaps, but how could these cookies not entice them into the tub? Or soap with spiders, because boys are the dirtiest things on the planet.

Make a scrapbook, a day in the life of [your relationship to the kid] [your name]. I’m pretty sure that Uncle Dude is much more interesting to them than I am. So we could take a photo of him leaving for work, getting on the bus, getting on the el, walking around campus, etc. so they can connect with their uncle who lives 3000 miles away. Sorry, no link—I just thought of that!

I also once had to write a story book for a friend’s baby shower. I based it on “Good Night Moon” and had the little one saying good night to different landmarks in San Francisco (where she was born). You could write a little storybook and illustrate it with stickers, photos, recycled magazines, or your own drawings. I know, a lot of this is for little kids, but my favorite boys are all under six.

I also found some really cute things that cost way too much: this travel art set, this checker set, and this tent. All would be easy enough to replicate with scrap fabric and your own contents for way less than those prices! I did have trouble finding instructions for a tent.

Also, looking at some stuffed "monsters" gave me inspiration: you could recycle felted sweaters (felt is easier to sew) but add another dimension—a la Mr. Potato Head or Dapper Dan. Make them interactive by adding things you can Velcro on (easy to do because you only need the hook side—the felted sweater will be the loop) or add zippers, strings, buckles, etc. Man I am just on fire today!

Use fleece to make things—blankets, scarves, hats, or pillows. Check out the selection of fleece here; great stuff for boys and men: camo, plaid, John Deere (which is my youngest niece’s favorite thing, so I’ll have to make something with this!), sports, animals, and happy dogs.

If all else fails, buy them a gift card and stick it in one of these.

The Candy Anniversary

Traditional gift tables suggest that the sixth anniversary gift should be candy or iron. Let me tell you how much I prefer the idea of candy.

This isn't really blog relevant at all, but we can cast our minds back to the movie quiz or the great attic cleaning, and I can explain that at our wedding reception, the tables were all named for romantic films--we were living in the movie capital of the world after all. We had twenty-two tables, but really, who wants to be relegated to table 22? The table names were in pewter frames on the tables with a quote from each movie. We took them out of my mother's attic during the great clean up and gave away the frames, but kept the quotes. My mother thought I should take 22 frames home to display, but really...where? So I'll be putting the quotes into a scrapbook, or not, someday. Some of the table names: Meet the Parents, Casablanca, When Harry Met Sally..., It Happened One Night, The Nutty Professor (a lot of our friends are English professors), So I Married an Axe Murderer (we do have a sense of humor), The Princess Bride (the children's table), Four Weddings and a Funeral, Moonstruck, Ground Hog Day (we started dating February 2, 1992), Philadelphia Story, The English Patient, Singin' in the Rain, Barefoot in the Park, Il Postino, Pride and Prejudice, and Shakespeare in Love.

(Third from the right.)
Happy Anniversary, dude.

Man Gifts

Judging by the dearth of responses, it’s as hard for you to find things to make (not bake!) for men as it is for me. So I scoured the internet (and spent a ton of time on Martha Stewart’s website) for ideas for uncles, brothers-in-law, and other men (note: not for boys, but I will continue my search). The one craft I mostly avoided was knitting. Because if you are a knitter and you can’t think of something to knit for a man who lives in a wintery clime, you need more help than I can give you! I tried to find tiny needle crafts, but I did also look at crafts that seemed very general—ones that involved gluing, decoupage (which is just gluing), and etching (which is kind of like gluing).

It’s a tough one, though. "Crafts for men" brings up a lot of silly things your kids can make for father’s day. A lot. So I took another approach, "guy" materials. I started off slowly with duct tape. Check here for instructions on making bookmarks, checkbook covers, coasters, card cases, wallets, and more; here for a photo album, glasses case, and the usual suspects; and here for stuff from the guys who started it all.

Then I was on a roll and found denim. Here you’ll find a rug and a quilt (which brings to mind the t-shirt quilt.). You could turn him into "Denim Vest". And, well, go see the list Sharon B put together on recycling denim.

And of course, leather: a leather belt—this one’s for girls, but use your imagination or a leather placemat. (Hey, he might want to protect that table!)

Then I was warmed up and started thinking in terms of items, beginning with things you suggested. iPod cover in felt, Crochet, Duct tape, or Knit.

How much would the dude love a chess set? Well, he’d appreciate that I’d made it, but it wouldn’t get much use. (He sticks with his tournament set or the travel set.)

For the man with a home office, and just because it's the name of one of my favorite films, a Desk Set.

