The Red Thread- AMEN!

I love it and it's gorgeous!

After my last posting about this I did get the required buttons and snaps from the Stitching Post in Maryland to finish this as it was designed and that I teased you with a photo about with them strewn on top.  But after getting them on, didn't personally care for them.  Seemed like their addition took away from the classic effect I was aiming for with this. . not. .so. .classical.  .stitch.  So I ended up removing them all before I could bring it to Michaels to get the framing done.  This shot shows the frame/colors tones more realistically.

Thrilled with how it looks framed with those double mats too  and how they were cut.  The burgandy one I had them edge inward and the green cut mitered showing  That little strip of white reveal is a nice little bright spot.
The frame we selected is the same kind we brought to re-frame our Adirondack chair art last year fall.  Glad it was still available as the green mat I used for the last counted cross stitch piece is no longer available and went with this newer color which I really like too.  This chair art hangs over the antique fridge in the dining room and our plan is that the wall that has wainscoting will be holding up the Red Thread piece.

Since both of these prints will be on adjacent walls, it's a great blend of style and color and am thinking it'll look nice and soothing, especially with those off white and soft sage colored walls.











The only thing to do now is to have hubby move the primitive wall sconces and make sure the supporting hanging bracket is strong enough to hold it up.  It is heavy and quite wide as seen in this next shot.  Here she is setting on our queen size bed. It almost reaches both sides!

Benk Creek, The Red Thread Snapperswas stitched on a 32 ct linen with 2/2 threads
Threads Used
DMC:  225, 644, 3371 and  3865
Gentle Art Sampling Thread (GAST):  Antique Rose, Berry Cobbler, Cidermill Brown, Dungarees, Freedom, Gold Leaf, Liberty, Nutmeg, Slate, Summer Meadow, Tarnished Gold and  Weathered Barn
Weeks Dye Works:  Bark, Chestnut, Cocoa, Galvanized, Kudzu, Lancaster Red,  Purple Haze and Seaweed    

So now it's wrapped back up in the brown paper protection and hopefully DH can take care of it soon.
His older sister, Linda who turns 69 on May 3rd has been in the ICU and has been very sick going on three weeks now. Thankfully the doctors have finally figured out the proper diagnosis and the right medicine is being shipped from Vermont as I type this.  Amazing since she was seen at three different hospitals with the first saying wait and see it's a virus, the second recognizing her serious condition then transporting her within 14 hours to another hospital that could care for her, thus the ICU admission there.

I'm so grateful for the health DH and I do have and also that this CCS- The Red Thread is Done!

That makes item number 2 from my Q-2, 2016 project list completely done!
Whoot - hoot!!!

Thanks for stopping by,
Jane

PS: Just so you know it's really me- I still have plenty more to catch up on with blogging.
Am trying to come up with a different way of staying more up to date for my posts and yet still be productive.  I'll let you know how it works.   ; )

November Ends

Where is the time going?  My world seems to speed up continuously and that seems impossible but each day is a blur.   The sunsets around here continue to be spectacular!  It's amazing to witness it like this at this time of year.

Some of The GRANDS:  PGS#3, PGS#2, PGD#1
2015 Thansgiving at Meme and Popi's

The Thanksgiving Holiday was wonderful.  Family that could make it did and most of all the grandchildren were around the table.  That makes my heart sing!
While preparing the feast, I received a call from lil' Miss PGD#1.  She wanted to come down could I pick her up?  Sure, I responded so I picked her up and she helped out quite a bit.  Her brother was also invited to come since I had  seen an appetizer dish I thought they'd like to create for our feast but due to some of his behavior errs was told by his Mom that now he'd have to wait until Mom and Dad came down. His loud thoughts were "that's fine by me"  I'll be glad when he gets through this stage and he'll be 7 soon.  

So this is what she did with just a little help from her brother.  Cute isn't it!

