Another Camp Project Complete

The dude thanks you for all your praise, but says, perhaps rightly, that it's our neighbor who deserves all the credit. I know we couldn't have done it without him...except the digging. That we did do without him. Thanks again. It's a small joy to walk down the path every day.

I finished another camp project last night. This was a patriotic needlebook from 2009. Now, the Silver Needle gives you everything you need to finish a project, including mat board cut to the correct size. So it's not like it's any great difficulty to finish these projects. I don't know what was holding me back. Well, besides having lost all my notes and photos on the project, nothing was holding me back. {wink} I sent an email begging for help, and the fabulous Mona sent me photos of the piece. Even with my difficulties with spacial relations I figured it out. Except where I had to unstick each section for one reason or another! Thankfully Aleene's tacky glue is pretty forgiving.

This needlebook takes its elements from Fanci That's Long May She Wave.  All the parts were stitched on one piece of fabric and even though I left loads of room between each component, I still screwed up the spacing when I cut. That's why she's flying so low. But it doesn't look horrible, right? Don't answer that. There's not a lot I can do about it now!

Yes, I miscut this one too. It can't be helped. I like to measure once and cut twice. I chose the Liberty Bell because I live nine miles from it. 

You can see here that the inside can hold many things. Sorry the picture is so blurry. You get the idea. Moving on...

These are the adorable accessories that accompany the needlebook: a pinkeep (I'm not going to apologize again for my bad centering job. I think this went awry in the sewing rather than the cutting. Sigh.) How about that tiny fob? Very nice centering job, no cutting issues. Of course, it is only an inch or so. Very proportionate to the Kelmscott Little Gem scissors you can just see peeking up there.

I'm so pleased to have finished this. And now I have achieved the August finishing goal.

I'm Making Good

I have been quietly working on the top-of-the-list August goal, finish-finish five projects. This is Angel Stitchin's O Christmas Tree from the JCO Ornament Issue 2005. I seem to have stitched this in 2005; it's on the "needs finishing" list in January of 2006. I don't think I ever showed you a photo. It's stitched on a random piece of whitish fabric with colors that may not be the called for colors, but they are close.

This Mosey N Me chart "Molly to the Rescue" is from the same ornament issue. I stitched it before Stella was even a glimmer in our eyes. But it kind of looks like her. And they're both rescues! I used the called-for colors on a random white fabric. The star is leftover from my Philly Baseball design. The backing fabric for both this ornament and the one above is in the background. (Yes, it was the wrong fabric for the one above, but it is "good enough.")

Happy Winter by SamSarah Design Studio is from the 2000 JCO Issue. According to my notes I finished it in five days in November of 2001. In my defense, it's a good thing I waited this long to do the finishing work. My finishing skills are so much improved. I'll want to hang this cutie on my tree! (Finishing fabric shown in background. Probably should have used this for the Angel Stitchin' ornament too.)

This was a camp project from April 2010, and the stitching was completed April 25, 2010. Do you know how easy this should have been to finish? I had all the pieces cut, fabric on most of them, all I had to do was assemble the flat fold. I guess I should have just dedicated the time. But it's done now! (Except I do have to find the button which will be the point under the exclamation mark.)

Here's another embarrassing project. I started stitching it in April 2008, and it was on my list of finishes in 2008 though I never reported on that. I started the finishing on March 4, 2009. There were some complications with the cutting, and I needed to make a pillow with a zipper. A zipper! It has been sitting around for forever waiting for me to sew the piece to the pillow and sew on the buttons. Boring stuff, but necessary. And now, complete. I am not counting this toward my goal of five pieces because well...it took two years. It should have already been done.

I do have two more pieces on the workbench. Hinzeit "Shoes" that I stitched for my mother...I don't know when because I can find no reference to it on this blog. I know I picked out the floss on my one and only trip to Elegant Stitch in Modesto. So, well before 2005. Maybe before I started the blog? (Was there such a time?) I am also trying to put together the needlebook from camp in 2009 but whatever notes and photos I had of the finishing are lost. I've emailed Mona, and she's on the case. I should finish soon, since, again, all the pieces are cut and have the fabric on them. I just have to put it together...