Then I turned to one of my favorite books, 101 Ways to Say Merry Christmas for Less than $25, which is now 15 years old, and no longer makes good on the $25 claim, but still has some good ideas, including

• Coasters Stitched, made from glue and rope, and Glass (good for scrapbookers). You could also etch a glass coaster (see below for etched glass link). Also, you could needle felt them, like this. (One piece of wool felt, with wool needle felted onto it in a spiral shape.) Awhile back, I made a wine coaster for my dad, using the grapes from a Betsy Stinner of Earth Threads design (Simple Elegance Sampler) and a wine coaster from Sudberry House. I don’t see the round one that I used on their web catalog, but I bet it’s out there somewhere.
• Book marks (give it with a book!) You can stamp these—in a future episode, I’ll show you how I made the dude’s "Aloha" bookmark. You can stitch these—duh. You can feature your face. You can sew something like this. (Actually, poke around that site, there are a number of things they sell that you could craft—notebook cover, desk accessories, etc.)
• Ornaments: stitched or crafted, there are loads of places to find these. I’ve made my brothers-in-law ornaments, and this book has pool ball ornaments.
• For the ecologically friendly, you could make a shopping bag, especially out of recycled plastic—all the rage: knit it , make a new fabric to sew with, or crochet. (Check it! Tutorials.)
• How about a kite?
• You can find directions to make a paperweight--glue! or paint one. And I know I’ve seen snow globes that you can insert a picture or maybe a little stitching into…
• If he’s a cook, make him some manhand potholders. (How many Seinfeld references can I include?)
• I think you could make this sun catcher for a man. In fact, it would be perfect for my bil, the geologist.

Here’s where I went kind of nuts on the Martha Stewart site:

• Monogrammed slippers
• Wooden boxes
• (You could stitch one too.)
• Monogram corkboard
• Etched glass. You could also paint glasses—every big box craft store has what you need. Those martini glasses in the Hallmark store with olives painted on would be easy to replicate. Who can’t paint an oval?
• Eye glass case. The dude always has scratched lenses. You could sew these, stitch them, or make them from duct tape. Somewhere on Martha's site, she also has a sewn eyeglass case that is lined with an eyeglass cleaning cloth. You can get great ones at the dollar store.
• You could totally riff off this Stewart invention to make an organizer—and it works for the studious or the tool-type.
• And speaking of the tool type, how about a tool caddy?
• Ties may be cliché, but you can monogram them. Hankies too! (I once bought one off the internet that was embroidered "snot rag." My stupid father threw it away with the packaging. Boo!)
• And last but not least, some guy Martha knows loves his, so this Gardener’s Apron might work.

Don't Be Mad

...but I've started thinking about Christmas crafting. I don't know what came over me, but I made a list of gift recipients and started thinking about what I could make.

I think I'm making...

• felted soaps for the dude (he loves the Neutrogena for men power scrub)
• the abandoned flip flop project from last year for my mother, sister, and aunt (pictured)
• ribbon candy ornaments for my grandmother
• felted eyeglass case for my mother-in-law
• scrapbook travel mugs for my brothers-in-law
And then, I'm at a loss. What about my uncle? four nephews? father-in-law? Why is it always the boys who are so hard to craft for? What about my sisters-in-law who I hardly know? Indeed, what?
Ideas welcome.

One Week to Our Anniversary

I managed to finish this year's anniversary stitch today. I love it, and I think the dude will too. Now I just have to see if he wants it framed, or if he will lift his moratorium on pillows (aka cushions). (Sometimes I simply cannot explain the dude.)

Sam Sarah Designs
Doubles: My Whole Heart
Stitched with the specified Caron Watercolor threads on RR Blueberry Tula

Needle and Thread

I haven't answered an SBQ in a while, so here are two--and quite a pair!

How many needles do you use during a project? Have you ever loaded up a needle for every color? Do you use a new needle for every project or recycle your favorite needle? I can't use needles for too long. I think I am physically acidic. (It's not just an acid tongue!) I remove the plating off needles--doesn't matter if they are nickel or gold or platinum--use a needle too long and it is down to the bare metal and rough. I use them as long as I can (so I guess I recycle) for one project or two or three, but eventually they become unusable. I have indeed loaded up a needle for every color, went out and bought one of these for the project even. It didn't turn out to save any time. (Ultimately, you still have to thread the needle when you run out of floss.) It was just a huge pita to keep everything where it belonged.

Do you consider yourself a "floss miser?" Not at all! When you think of it, the floss is among the cheapest parts of this whole endeavor--no matter whether you are using silk or cotton, nor whether you pay $1 or .20 for a skein of DMC. You hardly ever use a whole skein of floss on a project. There are some bobbins of floss I am still using that because of marks I made on them, I know they are from one of my first projects. And I am still using it eighteen years later! I throw away great gobs of floss. Doesn't mean I never try to squeeze out a couple of extra stitches--but that's more out of laziness than stinginess.