She also made the gravy for the feast and the lil' guy helped to set the table.  We had a very enjoyable day and spent some nice quality time together.  Eating, visiting, football toss, football watching, clean up and then some board games.  All in all so much to be grateful for.

Photo of the Grands taken at PGS#1 Birthday celebration at the end of October
PGS#3, PGS#1, PGD#1
He enjoyed meeting his youngest cousin for the first time and re-visiting with his older cousin.

The day after Thanksgiving, we spent it with the eldest grandson, PGS#1 and brought all of the dinner's leftovers to share a Thanksgiving Holiday with him.   Since he just arrived at this place, he's still in the observation mode so can't he can't leave the premises at his present step.  All the counselors are impressed with him and are repeatedly telling us that the individual on all the medical reports is not the same person they are seeing.  We can only hope he continues to do his best.  

Dear daughter celebrated her !! Birthday just before Thanksgiving, so we got together for that too.  The grands blew up about 150 balloons for the celebration.  The elder one, PGD#1 has learned how to make balloon animals so they used their Dad's compressor to blow them up when Mom was gone for the day.  That's one way to keep the young ones busy so Dad can continue to work on their new deck -  Brilliant!

PGS#3- age 6 still

During the party the youngest one, PGS#3 age 6 decided to static cling some balloons to the walls.  With just two of them sticking on his head, decided it was a strong enough hold to actually glue him to the wall too so he fly paper pressed himself against the wall saying, I'm stuck!  Oh where and how does he come up with the things he does, makes us all happy and scratching our heads wondering.  LOL      

Please disregard the blurriness of the photo, that's my fault with trying to capture these real life moments quickly.

My list of what I wanted completed is falling way short too of everything on it with the exception of my counted cross stitch- Bent Creek's, The Red Thread.  Sorry that I've erroneously been giving credit to Lizzie Kate for this design.  My bad!    Check out all the months- they are now complete:

I've surpassed my goal for this and it's just the end of November.  Yippee!!!  

All that remains now is the ribbon surround on the sides and top with the phrase to stitch along the bottom. That is slated for 2016 but who knows how far I can continue with it this this year.

 Some other bit's I'm grateful for are the Washington Hawthorne tree in the side yard.  It's always so gorgeous at this time of year with all the berries left on the branches for many weeks.  Then it seems like a flock of birds fly in overnight and devour them all in a day.  Since it's wintertime, I'm never sure when that happens, but I am hoping to find out when this year.

BTW- This shot does not do it justice.

Another thank that I enjoy is the natural thermometers outside the bedroom window.  Each morning when I lift the shades, I can note the cold.  Depending on the curl of the leaves and droop of the rhododendron's leaf clumps, you can instantly see how cold it is.  Notice the tightness and droop?  It's in the twenties this am.  Not that it gives it in numbers, only cold, Really Cold and SEVERLY COLD.  LOL  You can barely notice but the rotted timbers are slowly be replaced with landscape blocks.  So much more to do on that yet.

before

Another thank I have is the side deck is completed!  Yippee!!  That only took 14 months!  My BIL came over to help DH finish it and brought his tools with him.  It's beautiful and gorgeous.  The only problem is with that Trek decking being weathered for a whole year it's dirty and needs some scrubbing but right now it is way too cold to attempt that.  It will have to wait until the Spring.

DH and Siamak (my dear BIL)  taken the Saturday before Thanksgiving
and it was bitter cold while they were working!

THANKS Honey and SIA!!!!

DH installed the post solar lights this week.

They just softly cascade down each post,

(I'll try to capture a photo of them when they are lit.  

Edited this on 12/7/15 the day before the littlest grandchild turns 7.)

You can see the tiny lights just under the post caps despite the camera flash, we're all so satisfied.  8 )

Wishing you all the best at this time of year,
Jane

Saw an idea of another embroidery piece that would be sweet to stitch at some point.......

Slow stitching today, ahhh....