And I've just about caught up with my goal of doing the finishing work on one project a month! (Of course that doesn't make a dent in the finishing that needs doing!)

Camp Conclusions

I finished stitching the birthday sampler on Sunday.

I can't wait for my father's 70th birthday in June. I am so bringing this to the party to put at his place! Funnily enough, the next three birthdays are my cousin's husband, my dad's, and the dude's. I'm sure they're going to love having this one as their dinner place card!

Speaking of my father's 70th birthday, I need a gift. I was thinking of making a scrapbook like I did for my fil's 70th. I was also thinking of doing one of the projects I bought in Vegas lo these many moons ago. I could do the Las Vegas Welcome sign as a keepsake box or I could do the M Designs "Las Vegas tree" (you know those trees--words written sideways, mirror images) and have it framed.

If I can finish it in the next few weeks I can take it to the Strawberry Sampler framing sale.

Let's make a poll.

I completed the stitching on the quaker heart from camp as well. Now to get to the finishing.

Camping? How About a List?

Just last week I was looking for a camp packing list. I've compiled one; the fact that I was at camp for four days is hardly a coincidence. I looked around, saw the things people had and made a list. Of course there's some amount of overkill in what people bring--matching t-shirts, table mounted cup holders, grapes--but here's a list that is a happy medium.

• clothes
• pajamas
• robe--or wear your bra all day long (see New Rule #1)
• hoodie or sweater
• slippers
• shower shoes
• shoes (nb: you can probably make do with two pairs--or even just one--for 4 days)
• stitching lamp
• stitching projects
• needles
• scissors
• laying tool
• do-lolly
• camera
• nail file
• hand wipes
• band aids
• hand cream
• toiletries
• ear plugs--or perhaps noise canceling headphones
• umbrella But face it: if it rains you will avoid the outside. Don't pack your trench coat (again).
• silk sleeping bag
• extra blanket (small fleece throw)

If you have a friend who lives near enough to drive, she could bring:

• water
• foot stool
• extra lamp for table center (helps light things up after the sun goes down)

I'm sure even after four days of list making, I've forgotten something. Put it in the comments; I'll pack it next year.

Camp Report, Version 8

D.D. and I have completed our 8th Camp Session. Fun as ever! Though the older I get the less sense it makes to stay up until 2 am three nights running. I can't help it! I had to in order to work on these projects:

Chessie and Me's Ewe Under the Willow, front (l) and back (r). This pattern encouraged a bit of friendly competition in the crowd. First D.D. thought of stitching grass and putting color in her tree. (You can hardly see it, but I've got some gold French knots in the tree--I thought needed to pull some of that color in since my wool was gold.) Then I decided to use a grassy color and stitch my initials. Then someone else stitched grassy initials forwards on the front and in reverse on the back! A couple of people at our table used beads instead of French knots to bring color to the tree. Lots of creativity on this one. (We also got those clay pins stuck in the pincushion. And a miniature wooden hornbook--scroll about halfway down.)

Samsarah, Happy Fun Day. Crazy colors starting with WDW Calypso (used for the lettering). Metallics, Frosty Rays, and Fyre Werks were provided for stitchers to choose. It was a gaudy buffet of threads. I had completed the words and then on Sunday morning decided it should say Happy Birthday rather than Happy Fun Day. One woman at our table used overdyed browns to make it a chocolate cupcake. She also only stitched the heart, the star, and the swirl (ie no confetti pieces) and it came out pretty; not as garish. Lots of people stopped by to photograph it. Still, I kind of like how fully over the top this piece is (will be). Totally not my usual thing. This will be finished as a flat fold, and I have the Magic by Mona kit to go along with it. Look for the finished goods in posts to come.

Fourth of July--Quaker Style by Aury who blogs at Acerca del Bordado, stitched in Belle Soie silks. This will be mounted on Week's Dye Works felt (I chose a dark blue houndstooth) and made into a pocket to hold the mother of pearl Kelmscott Heart Threadkeep. (But just a note: please, patriotic at every spring camp? People, I live with a Brit. He loves this country but you see how so much American flaggy business might be a bit much in our house? How about a Christmas in April piece? Please.)

