Marquoir

Well, sports fans, I took out the marquoir for some air today. I was trying to remember the last time I worked on it, and I think it was back when we were still having Friday night stitch night with the Strawberry Sampler gals instead of the weekend of stitching. I was trying to figure it out and asked Molly when they stopped having them. She didn't even remember that we had ever met at night at the barn! It turns out it was 2011. I was looking for "before" photos for you, (see here) and I see that I started this in 2006. I find this all mind boggling, because I was sure I put this aside like three years ago tops. What I do remember in excruciating detail is watching the woman at the stitch-in touch the marquoir. Seven years ago like it was yesterday, but seven minutes ago? No. LOL. (They say you do remember traumatic events better than others.)

Today I finished the flowers in the basket (but, I noticed as I was photographing it, not the basket itself) the giant H and M-O to the right of the basket.

I was invited to go to a stitch-in in Exton, and though I can't make it in November, I'm aiming for December. Maybe I'll bring this big thing along!

That Marquoir

I did it! I worked on the marquoir. I worked on section 7a and 8a. It's not much but the last time I worked on it was in September 2011. The last time I showed a picture was March 2011.

If you'd like to see to scale, check here.

I didn't get as much time on this as I would have liked because I had to go to a fundraiser for the rescue organization I work for. Good thing we went because the dude won a bottle of scotch and some cigars!

Burning Through the WIPs

My goal was to finish a page of the marquoir pattern. Despite the fact that stitch night was canceled on Friday, I accomplished that goal quickly. I hoped to finish another page on Saturday, and I almost did--the E and the first part of the F would have completed that page. Pretty close. I may yet get back to it before the month ends.

Instead of finishing that, I moved on to another WIP, a Janlynn kit Primitive Santa. This one hardly qualifies as a WIP. You've never seen if before because I had exactly 46 stitches in it which is fairly unimpressive. It's stitched on 14-count black aida which is unappealing in many ways. This one has about four colors of red--and lots of it. Sense a little fatigue?

Today I've moved on to St. Basil's Cathedral. Let's see how far I get...

One Thin Dime

The last time I worked on this--about ten months ago--my dad couldn't focus on it because it was too small. Even with cheaters, over one on 40 count can make me cross-eyed. I had better get going on this before my (rapidly aging) eyes get any worse!

I was hoping to get the border done before I caved and started using more colors, but I couldn't manage it. I haven't often seen coral stars on Christmas trees...

If you're participating in the Needle and ThREAD: Stitching for Literacy New Blogger Puzzle Contest, here's line 1:

QSAM   YW   VLM     MPMWYWB,

This contest is open to everyone so if this is the first you're hearing of it, go take a look.

I love doing puzzles. I think that may be the only reason we get the daily Inquirer. I run through the Sudoku, cryptoquote, word game (how many words can you make from a longer word), Jumble, and the crossword while I am at the dog park or at lunch. Pete is impressed that I can do the cryptoquote though he is starting to catch on to my methods; my mother wonders at the fact they do not give you a letter to start (in her local rag, they get a letter--cheaters!).

Today, I am getting out the marquoir (aka the toga) on which I will spend two days so I can finish (at least) one page per my new year's resolution.  I think the alphabet with orange flowers is the halfway mark. And just for laughs, I left the dime.

Finally, Christmas in July

Today the dude and I picked peaches for salsa and also blackberries for cobbler. You know how messy those suckers are? I looked like I stabbed someone in the blackberry fields. (No one else looked this way...no one else over four.)

It would have been easy to do...I was working a row of blackberry bushes, and on the other side was a couple who were unaware of me.

The woman: "There's a big animal in these bushes with me."
Man: "Like a python?"*

Woman: "I hear sticks breaking."

Me: "Like a human?"

Woman: "Oh my God, I didn't know you were there! I'm sorry I called you a big animal."

Me: "It's been a long time since anyone called me a big animal."

Man cracks up.

The dude and I are still laughing.

Last night was stitching with the Strawberry Girls. I finished another alphabet. It was nice to meet some new people as well as seeing old friends. (Keep checking on Jenna--she finished something!)

In the morning my library stitching was curtailed because one of the old ladies had to show her photos from her trip to work with orphans in El Salvador. Of course the curtains had to be closed and the lights turned off. She was going on and on about the torture, rape, and murder of nuns in the 1980s (anyone who was in Catholic school in the early 80s will remember; it's all the nuns could talk about). Unfortunately, one of the member's grandsons had been killed this past week. It was a real cheery morning. But I did stitch a bit on my Miribilia Christmas Fairy.

