Tales and Products of Idle Hands

Sweet Claire's Stocking

2012-01-11T21:59:00.000-06:00

We have a new niece (can't wait to meet her!) and I stitched her a stocking for her first Christmas.

More from the framer ...

2011-04-28T10:28:00.003-05:00

Oh my gosh, I love the local framing store I found. They are very reasonably priced, and they do a fantastic job framing needlework. Sherri (my cross stitching buddy from the stitching group I meet with on Thursday nights) is the woman who does the mounting, and she does an awesome job! It makes me want to keep going!!!

Here's my latest ...

This one is a little pattern that Grandmom brought back from one of her trips. I stitched it years ago, and it had been languishing in the "too frame" box for long enough. It is actually my favorite thing I have had framed in a long time!

This is a sweet little alphabet I did for Jack's room:

And these are a pair of tiny little ladybugs (they are stitched over one on 32 count):

I started a larger sampler, and I am doing it over 2 on 40 count, just like the little alphabet. I think it will be darling when done!

Quick Framing Update!

2011-03-17T16:58:00.002-05:00

This is a reframe of an angel I started in high school, worked on in Argentina, and finally finished in 2000. I love the way it looks now!

I fell in love with this little bunny when I saw him in a stitching store in Mt. Vernon ... he's in our hall bath:

This is another reframe, but now my tiny little Van Gogh Sunflowers (over one on 40 gauze) has a bold home!

Progress!!!

2011-01-25T20:21:00.002-06:00

I have been plugging away (or as I see it, pumping in skein after skein of the same few colors) at my William Morris tapestry lately. Here's my progress so far!

At long last ...

2010-12-20T14:09:00.000-06:00

I return from posting never land! I have actually still been stitching pretty regularly despite having a three month old and a 1 1/2 year old! Here's my main accomplishments from the past several months:

For my son:

For my niece (to hang the same way as Emily's!):

For baby Vick:

I am so proud of these, and I can't believe I've made eleven Christmas stockings!!!

Christmas Stockings

2010-01-04T17:42:00.003-06:00

I love the way our family Christmas stockings look ...

A few finished projects

2009-12-26T20:49:00.004-06:00

I finished up a few projects just in time for Christmas ...

Meara's stocking (finished in record time!!!)

Sus's Christmas sampler (she did most of the work, I just finished a bit of the stitching and framed it)

A poem for Dad for his two doggies (China and Mea) that passed this year

And I didn't get photos of the poinsettia towels I stitched for Sus or the Woodland Walk sampler I did for Mom. I always forget something!

And because they didn't make an earlier post .. here are the two stockings I made as gifts last year:

It was cool to see four of my handmade stockings hanging in a row this year!

Grant's Stocking

2009-12-07T15:22:00.002-06:00

I have been working on lots of stitching projects lately, and don't have many finished to show off ...

But I did finish Grant's Christmas stocking just in time for the holidays. It is one of the hardest projects I've undertaken. Tons of blended thread, tons of different colors, specialty stitches, beads, and a very small thread count. I think it turned out beautifully, but I won't be doing this pattern again!

Upside Down Tomatoes

2009-10-07T11:18:00.005-05:00

Matt got me an upside down tomato garden for my birthday, and we've been patiently watching two tomato plants grow for the past couple months. There are several promising looking specimens, and I hope that we have some nice sunny days so that they ripen quickly!

The two varieties we are trying are Bella Bush and Patio (both are determinate).

Our first tomato was a sad little guy - early on in his life he had a run in with a caterpillar and he barely recovered. He was quite delicious, and I was so excited to eat him that I didn't get a photo!

The second tomato might win a competition for smallest tomato ever. He managed to grow right in the shadow of the grower so he never got much sun. See what I mean?

(and yes, that's a baby spoon)

Who knew I could quilt?!?

2009-08-26T09:55:00.003-05:00

My wonderful admin at work, Winky, was always bringing in these beautiful quilts that she was working on. One of the quilts had this perfectly pieced tiny little square patch in it, and I asked her how in the heck she got the tiny little pattern to be so exact. She told me that she was using a technique called Paper Piecing.