I didn't get to this project at camp. I stitched this on my interminable journey home. (Left Tulsa at 2:00 pm for Houston. Left Houston at 6:50 pm, arrived Philadelphia 11:05. Collected my luggage and car and arrived home to a barking guard dog at 12:15 pm. Couldn't wait for my head to hit the Tempurpedic!) The Temple women's gymnastics team was on our very full flight home--you should be happy to have a gymnastics team on your very full flight. We had a little peanut of a girl in the middle seat. And she was sweet--took an interest in my stitching and in the needlepoint (Janlynn kit) of the woman on the aisle even though she's in college and has much more interesting things on her mind.

Lindy and Mona deserve special recognition this year. Not only were the projects adorable, every single one of them had all the materials you would need and more! Well done, ladies. For a minute, we worried. What would be the charm of our rustic camp if everything went smoothly?

Not to worry, I've come away with a serious case of stitch-ass. No joke, I feel like someone implanted a tennis ball in my left hamstring. I can't wait to go to Pilates tonight--I've been thinking about it since Saturday.

It did become clear this weekend that we may need to establish new camp rules. By now we've all internalized the basic rules: quiet in the hallways after people start going to bed, don't let your door slam, etc.

New Rule #1: BRA WEARING I know wearing a bra for 15 hours grows increasingly uncomfortable but we need to establish some kind of rule so we are not assaulted by old boobs after 11:00 pm. By all means, change into your pajamas but either keep your bra on or wear an extra layer so I don't have to see just how far gravity has taken things. A robe, perhaps? Not sure if you need it? If you can see the outline of a nipple, you need to cover up. The only person who wants to see that didn't come to camp with you.

New Rule #2: SNORING Attend a sleep clinic to establish whether you have a snoring problem. If you do, get treatment. If your next door neighbor (me) is listening to An English Lady Mass on the iPod and she can still hear you snoring (through the wall!), you've got a problem that needs medical intervention. Tomorrow, I'll be posting the packing list for future camps. On it you will find "earplugs." I am thinking, however, noise canceling headphones may be in order.

Okay, the only vegetables I ate in the last four days were deep fried pickles, I need to put some of this in me:

Jet Plane

Phew. Last week, I only let myself think as far as Thursday. And then starting Friday, I focused on Sunday, when I had the family over for dinner--including my cake-baking cousin whose birthday is today and my sister's new boyfriend who has the palate sophistication of a ten year old. (But he makes my sister happy.) We had to keep the house clean, set a menu fit for children and adults, and create an appropriate birthday dessert for the Cake Goddess. (I went with brownie sundaes using the leftover brownies from Thursday. Because a woman's got to know her limitations.)

I am leaving for camp at the crack on Thursday. And I've just started thinking about packing. I know it's going to be wet but warm.

Didn't I once make a list of everything a person should bring to camp? Where did that go?

Help me, people! What am I forgetting?

Home Again, Again

I'm back from camp. I don't know if it was all the sleep I missed out on, or the lovely weather in Pennsyltucky or what, but I am tired in my very bones. Trying to think about what to tell you is tiring me. I'm too tired to even read your blogs, though I am forcing myself to catch up. You will forgive the lack of comments on those during this period.

Thank you, though, for leaving comments on my autoposts. You all can be so thoughtful. Donna's comment makes me wonder if I shouldn't add that story about the young reviving the craft of cross stitch to the old lady count. I'm also pleased that you too wander around your favorite craft store in a zombie-like stupor created by...let's call it possibility. I appreciate your solidarity.

I don't quite know how to write my camp report. It was much the same as it always is: a lot of stitch-ass, too little sleep, three projects, Vera Bradley giveaways, many of the same "spring" people. I didn't finish-finish any of the projects, but I have stitched two, including a needle book with a couple of accessories. I didn't even get to the cupcake. Of course, it might have been easier to get to if they had remembered the floss for that project*. I guess it's hard for me to understand the lack of organization because I am so perfect, but man, hire a pa. Ah, but good help is hard to find these days, and what would be the charm of camp if everything went smoothly?

