The Reason...

freebie design found here

by Giulia Manfredini of Giulia Punti Antichi

"Chicca's Christmas House"

Christmas exchange

My EGA chapter had it's annual Christmas party and exchange today and a good time was had by all!  The lunch was Italian style and I'm pretty sure it will be weeks before I need to eat again.  Mama Mia, it was good!

The gift exchange theme this year was "containers".  You know how we love our stuff holders!  Here is the candy container I made out of an empty risotto rice container.  Considering it was risotto, I figured I get "bonus points" for it fitting right into our Italian theme.

How darn cute are those peppermint buttons in the corners? 

 For anyone interested, the design is from an old hardback Better Homes and Gardens Christmas book.  I used 18ct Aida, folded under a top and bottom seam allowance and just ironed it.  No need to stitch or fuse the edges since it is laced corset-style through eyelets on the backside.  The new owner can easily remove the band and replace it throughout the year.  Hope they like it! 

 I think I need to stitch another one to keep. 

Maybe next year!

Random not so Mystery Give Away Winner is...

Big hugs to all commentors from November and December!  I shuffled all entrants off to the oracle and here are the results:

There were 37 items in your list.  Here they are in random order:

1. Vera
2. Sadie
3. Corinna

Congratulations Vera!  I know your Scottish heart will be a little warmer (if that is possible) with your tartan scissors cube close by.
 
Again, I've enjoyed these past few months of give-aways so much, I'm sure you will be seeing at least a few new give-aways in the New Year!
 
Be safe and warm dear friends!!!

How many Ho's does it take to do Santa?

Sounds like the beginning to a very bad joke, huh? 

Well, actually, I kinda wish it was a joke.  Instead, it is a very real question that I've spent a good deal of time considering lately.  You see, I'm trying to figure how many "Ho Ho Hos" I would need to stitch on a band to go around this extremely cute little turkeyworked Santa in order to make a mattress style pin cushion ornament.    Wouldn't he be just adorable with a "Ho Ho Ho" band all the way around him?  Maybe a tassel at the bottom and a twisted cord hanger at the top?

Sounds simple enough, right? Measure the perimeter of your ornament, multiple by the count of your fabric, divide by 2 and there you go, right? One would think so.  BUT, just about then, I had a math flashback to 7th grade where we learned Pythagorean theorem or the rule of right angle triangles, you know, "A squared + B squared = C squared". 

Since the Jolly Ol' Elf was set up perfectly for a diamond shaped ornament, I said to myself, WAIT JUST A COTTON PICKIN MINUTE HERE.  I think I've seen this before on a Math Field Day test....from the tip of the ornament to the left most point is 1.5 inches, but that does not equate to 21 stitches on my 28 count fabric (1"=14, 1.5"=21).  NO SIREE BOB.  Let's see here, yep, looks like the math points to 16 stitches!  Okay, so 16 stitches per side, four sides, that makes 64 stitches.  So I need to chart a band, 64 stitches long, with Hos on the right and Hos on the left and an eyelet in the center for the twisted cord hanger.  Right?  Wrong.  I'm not stitching the Hos on the diagonal.  If I were stitching the Hos diagonally, that calculation would be right.  However, I'm stitching the Hos on the straight, so I need 6 inches of Hos altogether, which on 28 ct (over 2) amounts to 84 stitches or 42 to center for eyelet.  SO (shaking head).  How many Hos does it take to cover 40 or less stitches?  It depends on whether you're stitching big Hos or little Hos.  Big Hos can cover 8 to 10 stitches, while little Hos might just cover 7.  

The worst part about this whole thing is that as busy as the hubby and I have been lately, I haven't been able to sit down with pencil and paper and chart this out, so at night, instead of visions of sugarplums, you guessed it, I'm having visions of Hos!  What I know for sure is that I'll be lacing an 84 stitch-long band into a border of 64 backstitches around my Santa. 

How many Hos Santa will actually end up with is still a mystery, but the fewer, the better, (just ask Tiger).  Oh yes I did! 

As good as done!

Awoke this morning to a coat of freshly fallen snow.  It was quiet beautiful.  But, like most Saturdays in December, I was rushing around and did not get to enjoy it for long.

Still sneaking in a stitch or two on my Autumn square whenever I can. I feel certain that I'll be putting the finishing stitches in this baby in the next 24 hours.  I CAN'T WAIT to get it to the framer!!!  She has some very interesting options already picked out for me to consider.

please click on pic for better view

"Autumn"

Indigo Rose

with Splendor and Thread Gatherer silks on 32 ct. linen

And I'll leave you with a little Christmas cheer...