She said that it was pretty straightforward and that I would definitely be able to do it. After months of thinking about it, I was inspired to try it out! I thought I would make Mom a thank you gift for the amazing hand made baby quilt that she did for Grant. I know that she likes the log cabin pattern, so I found some instructions on how to paper piece it here.

She and I have been admiring William Morris fabrics and ideas for a while, and I actually found some Morris inspired, pre-cut fabric strips to work with. I ordered a roll of 40 different strips of fabric. When the roll showed up, it was like Christmas!!!

I used tracing paper to print out the pattern off of the internet, cut my strips to lenght, got out my roll of Scotch tape, and went to work. It only took a few days of working on it every now and then to make one 12" by 12" square - too cool!

I left it unfinished and gave it to Mom to do with what she will. She said that she liked the idea (and the fabrics) so much that she might want to do a whole quilt for her bed with the same squares!!!

Fun framed projects!

2009-07-11T16:47:00.004-05:00

I got some fun things framed for around the house! The first are some really cool (color copies) sketches from a friend of Grandpa's family (Kennedy) ... they were the Christmas cards that the friend sent for several years (during the 1920s and 1930s).

I love how detailed and tiny they are!

The second is a piece of textile that I bought when Mom, Emily and I were on our two week cruise around South America. I bought it on the Falkland Islands (how many people can say that?!?). I think it turned out so cute! The weaving is only about 4" tall ...

The third is a photo from the children's book, The Advice of the Dandelions, that Granny Farley read us when Emily and I were little and would go stay with them during the summers. I bought the cute antique frame on eBay - it has a domed piece of glass, and I think it's just perfect for the picture of Larkspur the donkey.

Works in Progress

2009-07-03T18:49:00.005-05:00

I have two works in progress that I have been diligently plugging away at since January.

The first is truly my "keep from going crazy while sitting around a lot and hugely pregnant" project. I will finish it someday!!! It is a cross stitch version of a Beth Russell needlepoint project. It is a William Morris textile called "The Woodpecker". When it is done, it will be almost two feet tall!

Here's the needlepoint project:

Here's where I am:

The second is Grant's Christmas stocking. I refused to start it until after he was born, so I have a lot of work to do in the next several months! I think it will be so fun when I'm finished ...

Here is what it will look like someday:

Here is where I am today:

Wedding collage

2009-05-15T09:44:00.003-05:00

I got inspired by an HGTV episode I saw yesterday and decided to look into how to make photo mosaics ... I found some awesome free software here.

Here is my first try at wedding picture (click on the picture to see a bigger image and really see the little tiles):

Pregnant Me!!!

2009-03-07T14:45:00.003-06:00

Matt and I had a picnic down by the "lake" today and we took some photos of me at almost 37 weeks ... it is amazing how big my belly has gotten! It's hard to believe that baby still has a few weeks left of growing to do before we get to meet him.

Our Wonderful Nursery!!!

2008-12-30T09:51:00.006-06:00

Matt and I headed to Florida on Christmas day to spend the weekend with his family, and while we were out (think HGTV makeover!) my mom, aunt and sister took over the nursery! The transformation is amazing, and it is so completely wonderful. I love how it is classy, not too cutesy, and just perfect for our little boy!

Matt and I completed the room with the chair rail that was painted and ready to install, but we still need some pictures for the walls. The clothes and toys are already coming and I know there's much more on the way ...

Now we're ready!!! (or at least, the nursery is ...)

Also -- I started a blog for all the baby updates and photos. I'm not going to post anymore here -- you can find them from the link on the left or by going here.

All decked out for the holidays

2008-12-30T09:48:00.002-06:00

I had so much fun decking the halls of our home for the holidays! It was really neat to have a house to host the annual Christmas party in and get to share the joy (and lots of food) with our friends.

It's beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!

2008-12-11T13:03:00.002-06:00

We had a light snowfall last night! It didn't last too long, but put a wrinkle in traffic around the city. Our house got a wonderful winter coat for the night -- I think we probably got about 2 inches in our neighborhood (there was even a full size snowman on the next block over!).