Pennsylvania Dutch

The Pennsylvania Dutch have a saying whatever the weather is on the fifth day of the month so it will be for the rest of the month. I learned this yesterday after our visit to the Kutztown Folk Festival where we saw a tractor parade, watched glass blowers, and ate like I had never heard of Weight Watchers. (Unfortunate, that last bit.) So it's going to be gloomy and soggy? Let's see how they do.

While my nieces and the dude sat rapt watching the glass blower (how many times do I have to see this?) I grew bored and wandered off. I found a delightful dyer and bought 200 yards of wool that had been hand-dyed with natural dyes. This particular wool was dyed with elderberries, but the dyer used lots of other fabulous plants to make wonderful colors. And I love her idea for coasters. Too bad we don't need any coasters...

We also bought a hex sign from one of the last "original" painters. (A lot of them are screened these days.) When my mother was here in May, she helped us hang some of our art in the living room. We have a pretty nice collection of textiles from visits we've made abroad and that our friends have brought back from exotic locales. When she hung the things over the couch, she said we needed something round and about 12" to put in the collage. As we were walking around, I saw the hex signs and it occurred to me that it would fit in with the world market/folk art theme. Funnily enough, the one we both liked turned out to have perfect colors for the room.

I've been stitching a couple of gifts for friends who have birthdays next month and they read the blog, so I can't show any pictures. And there are no pictures of my purchases because the lighting around here is terrible. Come back on the next sunny day!

Punchy

From the comments:
OMG, it's you! I've been wondering who in the heck is doing punchneedle.

Chelle, I hate to disappoint you, but it's not me. You are looking at the sum total of my punchneedle experience. I know I've seen some punchneedle on the blogs. Kali's done some. I know I've seen it on someone else's blog, but it's eluding me right now. But a google search of "punchneedle blog" turned up 28,700 hits. Unfortunately, one of them was mine... Nevertheless, there's someone out there doing it. (It only took me three days to find this little bit of punchneedle that I had done. So how much longer do you think it will take to find the needle?)

Halfway Through

Today is the 183rd day of the year--182 days before and 182 days to come. We are officially halfway through the year. So how am I doing on my annual plans?

I planned to work on 6 UFOs:

• Anna’s Bird --I've worked on it!
• Elizabethan Rose
• Frickin’ Chicken aka Majestic Rooster
• Alpine Garden --I finished it! :) Yay me!
• Tree of Life Window --I've worked on it
• Watercolor Geraniums

6 new starts:

• Curtis Boehringer, apple sampler--started
• Cross Eyed Cricket, Promise of Summers to Come--started
• Liz Turner Diehl, 18th Century Knot Garden
• Liberty Street Designs, Tall Flowers Sampler--started, nearly finished
• Bent Creek, Christmas Carols
• Bent Creek, Snowman Stocking

6 obligation pieces

• Dolly Mama Kitty--done!
• Dolly Mama Poodle--done!
• baby White announcement--done!
• baby Palmer announcement--nearly there
• SB Jillian’s stocking
• SB Elisabeth’s stocking

I'm officially halfway there! I've worked on half of my UFOs, though I've only finished one. I've made 3 of my six starts, and I finished more than half of my obligation pieces. Let's hope things don't deteriorate as Christmas gift making sneaks up on us. (Did I say that out loud?)

I Feel the Love!

I want to thank you all for coming out of the woodwork to show your love for the biscornu! I hope the judges are feeling it like you all are! Thank you; thank you; thank you. It's very difficult for me to imagine that I'm not just like everyone else (just ask my therapist), so I thought I was making this contest entry and it was going to be an obvious choice that was just what everyone else would make. You can see how much I really needed your validation.

For all the Cubs fans, dude, you have that C--you can totally substitute it. And the blue would work with the red seams. Instead of a blue star, you could put a baseball button. Anyway, I grew up in NH and because the BoSox totally broke my heart in 1986, I can continue to be a member of Red Sox Nation. I only made the Phillies biscornu because I didn't want to get my head kicked in at Citizen's Bank Park while I worked on it. I do think there are many possibilities for substitutions and changes. You could even make a basketball biscornu or a puck. The (American) football might not work so well, but a soccer ball...

Thanks again to all of you!

Contest Entry

May I present the Phillies Biscornu, my entry in the Craftzine Stitch N Pitch contest?

I thought how much the stitching on the edges of a biscornu reminded me of a baseball, so I did my seams in baseball red. The Phillies' "P" and blue star logos decorate the object, which is remarkably round for something made from two squares of fabric. If I don't win (and really, what are the odds?) I will make the chart available here at some later date, once I've sat down and charted the whole thing (I do have a chart of the P available for all you Phillies fans). Here's my Phillies fun fact: I work with a former Phillies team doctor.