Golden tamarack trees just brighten up the views everywhere.  Gorgeous contrast with the spruces deep greens.

This Asparagus on the roadside is so colorful that on Friday I did a U turn to capture it's brillance.
 I never knew the seeds were this color  -  RED.
The sky was a perfect blue and we had a great visit and beautiful 3 hour ride.

The tamaracks are spectacular on our ride to visit the eldest grandson in Tupper Lake this past Friday.  He is doing wonderfully with this transition and we are so proud.   Duh....., bad Grandma never took a photo of him while we visited!   The staff are impressed with how well behaved he is and he likes this new place immensely.  He's only there for 60 days during the intake process and then perhaps he'll be assigned to a home.  Fingers crossed.  It's nice that he is closer and it'll be easier to visit him.

Life has been fast paced this past week so not too much more has been completed on the WIP-be-gone or my Q-4 list.  That being the case, I seriously need to just be and breath today; so am planning on stitching February's design for the Red Thread.   Here's how it looks this morning.

I find hand stitching very soothing and zen-like.  When I stitch  I totally zone out and stop this monkey mind of mine besides progress some more on a project.  Ahhh....
Will be linking this up with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sundays and the stitchery link Party over at Super Mom No Cape.

Another day this past week the youngest grandchildren came after school.  We needed to dispose of the mammoth Sunflower that is in the lower raised garden bed and I urged Popi to leave it so the youngest one who loves Giant AND Jack and the Beanstock could use an ax and chop it down.








Of course the older sister wanted in on the action too.  Clearly you can see they got right into it!








Enjoy your "Funday", whatever your plans.  And remember to send praise for the many blessings you have. My brother is hosting his dirt bike invitational today so am happy it's warmer this weekend than last despite the drizzle.  ; )

WIPs be gone

Am plodding along.  My WIP and the Q4 list  #17- The Red Thread made progress this past week.

April's is done so now am stitching March.   : )

The Braid Quilt (WIP and #3 on the Q 4 list) I've been able to get all the blocks made.  37 blocks done which is enough since am thinking of using a 6 x 6 block grid layout with frames, pieced sashes and several different borders so this project will go on the back burner for now.  Am still auditioning what fabrics will be used.  The solid blue and that yellow print 'were' for sure with perhaps a nice white thrown in for crispness too. While looking at these photos for this post, feel that the yellow print washes out a bit too much.  Will let this percolate and I'll ruminate.

Purple fountain grass and other plantings are all transplanted and am hardening them off.  Talk about a lot of work bringing them in then out, then out to the in, (anyone remember the movie HOME?   giggles) etc... so much, but am ever hopeful this will pay off.

 

This year am hoping to winter the grasses, geraniums, mandeville, vines and annuals.  We live in zone 4, so many can't survive without bringing them in.  I've wintered the geraniums before without problems.  Also a couple of the palms and the desert rose cactus too so wish me luck for this year with doing so many more.

Personally I am tired of spending hundreds each spring to fill the planters - so am hopeful by wintering these, they'll be off to a great start come spring and I'll have more moola in my purse.  We have a unit of shelves set up in the basement for starting seeds in the spring which I need to purge, clean and set up for this winter plan. That chore is on this week's agenda besides storing the summer clothes and footwear.  I'll have to take a whole day to see what brings me "spark-joy" and purge that along too.

Hunting season is here and I love that the men in our family can provide natural game if need be.   DH is actually suiting up too and going our back to see what signs are showing up.  Won't be long now before we have some fresh venison and some game birds.

Son and PGS#2 taken the weekend before Josh's 19th Birthday.

Happy Fall,
Jane

Am linking this post up to WIPs be gone at a Quilters Reader's Garden.

WIPs and other bits

This past week I was able to finish the stitching Bent Creek's "The Red Threads" months:
September, October!   Whoot, whoot!!