The first step towards the nursery!

2008-12-01T14:28:00.005-06:00

We made our first major step towards setting up the nursery ... we bought a crib! No surprise, it is quite traditional:

It is convertible which means it can be a toddler bed and then a full size bed (very practical :) - Matt likes it):

It actually looks very similar to our bed ... hmmm ...

We also bought the trim to put up chair rail! Fun! And I was thinking it would be neat to have black and white photographs of family in there? Not sure on the color scheme yet .. still planning.

The Christmas Ornament Obsession

2008-11-27T10:09:00.011-06:00

So my first obsession is with styrofoam balls (courtesy of Plasteel), ribbon, pins and sequins. These are totally throwback to the '60s and '70s, and I love them! They are a bit tedious and do call for extensive use of a thimble, but I think the effort is worthwhile. I have many more in my head just waiting to take shape!

I found some really cute Prairie Schooler ornament patterns and tried this trio ...

And my major obsession -- Mill Hill Beaded Ornament Kits. Here's the ones I did this year (with a few more in the works). I got a lot of the work done on airplanes and in hotels while on business trips - good way to pass the time! I really like the ones with animals in them.

It's (going to be) a boy!

2008-11-20T16:48:00.004-06:00

We got back from our first ultrasound today and found out we'll be having a boy! We're pretty excited and now it's time to set up the nursery and think about names ...

The baby was covering up its face with his arms, but we got a few shots ...

So much fun to come!

We're Expecting!

2008-09-24T15:08:00.004-05:00

I am finally making my long overdue post with the news that we're expecting our first baby in March (March 31st is the EDA right now). We're very excited and I'm already thinking of all of the things to do and to get finished before the arrival of our little one!

My current thoughts for baby projects are a small quilt (for the floor or for the baby's room), maybe a diaper bag (although I am so tempted to get myself a Vera Bradley bag), and paint / decorate the nursery (I'm going with the very popular spring green and white/cream look -- not too themey, but bright colors with turtles and frogs and maybe a duck or two... lots of different patterns - paisleys, stripes, polka dots).

I am also trying to finish up several outstanding projects (a cross stitch stocking, lots of half finished ornaments, etc.). Wish me luck!

Post Script -- I've rethought the color scheme now that Mom and I have started working on a navy and white quilt and we've found out it's a boy ... probably not going with greens and whites, but still not sure what I'm doing!

A Bag for Emily

2008-06-08T17:52:00.004-05:00

I finished another bag ... this one is for Emily! It's a much smaller one - more like a purse. I didn't do any zippers this time, but I did match the pattern on the pocket with the bag. I made lots of bias tape for this project, and didn't break any needles (although the current one is on its way out). I'm having fun with my new toy!

The great outdoors

2008-05-30T21:33:00.006-05:00

I just have to say that I am ecstatically happy to finally have a yard to call my own. I spend a little time every day out there just puttering around - pulling a stray weed, hoping to catch a glimpse of a new bird, just enjoying being outside!

I have a few new friends:

Humbert, the hummingbird (or Black Beak as Matt calls him) .. there is another hummer out now that we have agreed to call Yellow Beak even though it's beak is clearly black.

My talavera froggie (bought on my bachelorette party cruise in Cozumel) and butterflies

A toad that I coaxed into hanging out in my toad home for a day .. we'll see if he sticks around or not.My first container arrangement .. the hibiscus is blooming like crazy!
My second container arrangement .. I have always wanted some purple fountain grass
My newly adopted frangipani - blooming like mad! Maybe my original frangi will get the idea and try to send out a flower ...
My aloe decided to join the party - I'll try to remember to take a picture when the blooms open.
Last, but not least ... my rare, but wonderful Husband! Eating dinner on the patio ...

My first "real" sewing project

2008-05-29T12:55:00.007-05:00

I finally did it! I used my new sewing machine to create my very own project. Yep, I did it all by myself. I only broke one machine needle and didn't have to use the seam ripper too many times. I consider that a roaring success.