What I did manage to stitch was the Primitive Needle Halloween scene; it will be finished as an easel and that piece of fabric dangling is the backing--only a little more pink, still purple though. The patriotic (Come on! Why why why? We've had enough!) needle case got stitched while I waited for air traffic in Philadelphia to ease (rain). Next, to put it all together.

This time, I arrived to and departed Oklahoma from OKC. I got to spend some time with DD and Jomama. We took the long way to camp and stopped off at a little quilt and "antique" store (the oldest thing in there was the proprietor). I snapped up a couple of not-too-spendy things: a vase, that has a small sticker on the back "Souvenir of Shawnee, Okla" and this southern Cal apron. The dude asked me why I bought it. How about, we met there, you big lug! And also, look how good it looks in my "Gypsy gold" kitchen and with that jug.

(That wall behind the vase is much closer to the blue in the vase. )

Of course, much too much shopping was done. It's too boring to look at my shopping. I'll say this: the deruta biscornu I wanted last year. Just Nan Scream House. Fabric. Odds and ends. Maybe I'll start them someday and you can watch me stitch them.

DD and I are beginning to think we might go to camp again in November. Maybe. It will depend on a hundred million things and all the stars aligning just right.

Okay, I need someone to come and organize my time. I am wandering through my life in a fog and getting very little done. Pfffft.

*When they announced that I cackled uproariously, as I do.

Updates

I really didn't mean to imply my readers were lemmings or stalkers with that last post. But it's like I open my mouth and insert my foot. It comes across as charming in real life. I just think Blogger should have thought out the name a bit better.

Just to update you on a few stories we've been following:
The crazy cab ride from hell to the airport, ended in the dismissal of the driver--the straw that broke the camel's back I was told--and we got $50 in funny money from the cab company. Good thing because we are going away in October. Not to Thailand. Have you seen this? (Be sure to look at the photos on the right, and don't stop clicking until you see the giant machete.) We were going to go to Montana instead, but they close the state from September until ski season. Hawaii is too far and Europe too expensive. Anyway, at some point in the near future, Bermuda. And we'll be able to use the funny money to ride to the airport.

There is no word on the robbery.

You read here and here about the second surprise, the one I forgot to photograph. DD sent me these a while back. This is the second bag, the one you would have thought would have been easier to put together, but c'mon this is me. DD loves her some rich reds. I love that black lining too.

I guess I'm going to have to make myself one before the spring. But what colors?

Camp Wannasew

Now with more wine coolers and beer...

My trip to Tulsa, which started painfully early on Thursday morning--my cab arrived at 4:15 for a 6:05 flight--is over much too soon. I was in denial until I stepped off the plane in Philadelphia, and even today my hands reject typing and long for the feel of fabric.

When bestpal and I first went to camp in 2003, I didn't even think we'd make it through the whole weekend. (I used to have a fear of the south.) I never imagined I'd still be attending, especially not "by myself." I've made new friends, so I can hardly say I'm going by myself when bestpal doesn't come along. Our original group of six dwindled to only two this year, but I think we may have managed not to alienate everyone we met to make new friends.

If last year's camp motto was "it's all about freedom," this year's started out as "that's part of the charm." We decided that the seemingly inevitable missing flosses and people getting lost on the way to Amish dinner was going to be a fun part of the camp experience. And then? No missing flosses. No lost campers. Not to say that camp was not fun. There was booze! There was raucous laughter! There was nude pillow fighting! (Not really.) Camp was down to 18, but let me tell you how much quieter it was in the halls while we were trying to sleep. Now if 18 people can manage to speak quietly in the bathrooms and not let their doors slam, what is it about the other 20 people who can't manage it? Let them stay home, I say.

Our projects were great! We got to choose a Quaker inspired sampler (Quaker Virtues or Quaker Christmas) and a whole skein of Belle Soie silk (is that redundant?) to design our own set of stitching smalls including a scissor fob, biscornu, and a scissor case. Maybe this year's theme should have been it's all about freedom. I chose "blue heaven" which is sort of periwinkle. You can see the results below. I didn't finish any projects this year but I'm really happy with what I have so far. This is a first. I think I was shooting my mouth too much. But there were new people to hear my boring old stories. The other project was Lizzie*Kate's limited edition kit, My Country. We got both a Silver Needle version (fuzzy fibers, large count fabric) and the original kit. I'm thinking of doing the latter for my cousin's kid as a birth sampler. Our helpful input was heeded and next year spring campers won't be making anything Easter or patriotic. Yay! I have only kept one of each; I usually give the finished Easter projects to my sister and the patriotic to my grandmother; they both appreciate them more than I do. My grandmother will just have to suck it up.

