Monkey Business Quilt... and Facebook

I just finished the piecing on this quilt top. It's called "Monkey Business" and is from the "Certifiably Crazy" book from the Buggy Barn.

I love the fabrics I used in this quilt: oranges, red, purple, browns, greens, and lots of different creams. Why use two fabrics when you can use 37?

BUT, I'm really disappointed with my piecing skills on it. I know I'm better than this - but I was cruising through just getting stuff done instead of enjoying it. This is an easy quilt and I don't think I have a single sharp point on there. Bleh. Yes, they always look better after being quilted but I'm not going to pay for fancy quilting on this when I disappointed with the way I pieced it. So we'll see. I'm sure after I pack it away and get it out in two or three months I'll think it looks better. :)

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In finishing news, I finished a bag, a bag rework, a pillow, and an egg. Pictures to come later! Today was a busy day with a fun birthday party and oh my, I'm now on facebook. I can't promise I'll update it more than my blog but at least I can quickly look at other people's pages!

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Travis really needs to stop shoving beads into his ears and nostrils. It's getting really old. The easiest way to get them out is to have him blow, if it's too tight you can use a drinking straw. But seriously, it's getting really, really old. The joy of being three!

A Stitch Each Week - Scotch Stitch

I love the Scotch Stitch. It gives such a smooth look to needlework, stitches up quickly, and is great with a wide variety of threads.

This sampler row is stitched in the Scotch Stitch and a few variations.



The basic Scotch Stitch is comprised of a set of diagonal Gobelin stitches worked to create a single square motif. This particular Scotch Stitch is over six canvas threads.




When worked in rows, Scotch Stitches can be worked immediately next to each other, or with empty threads between each Scotch Stitch. When the stitches are worked immediately next to each other it gives a solid, dense look to the stitching.


Alternating the direction of each Scotch Stitch forces the reflection of the light to change on the thread and adds the appearance of height.





Stitch each Scotch Stitch in the same direction gives a smoother appearance.





Scotch Stitches can be checkered by alternating the colors of the stitches, or by alternating a Scotch Stitch with a block of tent stitches. Work the tent stitch blocks in basketweave (bottom left block shows numbering) to minimize distortion of your needlework. These tent stitched blocks will appear further in the distance than the Scotch Stitch blocks.



Scotch Stitches can be grouped together to create a larger motif, such as the Scotch Cross Corner, from Stitches to Go, by Suzanne Howren and Beth Robertson.


The first step is to work a set of four Scotch Stitches, each over six threads, in alternating direction.




The next step is to use the same, or a contrasting thread as I did, and cross the corners of each Scotch Stitch with half of a second Scotch Stitch. This second stitch is worked in the opposite direction from the underlying stitch. The center of the motif could also be accented with a bead.





Another variation is to create a falsely shadowed Scotch Stitch. Stitch half of a Scotch Stitch, shown here in four threads, but complete the stitch with a triangle of tent stitches in a darker or contrasting color.





Some ideas for using the Scotch Stitch are as a border on a stitched piece, such as this tulip by Kay Fite, or worked in rows and accented with beads to create a sampler that could be used in ornaments, filling for backgrounds, or sampler rows.









TND "Scotch Stitch in Textural Whitework"

I do love to be organized...

I just bought some great new food storage trays. Likely it is because of my Utah upbringing that I feel the *need* to horde food. If I have it, at least I can keep it nicely organized and now it will auto-rotate as the cans roll down and to the front! :)



They have them on Amazon (where I originally saw them) in this model and a this is the one I almost bought - BUT, I found them at Costco and so bought them there. They're $22 in store and $30 ($60 for a two pack) with free shipping online. A bit of a pain to put together but it's done! :)



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Thanks for the positive thoughts and e-mails on the CD. I'm going to hold onto it for now and just revisit it when I'm mentally ready.

Also, yes, I use a laying tool when stitching. I don't lay stitches if it's just one thread unless it's a flat thread like Rainbow Gallery Neon Rays or some of the metallic threads.

Marnie Ritter's "Scotch Ya!"...

This is the Workshop by Mail piece for the first half of 2009. Isn't it lovely?

Stitching notes are on my Marnie Ritter page -

http://www.summerlouise.com/albums/stitching/designers/marnieritter.html

You can order your own on the ANG website -

http://www.needlepoint.org/byMail/index.php

A series of small calamities...

Nothing huge, just all bothersome.

Monday the girls usually have gymnastics in the mid-day. This is a class I arrange at a local gymnastics center for our homeschool group. We have between 14-17 kids each week. It's pretty fun, usually. They get to see their friends, work on gymnastics, and the Mom's chat. The coaching hasn't been the greatest lately and I've been disappointed - I could let them run around for free in the yard - I'm paying money so they can learn bars and balance beam and floor routines. Monday was the kicker though when the teacher canceled the class with no notice and then left when asked to come down and explain. There was a meet going on at another gym so the owner and office manager weren't there to intercede.