I was definitely inspired by Sarah and by the really cool Vera Bradley bags that I've seen. I also got some helpful assembly instructions which I adapted a bit to my liking.

Many more to come! I already bought material to make Emily a bag of her own! I do have a tendency to get on kicks of the same project (I haven't been posting all of the perforated paper ornaments that I've been cranking out) ...

House Updates

2008-05-27T07:10:00.008-05:00

We've been busy bees for the past two months ... here's our house with lots of projects behind us! Paint on all the walls, a few new light fixtures, lots of new furniture, a stained deck, pictures on the walls and more!

The kitchen (a bit fuzzy, but you get the idea) ... Another shot of the kitchen - Matt had the good idea to put my cross stitch "Welcome" up here ..

The hall to the front door with our china cabinets

The living room - note Matt's giant TV - a recent present to himself :) The breakfast room - I think I might make two more stained glass pieces to go with the one I made in my beginner class. I like the way it looks in the transom window. My craft room! It's messy -- just the way it should be! I have so many projects to work on!
Guest room #1

Guest bath #1
Matt's office (he's still shopping for that new desk ...)

Guest room #2
Guest bath #2
The laundry room!

The backyard (just after our housewarming party)

My latest project -- two container gardens! I love them! I have a third ready to go.

I still need to put up some photos of the dining room, the master bed and bath and maybe my awesome pantry, but they are all too messy at the moment!

My little sister got hitched!

2008-05-14T07:41:00.004-05:00

Emily and Steve Prichard were married on April 12, 2008 -- Emily's 27th birthday! It was a great party and so fun to see my little sis so happy.

Artisan Cakes did the cake -- it was beautiful and yummy! White cake with fresh strawberries ...
Here's the Kennedy (and then some!) family ... so fun to have everyone together.

I feel quite glamorous in this photo, and thought I'd throw it in. Hey, it's my blog! :)

Cutest pup ever

2008-05-14T06:53:00.004-05:00

I met the cutest pup ever at Bradley's Frame Shop when I was getting Emily's wedding present done. They did a marvelous job -- I'll put up photos when I get a chance.

Casey is a 9 year old soft-coated wheaten terrier mix ...

We Did It!

2008-04-14T13:35:00.006-05:00

We finally sold our house! It's amazing, but true ...

Our new place is wonderful (and so big!) - and of course, we have a million projects that we are trying to get started on! From having the whole house painted, putting knobs on all the cabinets, putting up some "wainscoting" in the dining room, switching out light fixtures, sealing the new deck, etc., etc. .. it's so fun to have things to do again!

Here's a few photos of the place from the listing and our initial walk through - once we get some of the aforementioned projects done, I'll put up some new ones.

A collage ... for my someday craft room?

2008-02-06T07:37:00.001-06:00

I was inspired by photos in a magazine to put together a collage of similar photos or art with coordinating frames ... I thought I would start a new wish list! (I love wish lists ...). I already have two of the pieces ("Played Out" and "The Inconsolable" from earlier posts). I would also like to include a black and white picture of Fergie. Here are a few potential additions ...

"Fitz"

"The Explorer's Club"

"Scruffy""Dog's Life III""Master Bedroom"

Post Script -- I have a wonderful collage in my room now -- a black and white of Fergie that Emily gave me, "The Inconsolable" and "Played Out". I guess I have a thing for scruffy looking terrier mixes. Wonder where that came from ...

More From the Factory ...

2008-01-09T17:26:00.001-06:00

So I went a little crazy over the past couple months and started cranking out projects ...

I finally finished my amazing miniature Van Gogh Fourteen Sunflowers -- I just love it! It is so tiny (less than 2" tall)! It is now my second favorite thing I've made after the tiny pillows. Thank you artecy!

Here's a close up of the stitching:
And I finished Matt's stocking -- it was an adventure in cross stitch and machine stitching to complete it!