My choices for fob (acorn, monogram), biscornu, and the beginnings of her scissor case.

I bought a ton of stash. Way more than I planned, but I still spent less than the entry fee for a national chess tournament.

Not pictured: fabrics, flosses. It was the fabrics that put me over the edge.

Our goody bags were full of freebie charts, flosses, cookies, and Vera Bradley. I'm not a fan of chintz but I was really excited because we got a pair of VB slippers. I needed new slippers, and the pattern (Kensington) is attractive.

I worked on Hillside Samplings Threadkeeper on the plane and on Thursday night. Here's what it looked like before.

I finished Rose Bunnie by Liberty Street Designs on the plane. Stitched on the called-for linen with substitutions (GAST Harvest Basket for the bunny, Weeks Carrot for the carrot, and white whisper for the tail).

I had been thinking that we might want to do something different next year--it's our sixth camp in Tulsa and it's more difficult to get to Tulsa from PHL (I was up and down three times both ways). But I had so much fun this year, I can't wait for spring!

Tell Me Something Bad about Tulsa

Here are the photos that accompany the camp report. Sorry it took me so long to get them up; I've got no excuse.

This is the Samsarah patriotic heart. It's stitched with overdyed pearl cotton. The blue was stitched one stitch at a time, but the red was stiched in rows because I didn't realize the red was overdyed too. You can see the differences that result when you stitch overdyes both ways.

This is the altered Prairie Grove Peddlar stitched with those luscious Crescent Colors silks in the WhimZi frame.

This needlebook was designed by the staff and stitched with Medici wool. I have to add the trim. This project also came with the cutest pair of little scissors.

Gifted

Back in the 80s and early 90s, my family took a lot of cruises. One thing we learned from sailing around the Caribbean with a bunch of people: your experience is what you make it. Focus on the negative, and surprise, you’re pretty unlikely to enjoy yourself. I think that happened a lot at this camp. There were lots of people bitching and moaning, and honestly, there were a few things to complain about, but in the end all was made right, and really, you have to focus on that.

My flight arrived in Tulsa at 4:00 and by the time we moseyed out to camp, all the tables were filled! Sure, we could have sat two there and a few there, but we came from across the country to be together. In the end, that was remedied. By the time we sat down to stitch on Friday night, all was well. As usual, we had three kits: a SamSarah patriotic design finished into a cube, a bunny stitched using Medici threads and finished as a needlebook, and a small Prairie Grove Peddlar “Bee” chart stitched with luscious Crescent Colors Belle Soie silks and finished in an exclusive Just Nan WhimZi frame. Two of the three kits didn’t have enough floss. (What’s new?) But, that situation was rectified. You would have thought it was the end of the world the way some people carried on when they were missing one length of thread. For sheesh! Anyway, I ate some more Starburst jelly beans and focused on the positive. I left with three stitched projects. Two of which are completely finished, and one I only need to add trim to.

I’m in love with the CC silks. They did not fray or get fuzzy, and they felt so nice! The colors were lovely. They were so inspiring. I changed my options of “bee gentle,” “bee kind,” or “bee happy” to “bee bitchy.” It was a late night and some of us were a bit cranky. It got a few laughs, and I’m thinking about using it in a new header design. But first, I’ll have to take a photo.

On Friday night, we went to our Amish dinner. The Millers have built a new eating establishment so we don’t have to invade the privacy of their home anymore. The new atmosphere leaves a little to be desired: unfinished garage, springs to mind. Well, it is a garage-style building. And the inside is unfinished in the classical sense. So it’s not much of a stretch. Of course, a few people got lost, and I’ll never know why the organizers don’t write down directions for everyone and post a big sign at the turn that people always miss. They were supposed to have posted a few people out on the road to signal the turn, but the signalers thought their job was done and they left before we got there. Fortunately, we’ve done this a few times. The lost people did show up before we had shoveled down a first plateful of food and well before the arrival of the rolls. Oh, the rolls! They were later than the lost people, and I was positive we weren’t getting rolls. But we did; focus on the positive.

