The Hard Way is on the move again...

From the US to the Netherlands, back to the US again. Where it will end up this time is anyone's guess, but if you're interested in reading it, pop on over to Teresa's blog and get signed up for her drawing!

And if by some crazy chance you're not acquainted with Teresa, have a look around and check out her blog. Teresa not only does lovely work, but her love and her devotion to her extended family, especially her mom and elderly uncle, is truly inspiring. Stop over and say hello - you won't be disappointed!

Doing inventory

I've been sorting out my charts and trying to get them organized. I've also been trying to capture a little more information on my stitched pieces. Before I started blogging, I didn't really keep track of fabrics, fibers, finishing dates, etc., but I've been trying to be more dilligent about recording that stuff. When I stitch, I use plastic page protectors for my charts (or copies of charts), and when I'm done, I file everything in the sleeve and store stitched charts in binders (so I have more room for stash in my stash boxes!) I try to remember to note the modifications I've made, put a date (usually on the color insert for the chart), and in a couple of them, I've even put in the labeled bag the fabric came in.

I've also tried to keep track of these things on my blog as well, and I ran across a piece I did, but don't think I've featured here.

Happy Home by Blue Ribbon Designs
Stitched on 32 ct. Belfast Antique Ivory
with DMC and WDW threads
I stitched this for a long time friend of mine and her husband when they bought their first home. If you look at the original pattern, you'll see that I made some modifications to it. Instead of stitching the alphabet, I stitched in their name and the year they were married (established).

I've gone back and forth on that subject - is a family established when they buy their home or when they get married? I finally decided that it's the year they get married, and I find another way to commemorate the purchase of their first home. In this instance, I stitched the town and state, and the date they purchased the home under the house itself. I think it worked out well this way.

I also framed it myself using a frame from PictureFrames.com. If you haven't used them, I highly recommend them.

For stitchers in the Greater Philadelphia Area

I just got this announcement in my email newsletter from The Strawberry Sampler...

WEDNESDAY, September 17th

Jacqueline Holdsworth, the lady who has brought us these incredible historical designs will be visiting us from England. This is a once in a lifetime experience. We don't know specifics .... as in time (day or evening). We WILL have a kit available for purchase that she will be demonstrating. If you have plenty of your own supplies, and don't feel you need to purchase a kit...please contact us at 610-358-9145 OR 800-634-6106
or at our email at shop@strawberrysampler.com for specifics. There will be NO CHARGE for attending this lecture and demonstration...only the kit cost. PLEASE...PLEASE don't put this off.

I know it's short notice...but you will be awed by Jacqueline's knowledge that she will share with us! Samplers have been a way of recording our history...and Jacqueline will not disappoint. You will feel a kinship to those women who used needle and thread so many years before us. She will bring with her over 500 images of Museum Pieces that we will view in a Power Point Presentation.

Look for more specifics to come as we get them...but call or email now to reserve your spot as spaces will be limited!

Bent Creek's I Do.... I'm DONE!

This is the piece that everyone voted on for the wedding we're going to on Friday. I'm SO pleased with how it came out, but I'm frustrated by the frame because I can't get the back in with the double mat and the mounting board. I'll have to have DH work on it a little. I guess that will teach me to buy pre-made frames that are really just meant for photos!

Bent Creek's "I Do"
stitched over 2 on 28 ct. Navy Bean linen with DMC, GAST and WDW Threads

I decided I liked the look of their names better than their initials, so I was glad their names were relatively short. I also went darker with the leaf and letter colors, and if I were to stitch it again, I might have chosen a brighter green color for the "I Do" instead of the blue, but I think it looks nice this way as well. It was definitely a fun and easy stitch, and I'd stitch it again if the occasion called for it. Since it goes together so quickly, it's a nice chart to keep on hand for future gifts.

Ta DAH!!!!!!

My Needle and My Floss, They Comfort Me
Waxing Moon Designs #119

Stitched on 28 ct. natural linen with DMC, GAST and WDW threads

I finished up the last few stitches this afternoon and got the camera out to take some pictures. Don't tell my MIL though - she's been bugging me since January to send her the pictures I took at Christmas and I still haven't gotten around to doing it. (To be fair, though, I detest sending out photos without fixing issues like red eye and such, and it takes a lot more time to do that than it does to take a stitching picture, which is why she hasn't gotten them yet.)