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NB: I once watched a documentary where they tested people to see how they performed in groups. For example, they told a group of people to wait in a room until someone came to get them. Then they started shooting smoke in the room to see if anyone would leave because, you know, the building seemed to be on fire. People didn't leave. And the length of time they stayed? Had it been a real fire, they would have died of smoke inhalation. People behave the way they see other people behave, it turns out.

I'm not calling you lemmings. It's just that I asked you to list three charts that typified your family (and even gave you the link to the charts) and everyone chose "beer." You read the word "OF" where it was not written. Almost as interesting as watching people sit in a burning building. (I don't usually perform a lot of close reading of blogs myself so it's a gentle chiding rather than a, speaking of nuns, knuckle rapping.) I'm still going to enter those who chose beer, but the rest of you will be held to a higher standard. ;)

Also, Barbara's giving away one of the La D Da charts I sent her.

*A python? Your girlfriend says "big animal" and you think python...in southeastern Pennsylvania? At a pick-your-own farm?

Title Goes Here*

On Friday morning, I worked on the Las Vegas piece. Which is due Sunday. I have no idea how I am going to finish it. It will be complete, but I had hoped to put it in a box. A box I haven't purchased yet. {Sigh} I could do a pillow or wall hanging in this amount of time, but I really wanted to do the box. Maybe I'll go look for one tomorrow. Anyway, on Friday morning, the old lady conversation ranged from how fabulous Kobe Bryant is (when Mabel's holding forth, you don't really want to mention rape accusations) to retirement homes and long term care. It's wonderful and remarkable to be around people so different from myself. I will show this piece when it's complete.

In the evening, I went to stitch night with my Strawberry girls. This week, I was one of the younger ones again. I guess all the young hipsters have weddings and graduations and children's baseball games to attend. I worked as usual on the marquoir while wearing a shirt that matched my stitching. This is what it looked like last time. I thought I had gotten more done. I'm going to blame Stella. First, she made me late (I was home alone and had to walk and feed her before I left.) Then, we spent an inordinate amount of time talking about Stella. But I did get a good tip about helping her sleep through the night. I will be so happy when we're sleeping through the night!

I know what you're thinking, shut up already and tell us who won the charts! That honor goes to Jane, and her husband's ill-fitting tux.

* Did you see this? It's every editor's nightmare.

Friday Night (High)Lights

You know you're old (or have children) when your idea of a rockin' Friday night is to hang with the stitching crew at the historical society and have pizza. And stitch, of course.

I managed to regain forward momentum on the marquoir. Even though Jenna told me I should get back to work on my father's 70th birthday present, I stuck with the marquoir until I finished section five. Woohoo! I am 5/16 done with this project.

I was telling some women at my table about stitching with the old ladies at the library. I say (and it's a bit of an exaggeration) that I am the youngest by a factor of 2, that is, everyone else is twice as old as me.

"And how old is that?"

"86."

You should have seen the look of surprise when she figured out I was 43. (I should stop bragging about having good genes already!) In fact, there's probably only one woman who is in her 80s. Most of the women are active 70somethings and newly retired 60somethings. Even though I am now officially the young one, I get two hours to put my head down and stitch. Besides, these old broads are funny. And charming. And interested in things. I like my old ladies even if my family makes fun of me for stitching with them.

Every time we meet at the Ford to stitch, Ruth Ellen makes a point of saying how great it is that young people are stitching. And last time, I know she was looking at me. I hate to burst her bubble. (This time, there were women much younger than me, but they're still not teenagers.)

Anyway, because of the storm, there was high attrition on Friday night, and even Jenna abandoned me early. There I was, pathetically sitting by myself. I was invited to sit with the "rowdy girls." We talked about 10 year olds on the internet. A nephew was downloading Sports Illustrated swimsuit photos. My niece has taken up watching "meat drumming" (which I cannot help but think of as meat slapping) on youtube. (But speaking of dirty things on internet video, have you seen Betty White's "Delicious Dish" SNL skit? Ana Gasteyer and Molly Shannon reprise their roles as NPR food show hosts. My favorite ever is Schweddy Balls, but Dusty Muffin is a new pleasure. {Both links require you to watch a short ad.})

And then I got to clear up while wearing stupid shoes (defined by the dude as shoes I can't walk quickly in, like 3" heels). Because you know, there had to be some acknowledgement that this was a Friday night.

Friday Night Stitches

I'd love to show you how much stitching I got done Friday night. But there's been a SNAFU.

I made a mistake, we voted, and I continued on having skipped two rows in the basket (actually in the weird birds).

Now before I go on, someone did make the argument that I should take it out because "I'd know there was a mistake in it." Hahahaha! That is not the kind of person I am. By the time I get to the other side (four months from now) I'd forget that I had made the mistake. In fact, if there was a reason to unstitch, it's that I'd forget to make the same mistake on the other side.