I made another "Nutcrack" stocking for Melissa Heselmeyer's baby, Evan.
And then I discovered a new obsession ... Mill Hill Bead Ornament Kits!!!! These are the four that are totally finished. I gave one to Aunt Linda and one to Julie Stober for Christmas this year.

I have so many more of them to do! It might be "Mill Hill Christmas" next year ...

A few more items from the recap

2007-11-27T08:20:00.004-06:00

Lady Under the Arch that I completed somewhere around 2000 or 2001:

An Oz picture that Emily and I stitched after I created the pattern from an old book cover:

A wedding gift for Cate and Casey Donohue (I don't have a photo of the actual one, but Emily and I completed this one and added their last name and wedding date):

Gift for Jen and Rob

2007-11-27T07:57:00.000-06:00

I finished Jen and Rob's sampler and promptly forgot to take a picture of it! It looks just like this one (a bit different gold frame), but it says "jen and rob november 10" in the section where the alphabet is shown.

A Baby Gift

2007-09-25T18:29:00.001-05:00

I finally finished my first Christmas stocking - a gift for Isaac Ciravolo (Tara's little one). I really like the way it turned out, and hopefully it becomes a treasure for the Ciravolos for years to come!

Post script: Tara sent out Christmas cards with Zac and the stocking! He is such a cutie!!!
I love his little bare feet in the second photo (Christmas in Houston!)

Here is the front (Dimensions kit):

Here is the back (navy blue corduroy with white stars embroidered):

A New Set of Projects

2007-09-25T12:03:00.000-05:00

So I have three projects going on concurrently right now (and no, this doesn't count all of the unfinished ones sitting around).

I am making a sampler for my friend Jen's wedding:

This is the needlepoint pillow that I'm trying my hand at (so far, it's OK):
And this is the divine Drawn Thread sampler that I am going to make for Emily and Steve. I might have to make this one twice ... I want it, too!:

I'll put up my finished photos when I'm done with these! Since I am just sitting at home in the evenings waiting on our place to sell, I'll probably get them done pretty soon :).

Wish List

2007-08-20T14:18:00.000-05:00

Since our house is stagnating on the market, I will relieve my frustration by working on my wish list for when we move in. There are so many fun things that I am wishing to do and to buy! Where do I begin ... I can't wait to get my sewing machine out of storage and try it out, I want to try out all of these new cookbooks I got, all of my new sewing gadgets are wasting away ... sigh.

I can't wait to pick a place and then pick some colors and get to "nesting"! I am still thinking about a gold kitchen (but of course, that depends on the countertops and cabinets). For the dining room, I am thinking either a dark gold or medium green ...

My new wish list item, however, is tons of trim! I want crown molding, cased windows, chair rail, "fake" wainscoating (trimmed out rectangles beneath the chair rail), and more! Tons and tons of white trim with traditional, bold paint colors ...

My inspiration house is eluding me currently. It is a home I saw on "My house is worth what?" on HGTV. I am going to try to get Dad to record it for me when it next comes on.

Bye, bye Miss Farley ... hello Mrs. Wetzel!!!

2007-05-24T15:58:00.000-05:00

It's official!!! I'm a married woman ...

The wedding weekend was truly wonderful. Seeing all of our friends and family, sharing all of the moments (big and small!), and starting the next phase of our life with a great party ... I won't soon forget it!

All the months of planning came to fruition. We had about 150 people at the wedding and everything went really smoothly. The weekend was really full of so many fun things ... Friday morning manicures and pedicures with Emily, Catie, Beth, Julie and Sue ... Friday lunch at Jim and Linda's place with great barbecue! ... Rehearsal and decorating the church! ... Rehearsal dinner at Birraporetti's ... Spending Friday night with Mom ... Saturday breakfast brought over by Anne and Frank (breakfast tacos, mimosa's and more!) ... Andi (The Perfect Face) and Danny showing up at the same time and beginning the "Paparazzi!"... meeting the girls to get ready at the Magnolia ... heading to the church and hanging out in the preschool rooms ... lots of photographs!!! ... watching all of the guests arrive ... getting more and more nervous as the actual ceremony approached ... walking down the aisle ... trying not to cry and failing ... the quick meet and greet line ... heading to the wonderful party at the Majestic Metro!!!!