After dinner, our little crew handed out surprise gift bags to the campers in honor of our friend, V’s, birthday. People were easily bribed into singing happy birthday with a few trinkets from Oriental Trading Company—oh, and 72 cupcakes. She was shocked and surprised, which was just the effect we were going for. Happy significant birthday, Vickie!

On Saturday night, I overheard someone looking for Anna Van Schurman. Anna would have loved to attend camp, but someone had to stay behind to make sure the dude doesn’t have sex with my sister. (A running joke.) Now, I know I’ve alluded to this before, but that’s my nom de blog. So anyway, best pal, being who she is, asked if they’d like to meet Anna, and they said they had something for her. Why on earth would anyone have anything for me? Well, Chelle is just the kindest person. She had her friends who were attending camp give me a little giftie, a RAK. She sent a little kit to make an ornament out of the JCS ornament issue. I was so surprised. Thanks, Chelle! When you least expect it, expect it!

Since I brought geegaws for 48 people, I really thought I’d be going home with an empty suitcase, but between the RAK, a belated birthday present, and the gift bags that my devoted friends brought for us (not to mention the giant bag of polyfill that I had to buy at the Wagoner Wal-mart to finish the biscornu ), it was full-up on the trip home. (Yes, the biscornu got finished on time, but I did forget to photograph it. I’ll see if we can rectify that!)

Of course, I shopped and shopped, but that report will have to wait for another day.

CATS Hershey

So many people are gearing up for their travels to Hershey for the CATS Festival, or whatever it's called now. Not me. Sure I live about an hour and a half away, but I'll be getting on a jet plane for stitching fun of another sort.

My friends from Camp Wannasew and I are traveling up to Maine for our own stitching weekend. I know we planned poorly: the best pal and I, we could have gone to Hershey again--and god knows I should be at the alumni reunion weekend at work--but no. bp and my two other friends have never been to Maine. I have no idea how I am going to walk the fine line of stitching weekend with showing them enough stuff to make this trip worth the time they're going to spend traveling (from DC, TX, and OK). I'll just feed them lobster. MMmmmmmmmm lobster.

I do have stitchy surprises planned. And gifties. And I'm trying to decide between a two hour back roads drive to Center Harbor, NH and all the stitchy , crafty goodness there, or a much shorter trip down 95 to North Hampton, NH to worship at the alter of Yankee Cross Stitch. Don't let the website fool you, this place is a gem!

So Much Fun!

I shouldn't travel when Mercury is in retrograde (and here). My return flight on Monday was canceled, so instead of departing on United from Tulsa at 10:41 and arriving in PHL around rush hour, I got on an American flight to Chicago at 3:50 (supposed to leave at 2:52, and after boarding we sat on the runway an extra 40 minutes) and arrived at 6:55 for my 7:00 flight on US Air (hike between terminal 2 and 3 at O'Hare). Fortunately--I guess--that flight was delayed until 9:30. I arrived in Phillie at midnight. They were going to put me on a flight at six this morning, so my trip yesterday was a lot better!

I had a great time. We had three projects:
Tokens and Trifles patriotic needlebook Well, here you go. I have used the perforated paper doohickeys that I sought your opinions on. It's much finer stuff than shows in the JCS party hats and other photos I've seen. The paper is 20 count. I'm still not fond of the frou frou around the edges. And you can tell the wrong side because it looks burnt. (Ah, lasers, just what the Victorians would have used!)
Old Colonial Needlework Garden Thread Pallet Case. This one came with finishing supplies, but I didn't get a chance to finish. But it's sweet, isn't it?
M Designs Bunny in a Basket. Silver Needle made their trademark changes substituting a variety of flosses. Mona (Magic by Mona) showed us how to make a triangle shaped stand up. Too much sewing for me, as usual. It's a little too frou frou for me, but it's finished! Mona really was magic this time. We started the finishing process at about 10 pm, so we had to leave off with the cording half stuck in (the glue was drying) and no bow on top (the feet were drying). When I got up at 8:00, it was finished! Magic.