When I decided to skip the rows, Molly said, "Just don't count off it when you're stitching the next part." Of course, by the time I got to the next motif, I had totally forgotten that I wasn't supposed to count from the basket. The next alphabet is eleven rows below the basket; it should be 13. I realized this Saturday morning. And so this picture from the last time I stitched on the marquoir demonstrates my progress from this weekend. How can a person forget to do a thing they've been told to do just minutes before?

I'm going to blame the conversation. I would tell you all about it, but the google phrases that would lead people to my blog would make you blush. Besides you have to come to get the gossip.

The toucher was there Friday night but she kept her distance. And I kept her in my sights. In fact, it was a rather small and quiet group. A few of my favorite people couldn't make it. So you'd have thought I would have stitched much more of this pattern. Or maybe you just know how I spectacularly I can screw up a pattern and have come to expect this from me?

Stitching at the Ford

I don't know how so many days have passed so quickly. Last Friday was stitch night, and I haven't had a chance to tell you about it until now. Well, the story works better when it's illustrated, and I had a hard time taking a photo the past few days because of the weather. Very bright and sunny now. In fact, I am writing this outside while I watch Miss Stella chase birds (she doesn't catch them) and destroy the hedge (good, it needs destroying). The sun is making it difficult to see this glossy screen, let alone type. (Yes, it's a horrible secret that I can't type without watching the letters appear.)

Anyhoodle, as promised, I took the marquoir off to stitch night. People were impressed but also sort of bewildered. When someone mentioned to another stitcher that it was a freebie, the person replied, "Of course it is because who would stitch it?" Exactly the kind of tactless thing I would say so I was not the least offended. I was accused of dressing to match my project, and if people expect that from me in the future, I am going to have to invest in more burnt orange clothes. (You are perhaps surprised I own even one piece of burnt orange clothing?)

I had gotten up from my stitching spot to eat the sticky goodies Molly and Ruth Ellen had brought. Mmmm...sticky goodies... While I was away from the project, someone strolled over to examine it. I watched in horror as she touched it with her hands and then picked it up and rearranged it so she could get a better look. She fucking touched it. What the hell people? I remain, all these days later, gobsmacked. She's lucky she wasn't straight-up smacked. It's not as though I had disappeared and she couldn't ask me to look at it; I was the one wearing burnt orange!

The good news is that I am halfway through section five. I worked on it all weekend (including our holiday Monday). I am trying to decide if I should keep at it until I finish section five or if I should put it away until our next stitching night day (Ruth Ellen decided we should stitch on the occasional Saturday so she can teach us a thing or two. Whether we like it or not.) If I do the former, I could conceivably finish this year. But will I tire of it?

Here's a close-up of section five (encompassing the little wave of flowers, the small alphabet (A-F) and those whacktastic birds. Not to mention the border, which I loathe stitching.):

Marquoir ABC Ancien

Gigi and Carinne

Click to see how much I've done since February 2008.

Click here if you would like to see the way some people finished this marquoir.

Promises, promises

I promised you a photo of the marquoir , but I have to admit that I didn't work on it at all this weekend. I spent much of Saturday working on a present for my niece's birthday. It's a rag quilt made from puppy flannel fabrics. Of course, I bought this fabric in December, and they're changing her room decor from puppies to horses (her other obsession) this month. Of course. We're also going to (God help me) take her to Strasburg when Thomas comes.

Then the dude called in one of his Christmas presents--a monthly trip to a new-to-us restaurant that was packaged as "around the world on your stomach, without ever leaving home." We went to Vietnam on Saturday night. There's a Vietnamese place of that name in Philly's Chinatown. We started in the third floor 40's style lounge. The dude thought it reminded him of "that movie...the one with Michael Caine." "The Quiet American," I said. Then we noticed it was playing in an endless loop on the flatscreen. We were sitting in a location where we could mostly ignore it because it's one thing to sit in Philadelphia's Chinatown in a 40's style French-colonial-inspired Vietnamese lounge, and quite another to sit on a fake Quiet American movie set while you watch the movie in an endless loop. We had some delicious food. So no stitching on Saturday.

Then on Sunday, I went to an alumnae club craft group. It was mostly knitters but one woman was spinning cotton and I stitched on Tall Flowers. I couldn't bring the marquoir and my travel piece is just cute, not very impressive. So I brought something that I hoped was funky to encourage people to see the possiblities of cross-stitch. It was a great group. Two students showed up (we met on campus) and we had alumnae from the 40s (dedicated argyle sock knitters as undergrads), 60s, 70s (the first class who could wear trousers to class), and 80s (the first computer users). I'd tell you more about the woman from the class of '62 except that she asked if anyone could show her how to do cables, and the woman in the most beautiful cabled sweater I've ever seen could. She spent two hours concentrating on that but she promised to come to our next meeting and participate a little more. We meet again in April.