I've included the photos from Danny's amazing photography of the event. We are so excited to get our photo album back! It's like our own work of art.

Another one for the craft room

2007-03-25T15:00:00.000-05:00

I love this little guy! He is "Played Out" by Mac.

A nod to photography

2007-03-25T14:58:00.000-05:00

Thought I may as well mention the few photos that I have done that I am proud of. Here is a group of flower photographs that hang on the wall at Mom's house:

Here is a panorama of our backyard at Hot Springs before we moved.

Another Craft Idea ...

2007-03-14T10:45:00.000-05:00

They just keep on comin' ...

Here's something that might be fun to do (or it might turn out really awful, but at least I can check it off the list):

I'll keep in among the list of the hundred or so projects that I hope to complete in my life.

More Wishes ...

2007-03-07T15:51:00.000-06:00

I'll start off with another fun wish list project ...

(these are from www.needlepointfun.com)

I am making progress on achieving some wishes and adding others to the list (isn't that always the way it goes?).

I purchased the book with "The Inconsolable" in it, and I think it will look great on my craft room wall in the house we will hopefully be buying this year! Is it wrong to decorate a room in my head before we even shop for the house?

I am so excited about the idea of having my own space to be creative, be organized, and decorate however I want! I have started brainstorming some ideas for my "dream craft room". Some of my favorites are: blue or yellow walls with black storage shelves, one open storage unit as a room divider/display, a dining room type table for spreading out (I need decide how high of a table I want and maybe explore some yard sales or resale shops), perhaps the Van Gogh blossoming tree on the wall, my new sewing machine (hopefully a wedding gift!), fresh flowers, task lighting, a chaise, a beautiful rug in the corner under the chair ... I could go on and on! It's so fun to dream ...

Here are some inspiration photos for me:

I can't wait! Perhaps I will include my decorating ideas in my list of creative accomplishments.

Miscellaneous Wishes

2007-02-08T13:47:00.000-06:00

This guy is just one of my favorites ever .. he is titled "The Inconsolable", and he is one of many wonderful dog sketches by artist Diana Thorne (this is from her 1935 illustrations of Real Tales of Real Dogs by Albert Payson Terhune):

Two of my favorite Wyeth paintings (they both hung in Grandmom's house .. the sure reason why they are my favorites!):

Here are some of my favorite Van Gogh paintings (I just love his work!):

Just thought I'd post some pictures of some things that I would like to make from The Drawn Thread collection:

A new talent

2007-02-08T13:01:00.000-06:00

I am now officially a knitter. I taught myself how this past weekend (thank you Lion Brand!). I have probably ripped out as much as I have knitted, but I'm making progress on my first project! Not quite sure what it is going to be, but I am working with 10 1/2 gauge needles and some fun color change yarn. I cast on 26 stitches and practiced making some smooth cloth (alternating knitting and purling). I have moved on to ribbing now, so we'll see how it goes!

My biggest problem seems to be adding stitches. I think I've figured out how it happens, and I am really quite proficient at undoing knitting now :).

As soon as I have something worth taking a picture of, I'll add it!

A brief recap

2007-01-23T08:51:00.001-06:00

I may have misled a bit when I said that I wouldn't venture into past projects ... I would hate to lose all of that work, so I will have a brief recap of my stitchery projects to date.

The earliest works are lost or sold (some paper punch Christmas cards, a trio of cats centered around my childhood friend, Nicola's, Burmese, Cassie, an aquarium scene). I do not have any of them anymore, but I will still count these amongst my lifetime projects.

I completed this Leo in one afternoon while sitting on the peach couch upstairs at Dad's house in 1994

Mom's favorite story is that when we went to Idle Hands to get the fish framed some guy offered to buy it from me for $500 for his fish themed bathroom!

I stitched these little herbs for Grandmom's kitchen after she got it redone ...

I then completed a sampler projects for Sus in 1995 (she picked it out) ... it was my first experience with beads and blending filament ...