Hope you all are enjoying all the gifts of the season!

Slower than molasses in January

Both my Autumn square and the man-tastic workshop are inching closer to completion:

phone picture (again), better quality later...

As you can see, the offending yellow leaf has been frogged.  But, I swan, every time I go off the reservation and attempt to modify color schemes, projects take me twice as long as they normally should, which is forever and a day at my best rate!  Why must I fritz with perfectly good patterns?  Why?  Is it just me?  Do they make pills for this? 

Minor stiff neck has put an early end to my stitching tonight.  Bummer. 

Took two tablets and hoping for the best!  :o)

My November Random Mystery Giveaway Winner is...

List Randomizer

There were 2 items in your list from November 23rd.

Here they are in random order:

1. Carol R

 

 

Congratulations Carol!  If you'll send me your snail mail address, I'll pop your surprise in the mail this week!

 

My final give-away winner will be announced (on the random secret lucky day) in December.  Remember all commentors from November and December will go in the magic hat for the tartan Ginghers and scissors cube. 

 

 

 

When I read your comments, they feel like warm sunshine on my face and I wish you all the BEST of LUCK in my final give-away of the year.

 

Autumn progress

I was fretting over the 'something's missing' element in this Most Excellent Autumn/Blackwork piece.  Then out of the blue, it came to me.  I realized while it had almost ALL of my favorite elements (fall colours, blackwork, silks, acorns, Rhodes, rice and queen stitches),  it had no hand-dyed (or overdyed) threads.   I KNOW!!!  What took me so long to figure that out?!?  Well, I hopped over to the LNS quicker than you could say 'coffee break' and picked up some Thread Gatherer "Autumn Honey" silk.  Can you see where I worked it in?

"Autumn"

by Indigo Rose

various Splendor silks and Thread Gatherer "Autumn Honey"

If I double up on the caramel brulee triple lattes, I just might be doing the happy dance before the week is out!

Giving Thanks for Traditions...

With Thanksgiving less than a week away, today I'm giving thanks for Traditions.  The turkey is on order, grocery list complete, table is set, Christmas cards secured, and I'm counting the hours till the house swells with family and I'm tuning in the MACY'S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE!


The Virgo in me springs to life with the careful planning and structured activities of the holidays.  As a working person, in order for me to preserve what precious little sanity I have left (don't laugh) AND enjoy the holidays, all preparations/festivities from November through Jan 1 must be scheduled with military like precision. 


Holidays are to be enjoyed, right?  Therefore, One.Must.Plan.


Designing menus, scheduling the grocery shopping (as you all know, if you need crushed pineapple or canned whole cranberries, you better know where to go and when), selecting gifts, decorating the house and updating the Christmas card list are all "fun for me" holiday activities.  However, one of my favorite memories of the holidays is from the early years of my life as a new step-mom.


When my youngest stepson was little, we did lots of crafts together.  When I cross stitched, he cross stitched. When I decorated cakes, he decorated cakes.  We really had lots of fun together and came to know each other better through crafting. 


One year, around the holidays, we thought it would be fun to make candles together so for some reason or another, the day after Thanksgiving became our "candle making day".  We used old Tupperware parfait glasses as molds to make tree-shaped green wax candles, then whipped white wax which we randomly applied to the green candles making them look like they were snow laden.  If we hadn't eaten all the silver non-pareils (who remembers those?!) by the time we got around to making the candles, we'd stick some of those into the white wax before it set, you know, to spiff them up a smidge.  Then, when our little forest of candles were cool, we'd carefully store them until Christmas Eve evening when we would light the family room with nothing but those candles and the Christmas tree.  The glow was so beautiful!

Even though our post-Thanksgiving candle making sessions have long gone by the wayside, I'll never forget the fun we had making them and beauty they gave us on Christmas Eve.

What fun, crafty, maybe atypical, holiday traditions do you and your family enjoy?

I plan to pop back in with a stitching update between now and Thursday, but if I get crazy and don't, I hope your Thanksgiving is filled with love, comfort, family and tradition!

Giving Thanks for Indian Summer...

Good Great weather has given us ideal building conditions this past week.  Rain coming soon, but no complaints.  We could use a little rain with some many dead leaves floating around.  As you can see, the garage concrete floor has been poured and the deck off the workshop has been built.  I took a quick spin through the Dave Cave this afternoon and was very impressed. 

I think it's going to be exactly what hubby has been wanting.