As usual the projects presented a bit of a challenge. As one of my friends put it, it's like a puzzle: Will we have enough threads? Will we be able to interpret the pattern? Of course, if you do run out of threads, they'll give you more and if you can't figger it, they'll help you. The flag needlebook, for instance, came with a xerox of the original and a hint of a sketch, but no written directions: No help on where to start, no directions for rhodes stitches, no help to create compensatory stitches. Grr. I didn't do badly but my tablemates had to copy from me. That's my biggest complaint. I liked the new setting, beautiful views of a lake. And Edna had ham this year (we go to an Amish farm for dinner).

Of course, stash was acquired. I got Workbasket's two mermaid projects, a LHN punchneedle, a Sister and Best Friends punchneedle (sheep, so many sheep!), Teresa Layman's Sweet Dreams, the Mirabilia Christmas Fairy kit, BOAF spring garden and the pretty pink fabric, and some fabric and floss for the Prufrock mermaids. The boring stuff I got includes some perforated paper, a punchneedle, and metal ornament forms.

If you're okay with dorm-style living, I recommend it!

Camp Wannasew project: glitzy patriotic design. My grandmother will love it.

Camp Wannasew project: Indigo Rose's pin cushion. Lots of fun specialty stitches!

Didja miss me?

I forgot to tell you that I was going off to Tulsa for stitching camp. Totally forgot. Here are some photos to make up for my other shortcomings.

Camp Report

I did mean to post last week to remind you that I'd be off to Camp in Tulsa this past weekend. But my flight left at 6:30 AM which meant I had to be up at 3:45. Everything I planned didn't get done.

What a blast! Although I was initially skeptical when I saw the mean snoring woman (to distinguish her from the smelly snoring woman) in the airport and I got that sinking feeling that I wasn't going to enjoy camp, I shouldn't have worried. It's sometimes easier to get a long with other stitchers than I remember. If you had sent me the bios of our little gang, I would never have believed we'd get along as swimmingly as we do. MB and I are way more progressive than the others, who, for example, were shocked when I said the Democratic Party wasn't liberal, but we tried to stick to safe topics. Our discussion of farting was politically neutral enough. And we had a lot of fun trying to make up the "typical day" at camp for an SO who was curious. It included lots of nude pillow fighting; I mean, really, who can't imagine what stitching camp is? It's all stitching, as long as you can take it! We laughed the whole weekend and mostly we managed to stitch the 3 projects (plus an optional lesson in punchneedle embroidery).

Our projects included a Cross-Eyed Cricket 4th of July acorn (although some of us are modifying it because we don't know what acorns have to do with U.S. Independence) done up in Silverneedle SNN fuzzies/sparklies. I'm giving it to my grandmother who likes patriotic. We finished a Trail Creek Farm pillow "spring". I'm going to design a set and velcro it to the pillow so they can be switched out and I won't have to buy more of those expensive pillows. We also did a flat fold garden piece. I was so excited to learn the flat fold because I have more than 40 pieces that need finishing. I just wish my hand sewing were better (there is something ironic about that). My tablemate DH did my sewing, and I fixed her mistakes on the stitched piece. She's only been stitching for 18 months, and she does a lot on aida so her linen skills aren't what she would like. People kept saying that I got the fuzzy end of the lollipop on that one but I was pleased with the exchange. I'm planning on finishing three pieces as flat folds. I know that hardly makes a dent in the finishing pile. . . I may have convinced Lindy to add a pre-camp on finishing. I can't be the only one with a pile of stuff to finish! Now I have to figure out how to finish the punch needle project. That may be beyond me.

The food was way better this year if you stayed away because you thought you'd starve.

I got a long way on the afghan jasmine pot. I'm off until Thursday so that I can work on the afghan. After this, I may do the backstitching before I move back to the hydrangea.