After mom got a new oriental rug for the living room for the house on Hot Springs, I made her a Christmas gift by designing a cross stitch off of two of the patterns in the rug.

For Grandmom and Grandpa for Christmas in 1996

For Sus for Christmas in 1996

The Angel of Love (worked on this all during my time in Argentina! Mom and Dad both sent my supplies to help me complete it .. many times they were "lost" in the international mail!) .. finally completed in 2000 ...

A blackwork Iris that I made and grandmom had framed for me! It hangs in Mom's house now.

An otter for mom ...
A stained glass iris window for Sus - it hangs in her half bath...

A world map (adapted to remove all of the cheesy titles, etc.) completed around 2001

A floral Welcome completed in 2002 ... I later did just the L for my friend Laura West (now Doan) to thank her for a summer of free rent during my first summer internship and I completed the E with pansies for Evan's first Christmas ...

A cutwork box completed sometime around 2002

Parts of an incomplete (not stuffed or backed and missing a few members) nativity scene that I worked a lot on while on our 2 week cruise around South America in 2002 - I just sat in a comfy chair by the window and watched the glaciers go by and worked on my stitching! Heaven!!! I completed these in 2002 and 2003. The tassels are all tied down to keep them from frazzling ...

A miniature Three Wise Men (worked on 40 count material) for Emily for 2005 Christmas .. this is a version of the regular sized work that I completed for Mom a few years earlier ..

These are probably my favorite things I've ever made .. mini needlwork pillows adapted from a rug design on micro-stitchery.com of tapestry excerpts from a 15th century Cluny ... I completed these around 2005

Probably my second favorite project to date .. a miniature Jacobean panel that I made the pattern for by counting and copying off of an online gallery ... so cute!!! ... it is about three inches by two inches.

Here is a detailed view of the sampler - this is minature needlework.

These are partially finished Christmas ornaments that I worked on in 2005 - I gave one completed ornament to my wonderful hair dresser, Veronica

Some assorted towels that I worked on around 2005 (I gave a pair of towels to the Donohues as a housewarming, and there is also a Christmas towel around somewhere. Emily and I also completed a pair of vegetable and fruit towels a long time ago for Mom and Grandmom! I also stitched two monogrammed "F" towels for Dad and Linda one Christmas, but they went with the house. And Sus and I stitched a pair of blue on cream towels for mom ...)

The project that has taken me the most time to complete (to date), is my Teresa Wentzler Peacock Tapestry. More than five years from start to finish! Here it is in all its glory ...

My latest finished project is Jeremy and Mindy's wedding present (completed in a record 8 months!) .. I adapted this pattern a bit - I took out the cheesy latin words at the top and replaced with something a bit more romantic. I also left off all of the labels and added their monogram and wedding date .. completed December 2006

Still to post photos of ... three kings for mom, two needlework squares, wizard of oz (with emily), ladybug bookmark, lady with arch, christmas house, cat on lid of jar (?), star on lid of jar (?), sampler for Cate's wedding, sheep quartet (mention .. no photo), dollar bill (mention .. no photo), bargello seat cover for miniature chair, Melissa's wedding sampler

... started - embroidery panel, stocking for matt, fruit quartet, blue and black butterfly, teresa wentzler wedding arch

... future projects - stockings for children, flower quartet, teresa wentzler paisley corner, wentzler pillow top (blue and yellow and white), blackwork sampler, miniature works of art (van gogh sunflowers, etc.), bargello cover for miniature stool

It begins

2007-01-23T08:26:00.000-06:00

This is the first blog of my life ... quite a set up for what will very likely be an intensely boring post. However, I wanted to preface my blog with my statement of purpose ... I would like to catalog all of my activities that I feel define my leisure time. I sometimes feel as though these hours between work and sleep are wasted, but if I were to somehow capture the moments on paper (or digitally, as it were), they might have more significance.

So, here I go ... I suppose I will start with today and move forwards - a quite natural progression. Perhaps, in passing, I will mention past projects as they appear naturally.

I wish me luck.