As you can see, I made some color changes to suit my own personal tastes. Since blue is my favorite color, naturally, I had to go with some variation on that. It took me a little bit to figure out which blue, since I was thinking about going with a dark blue and grey color scheme, till DH pointed out that the lettering wouldn't show up on her skirt if I used a darker blue for it, and if I changed the lettering to a lighter color to contrast with the skirt, it wouldn't show up as nice on the linen. DRAT!! What to do, what to do? Why, go with a lighter color scheme, of course!

Picking out the hair color was hard - I knew I wanted to do a dark auburn hair to match mine, and pale skin (which ended up not contrasting as much with the other lighter colors as I would have liked but it doesn't look as blended IRL). Now to get her framed up and hanging.

And now it is my duty to pass this pattern on to the next stitcher. I had 31 stitchers eager to join the Sisterhood, but alas, the pattern can only go to one stitcher at a time. And the winner is....

CJ from Tea and Stitches. CJ, I'll be leaving you a comment on your blog as well, but please email me at sweetpeastitches @ yahoo.com with your mailing address and I'll get it out to you ASAP. Ladies, you'll want to keep an eye on CJ's blog so when the pattern is up for grabs again, you can be ready.

History of the Sisterhood:

Harmien in the Netherlands (November 3, 2007, scroll down)
Sent it to Lili in France (June 15, 2007)
Who sent it to Barbara in Malaysia (June 25, 2007)
Who sent it to Tessa in Australia (July 16, 2007)
Who sent it to Lizzie in North Carolina, U.S. (February 26, 2008)
Who sent it to Barbara in the Netherlands (March 11, 2008)
Who sent it to Sarah (no blog) in Ohio, U.S. (April 11, 2008)
Who sent it to Anna in Pennsylvania, U.S. (June 2008)
Who sent it to Wendy in Ontario, Canada (July 4, 2008)
Who sent it to Sue in Michigan, U.S. (August 2, 2008)
Who sent it to Jennifer in Pennsylvania, U.S. (September 2, 2008)
Who sent it to CJ in Texas, U.S.

Labor Day Weekend

I had been planning on sneaking in a few last stitches on the Sisterhood pattern, but we had company over the weekend and it was almost non-stop action.

My ILs came down Saturday morning, and while DH and my FIL went to pick up the patio set we bought (there was no way we were getting it in either of our cars, but my FIL has an SUV), my MIL and I finished up the preparations for the party on Sunday. Then Saturday night, my BIL, SIL and the kids came down from NY and we had a pizza party. DH and I make homemade pizza on an almost weekly basis, so the family was treated to three different kinds of pizza and stromboli. I don't mean to brag, but my husband makes a KILLER stromboli. Pretty much everything was devoured, including the white bean dip I made to tide everyone over while the pizza was baking.

And if that wasn't enough, we celebrated our niece and nephew's birthdays with cake and presents on the patio. (No, they're actually not twins. He turned four 2 weeks ago, she'll be six in 2 weeks, so we always celebrate their birthdays on Labor Day Weekend).

Then Sunday, some of the extended family came down for a cookout. DH purchased a smoker this summer, so we invited everyone down for BBQ ribs and brisket.

Now, as much as we love Alton Brown, I have to give his rib recipe two big thumbs down when doing them on the smoker. They were fine when we used his rib rub recipe and did the ribs in the oven, but we used it the last time we did them on the smoker and it was too salty / spicy. (DH made it, so yes, everything was measured correctly, not like my throw it all in and see how it tastes approach). This time, we went simple. I followed the recipe for Apple City Baby Back Ribs and it was FANTASTIC!!! I highly, highly recommend this recipe. The only thing we skipped was the intermediate rub step (DH had them on the smoker before I could get to them), and with just a touch of salt, the ribs were outstanding. This is a KEEPER recipe.

The brisket turned out great as well, and there was plenty of BBQ food - beans, coleslaw, and corn casserole (like a cornbread with sour cream and cheese). Everyone had a great time, and loved the new house. This was the first time anyone other than my ILs had seen it, so we had fun giving the grand tours. After the extended family left, my ILs helped clean up, and I was on bath duty with the kids. Naturally, they had to check out the great big tub with the jets, and they had a blast in it. (There were bubbles everywhere!) My BIL and SIL wanted to get home that night, so they packed up the kids and left, and the ILs stayed for another night. Since it was all adults, there were a few bottles of wine involved and some funny stories out on the patio. The wine was great. The biting insects? Not so much!