Shopping in my own closet

I've been looking all over the house for my Stitcher's Pocket Inventory recently, and I finally found it today in a backpack at the bottom of my closet. Surprisingly (or perhaps you will recognize this behavior), it was still packed much as it had been when I returned from Tulsa last March. Shockingly, I also found the stash I had purchased there: Heartstrings Roly-Poly Santa (with the fuzzy fibers The Silver Needle likes to substitute. . . mmmm, Very Velvet); Trilogy's Happy Bunny Bunny Day; Liberty Street Designs Rose Bunny: Sisters and Best Friends' Winter Peace; and Birds of a Feather's Scared Silly. There was also a grab bag of fabric. Additionally, the charms I had special ordered from my LNS for Sophie's and Peter's Stockings were in there. I hadn't been able to find them before I left for NH for Christmas where the stockings were to be hung, and as a result, my mother wouldn't hang them. I was wondering if I had ever ordered them. Good thing I found them because that would be a costly duplication. Now that the rest of my crafting stash is organized, I shouldn't have this sort of problem again. "Famous lost [sic] words," as mum says. Because I started Roly Poly Santa--did I mention I love stitching with Very Velvet? ;) --I have to add another project to my UFOs. File this one under "less than 30%". Does this put me back up to 19? Will I ever get ahead?

Dying dog -> no party.

I liked how that Patrick Lose snap peas fabric looked so much, I ordered it for the Ewe and Eye scissors companion. I'll have the scissor fob to bring with me to Tulsa in (yipes) 5.5 weeks. I've got to pay the balance soon. I'm also seriously considering taking a whole week off --I'll be at Camp for 4 days and then I'll come home and stitch for 3 before going back to work. All on my own, just a tv for company. I could get lots done on the afghan. My mother is much less sure about the party these days. Her beloved yellow lab has Cushing's Disease. She claims that she is currently unable to think about the party. Now, how weird is this: two of her friends died in the space of 6 months which was the impetus for the party. Dead friends -> party. Dying dog -> no party. (It's not like the dog will die tomorrow, not for about two years.) Should I just put the afghan in the rotation and keep it for myself, or should I just keep plugging away and give it to her party or no party? It's a little too twee for me and too much work to give it to anyone else.

I've had news recently that results in this dire warning: when you have to name a baby, think about it. For a long time.

Not dead yet. . .

I've been really busy at work, and not so good about accomplishing anything on the stitching front. It makes me feel guilty to write when I'm not stitching. I just wish that made me stitch more rather than simply making me avoid posting!

As promised weeks ago, The Tulsa scissor incident: when I went to Camp Wannasew last March, I had a lovely pair of scissors in a metal chatelaine that my mother bought me for Christmas. While there, I purchased many things, among them a Ewe and Eye kit that came with scissors. One of the projects we learned that weekend was finishing small projects as a stand-up cube. Like this. The cube is sewn together, and because we needed to do some cutting, they gave us a pair of full-sized shears. Because I was flying with two expensive pairs of scissors, I was so careful to remove everything from my stitching bag when I packed, while carrying on the greatest amount of stash possible, so I could spend my time fondling*. Or so I thought. So we're going through security in the Tulsa airport and the screener says, "looks like we've got some scissors in here." But it couldn't be possible! My stomach sank, and I wailed, "no, no, no, no, no!" MB tried to comfort me, and the screener said, "There's a place where you can mail them, right there." But I didn't want to mail them. I wanted to be able to play with them the moment I got home! Meanwhile, the screener had found them, and he takes out this whopping huge pair of shears. It was so funny, because I had expected him to pull out the tiny scissors--you can see forgetting those when you pack, but shears? I started laughing when he held them up, partly in relief. "Take them home to your wife," said I in my most generous but apparently, and suddenly, sexist spirit.

*Fondling, it's not like molesting children, but MB and I started using the term at the Spirit of Cross-stitch Festivals after our binge-spending. It involves bringing all your new acquisitions to a place where you can spread them out, usually a hotel room with two queen-sized beds. You take everything out and spread it around you while you sit on the bed. You then take turns showing your new things. Then, you open up the packages and take out the different bits and bobs and play with them: stroke the fabric, sort the flosses, touch the unique fibers, spread the flosses adn beads out on the fabric, etc. You know, you've done it, you just didn't call it that.

I've suspended the comments feature while I decide what to do about it. Thanks for understanding. Of course you can e-mail me at annavsxsATyahooDOTcom