 Am feeling so smug since the September month design wasn't finished until 10/4/15 so that means that  I really flew through October's design since it's only the 9th now, not bad for a 40 x 40 stitch count.

Up next is April's.

With  getting those done I skipped back towards the front and started on April's design.  It's coming along nicely and am hoping to start stitching the wording that surrounds the whole piece maybe I can start that this month too.  Initially had though the surround would be my January and February tasks, but am really hopeful that it will be finished by the end of January with my current plan of attack of one or two month each month with some border surround as well.             lol and fingers crossed!

Here's how it looks setting on the box which houses it when not being worked on.  It's one of those decorative boxes with life affirming phrases plastered all over the surface and sets nicely on the mantel but is within reach when wanted.  Am learning that working on something doesn't mean it has to be out all the time so I do put it away even though I'll be working on it again the next day.  Makes for a nicer home when family and friends stop by.
It contains all my threads, pattern with the copied blown up sheets for each month, my glasses AND my magic eyes and all the other tools necessary like extra needles, scissors, etc....  I devised a sheet of paper to hold my needles with the extra thread on it which is pictured just to the right above.  I try to list all the colors in numerical order and have most of the bits of thread resting under the paper.
Leftover thread on the needles are parked off the project.  With stitching the needle remnants from under neath on the right side of the paper and then surfacing the needle to stitch it going in and out of the paper quickly so it's left ending up pointing to the color name and demarcation used on the pattern.  Was truly surprised that some demarcation marks were used twice in the different monthly patterns but for totally different colors.  Glad I double checked along the way.  This system works nicely and one I'll be using again.

May's

June's

• I also have used the railway stitch quite a bit to get the threads to lay correctly since this is being worked on with a hand hoop.  
• I also use the no knot start by taking just one thread, folding it in half leaving the loop on the long side.  I thread both ends through the needle then my first stitch is essentially a lark knot start.  Going up with the needle where it needs to be and going back down through the top to catch the loop on the underside which makes my first slash. 
• I use the 7 to 1 orientation as if on a clock as my first half stitch of my cross.    
• When just starting the design and actually on any projects worked on I typically will mark the upper left corner with a pin to know which end is top while the designs may be confusing or to early to tell what end is what.  I even use this while quilt making, upper top left marks the spot.

July's

August's

Other projects on my immediate horizon are make more blocks for the braid quilt.  Count is still at 31... hopefully next week that number will change.















 Also on my wish list and Wips be gone is the St. Patrick's Day Patch-a-bility wall hanging.  Many pieces have been selected and actually cut so I need to get this monkey off my back and begin the stitching.

With the leaf season happening
 we took a little trip down memory lane.....

























Visited the old farmstead......

Our daughter and her peeps joined us....











Seeing the animals now in attendance,

purchasing some of the fresh chevre,.....

Visiting the old plume in Jay, ....

would you believe she and I swam through those rapids at younger ages,.....

showing her where we spent our Summer evenings listening to concerts along the waterfront at the beach front in Wilmington, NY.....

then traveling on towards Lake Placid, and ending the day with a quick meal at a favorite haunt.




It was Heavenly,
enjoy the pics.

Dear daughter age way up there and PGD#1, age 10  playing on the playground equipment.

Beckoning me 

It won..... awe,
I  love where we live!

My Mom and I are plodders.  It may take us awhile, but by and by it gets done.  We'll have several projects going all at the same time and will challenge ourselves to get another block done or some more threads stitched and then push the next devoted deadline onto our to do lists.  We actually do this with many household and homeowner chores too.  Can't work the way I used to that would get chores done quickly, but can attempt a bit or two every day or so and then progress happens until completion.
Guess it has to do with our determined genes handed down the matriarchal family line.
Thanks Gigi!

TTFN,  Jane

I'm linking to Amanda Jeans' Finish it up Fridays, Sarah's Can I get a Whoop whoop and A Quilting Reader's Garden WIPS Be Gone.