After Sunday dinner I went back to work on the blanket which is due next Sunday. I sewed together three rows of seven squares. Six to go. Then it's on to Sissy's overnight bag.

Milestone

I haven't finished section three (though I am pretty close!). The milestone I have reached is that I have used two complete skeins of DMC 310 on this project. I am stitching it 1-over-1 on 40-count fabric.

Marquoir Update

I can't believe I haven't updated my progress on this piece since January! I haven't worked on it as much as I'd like, but I have worked on it. Part 8 was recently released, and I'm still on Part 3. The Z marks the end of this section, so you can see I have a ways to go on it. Still, it's not a race...

The dude is out of town, however, which means I can eat Lean Cuisines for dinner, put on my crap movies, and stitch. Although someone should clean the floor and do some laundry. And that toe-molding that was recently installed isn't going to paint itself. My money's on the marquoir.

Marquoir Update

Leah asked how I was doing with the marquoir. I'm still working on part two, even though five parts have been released. This is almost exactly where part two begins and ends. So you can see I've only managed the easy bits!

I haven't had as much time with this as I would have liked this week, and this weekend isn't going to yield a lot of stitching time. We promised the kids special days for Christmas, and today we are taking one to the art museum. It's going to be great fun! Tomorrow is The Big Game--one I really didn't expect the Patriots to be playing. I had really hoped to see LT crush the weak Indie defense, but I don't get to write the script. Anyway, where there is Buffalo chicken dip, there is no marquoir.

For scale.

Walking on Sunshine

I'm pleased to announce that the doctor has taken me off crutches! Even though I was too sick to work today, there was no way I was going to miss that appointment. I still have to wear the orthopaedic shoe because the foot won't fit into a sneaker yet, or so they say. The horrible man in the scrubs bent my toe in a painful way and told me I had to torture myself like that twice a day. Anyway, I will spare you the sight of Franken-foot. It's too gruesome.

Instead, I share with you photos of the marquoir. Taken during the day, just after noon. Unfortunately, it was a dark and stormy night. This piece is giant. The 40-count fabric is about a yard wide and over a yard long. I have stitched 1/16th of the pattern

Back on My Own Couch

Marquoir ABC Ancien

Gigi and Carinne

begun November 17, 2006

Freebie Poodle

Dolly Mamas by Joey

I was making this for Lala but she told me that she wants a cat. I think I'm going to change the dog's skirt and shoes to blue so that I can give it to Yay-o.

Day 6: Back to the Chair-and-a-half

Today the girls left me with the boys and went shopping. We watched the children--in my case, I did a lot more watching than anything else--and football. (As I write, USC is moving up the polls. Woohoo!) I managed to get quite a bit done on the marquoir today. Well, I finished the corner motif which certainly feels like a lot. I am stitching this ginormous piece over one on 40-count fabric, so it is a lot of work. It's lovely, but the fabric is huge! It's going to be a mess by the time I am done stitching. I also got a bit done on the Dolly Mama freebie poodle. I was going to give this to my niece whose room is pink but she wants a cat. I could change the poodle's skirt and shoes to blue and give it to my other niece who would be delighted by the poodle...I'll think about it.

Leah Enables

Leah has found the pattern. Jacob's Sampler from Cedar Hill. But here's what's weird. I think I was in Cedar Hill's booth! Am I just confusing this pattern with another? BestPal, you were there. Have I lost my mind?

Anyway, Leah's link is not lost on me because I am looking for a sampler to do for a cousin's baby, and Cedar Hill had a cutie.

In more news of Leah's enabling, I actually started the marquoir. There's not much to show at this point. I am using black and 921. It's going to be perfect in the dining room, you know, in 17 months when it's done.

Shhhhh

I'm working on a secret project. The only clue I'm giving is that it has the word "fuck" in it, so I can't stitch it outside of the house. Well, I could, but I'd have to put up with the screams as mothers clapped their hands over their children's eyes. So no pictures until it's outed.

I have, however, decided to do an incredibly giant marquoir that starts in September. You can check it out here, but you should go to google to translate the page so you know where to find the free, serial project. (If you're still having trouble, you can get step-by-step instructions from Leah.) They won't let you link to the project page. (Hey, get a better server.) Off to find a piece of fabric 33" x 41"--and that's on 40-count fabric.