I did finally speak to the gym owner today and we will have a new coach next Monday. I'm giving it another week and in the meantime have been looking around at other gyms. There is another one out in Snohomish that we are going to try next week and we may end up going there. We'll see. It's been very stressful to discuss this with the 9 parents in the class and with the gym.

Back to Monday, after getting home from gymnastics (or lack of) Victoria slammed Madeline's hand in the bedroom door. It was very swollen with cuts across two of the knuckles. I called the pediatrician's office. Even though Victoria has been there and Travis has been there, Madeline has not. Therefore I couldn't talk to a nurse and the next appointment wasn't until Thursday. They recommended the Walk-In Clinic. I suppose I should either A. schedule Madeline for a well-child visit (because she hasn't been seriously sick, in, oh YEARS) or B. find a new pediatrician whose front desk isn't a guard station to the nurses. I do like the pediatrician so when we're off Cobra I'll go with A. I just hate having to pay money to hear my kid is healthy, you know? Just so I can get on the books and be allowed to talk to a nurse.

At the walk in clinic they did do X-rays since the cuts were right across the knuckles and they were all swollen. She is fine and the growth plates appear undamaged. I still remember the horrible story from The Friend magazine as a child about the kid who damaged his growth plates and had a child-sized hand for the rest of his life. (No offence to any people with little hands, it's just not something I would wish on my child, both Madeline with the little hand and Victoria knowing that she'd caused it.)

Later that evening I decided to go ahead and start updated my "Needlework: Stitch to Finish" book. I've been planning on distributing it in eBook format. (Don't get excited). It turns out the Word file on my computer is NOT the final file. At some point during the horrible time last spring that I call the Great Triple Crash of '08 I opened and looked through my book document and said "yep, that's the right one" but didn't scroll through the last 3o pages. Basically it's missing about 100 pages of information off the final version that was printed. And it was in color, so it's not like I could just scan a printed book to recreate the file.

The same "false" final backup was on our desktop and Brad's computer.

On Tuesday morning I went to the safe deposit box because I *knew* there was a final copy of the book on a CD/DVD in there, created before all the crashes. Well, the fucking CD won't open in Vista. I could *try* and pay a data recovery service but I'm looking at a minimum of $50 to upwards of $400 to *try* and recover the file from the CD. When opened in XP it wants me to format the disc.

Sigh. Many tears last night and I just went to bed around 8 p.m. Today I'm irritated but I have a greater sense of peace about it. Yes, it was an awesome book. It really was. I'm sad that it is gone and I'm mad because I went to the trouble of backing it up - it's the whole reason we have a safe deposit box. I was mad at myself because I didn't, somehow, keep the final file. Anyway, I could go on and on but I learned long ago that one just has to sometime let stuff go.




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Today was a better day. We did lessons and I took Victoria to ballet and Madeline, Travis and I went to the store and she bought a little puzzle book and some spangle trim. I'm going to quilt a bit tonight and finish my color drawing the the MTP section I'm working on.

Happy Birthday, Travis!

I cannot believe you are three today! Surely you were just born... You are such a big boy now - running and jumping. You can count to twelve and sing about half the alphabet. You love to play with your sisters and would follow Madeline anywhere.

I made you a really fun cake today. About 20 cupcakes were arranged in the shape of a football and frosted as one, with chocolate frosting and white stripes for the ends and laces. It even said "Happy 3rd, Travis" Of course, I'm not sure if you actually looked at it when you snuck into the kitchen and went wild in the frosting. When you then cleaned your hands of the frosting all over the bedroom carpet, whee!

May this year be the year of less messes and more "listening to Mama". You sneak into the kitchen and thus I've cleaned up countless eggs, spilled gallons of milk, orange juice, ice, flour, vanilla, pasta, syrup, and sugar. The vanilla on the carpet was the worst, suprisingly. We won't discuss non-foodstuffs.

Anyway, happy birthday, baby boy.

Royal Santa by Amanda Lawford #6

Just a quick update... it's coming along. Brad is trying to make a bet that I'll finish it by the end of March but I'm pretty sure that won't happen. There is lots done but LOTS of background. :)

The quiver is stitched in Diagonal Mosaic in Impressions with the scrolls stitched in tent stitch with floss and Kreinik metallic. The top border is Rainbow Gallery Soft Sheen Fyre Werks in a diagonal Gobelin. The arrow feathers are stitched in long straight stitches of Caron Watercolors. The bow is stitched in Caron Snow in a random stem stitch. The string is couched Snow.



The jester is finished - lots of fun stitches on this guy.



Want to see what four hours of french knots looks like? These are stitched in #12 Kreinik metallic.