All in all, we had a great time, and thus concludes my explanation as to why I am just getting around to posting my completed Sisterhood pattern..... and picking a winner!

Sisterhood of the Traveling Pattern

As some of you know, there's a pattern by Waxing Moon Designs called "My Needle and My Floss, They Comfort Me" that has been making the rounds from one stitcher to the next.

Anna (aka Stitch Bitch) plotted the journeys of this chart, and gathered up links to the pictures:

Harmien in the Netherlands (November 3, 2007, scroll down)
Sent it to Lili in France (June 15, 2007),
Who sent it to Barbara in Malaysia (June 25, 2007)
Who sent it to Tessa in Australia (July 16, 2007)
Who sent it to Lizzie in North Carolina, U.S. (February 26, 2008)
Who sent it to Barbara in the Netherlands (March 11, 2008)
Who sent it to Sarah (no blog) in Ohio, U.S. (April 11, 2008)
Who sent it to Anna in Pennsylvania, U.S. (June 2008)
Who sent it to Wendy in Ontario, Canada (July 4, 2008)
Who sent it to Sue in Michigan, U.S. (August 2, 2008)
Who sent it to Jennifer in Pennsylvania, U.S.

I've been stitching away on it the last couple nights, and it's coming along well. The hardest part for me was making the color changes, which you'll get to see as soon as I get off my lazy duff and take a photo to post. For now, suffice it to say that my DH was most helpful in the color selection, pointing out that you wouldn't be able to see the lettering if I went with my original plan to make the dress dark blue. Nice catch! So I went with another shade of blue and I think it will turn out great.

In the meantime, I'll be taking names for stitchers interested in joining the Sisterhood, and drawing a winner early next week, probably Monday or Tuesday (we're having company this weekend, so it won't be before then). The only requirement for receiving this chart is that you must pass on the original chart in a timely fashion to the next stitcher. I will send the chart anywhere in the world, so if you'd like to join the Sisterhood and can promise the chart will continue its journies, leave your name and a method of contacting you (blog, email) as a comment on THIS POST.

And it's not a requirement, but it would be nice to take Anna's archiving and add on as each stitcher joins the Sisterhood, and post the links in your own blog when you receive the chart.

BFF Award from Meari

Another award has come my way, this one courtesy of Meari. (If you haven't seen her blog, you must check it out. She's hilarious!)

Here are the rules:
1. Only five people allowed.
2. 4 of them have to be dedicated followers of your blog and 1 has to be new and live in another part of the world.
3. You have to link back to who gave you the award.

Today's nominees are:

Janaina - The Stitcher in the Green Bikini
Cathey - Pumpkin Patch & Co.
Teresa - Sew Many Thoughts
Wendy - Wendy ~ Home At Work
Von - On the Dry Side

SBQ: Fabric and Floss

8/21/2008: If you had to choose, would you rather spend money on overdyed floss or hand-dyed fabric? (Submitted by Dawn)

Good question. I have yet to stitch on hand dyed fabric as it has been too expensive for me. My former LNS only sold it in pre-cut packages and I could never seem to justify the expense of it. However, my new LNS custom cuts fabrics for projects and sells grab bags of the off cuts. One of my recent purchases contained a piece of the hand dyed fabric, so I will see if I like stitching on it.

For now, I'd prefer to spend the money on the floss, but only some of the flosses. If I can use a DMC alternative, I'm happy with that, and will tend to spend money on overdyeds that are more varigated. If you can't tell the difference between a $ .35 skein of DMC and a $2.25 skein of overdyed, I'd rather purchase the DMC. Although I do admit that sometimes I can be swayed by a cool name for an overdyed!

Blog Award

Kim, Terry, and Patty all gave me this very cool award, and Dianne gave it back. Thanks, ladies!!!

The rules of the award are:

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog.
2. Link the person you received your award from.
3. Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4. Put links of those blogs on yours.
5. Leave a message on the blogs of those you’ve nominated.

I have well over 200 blogs in my Google Reader, and if I didn't like them, I wouldn't read them. (Basically, I love ALL your blogs). I also try to leave comments on occasion so people know their blogs are being read. So whenever I pass on an award, I like to highlight blogs some of the blogs that I read, but definitely not all of them. I think people are more prone to click on a link within a post rather than for me to say, "Hey, check out my side bar."

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Go check out these seven blogs:

• Michelle - Cozy Egg
• Jennalynn - A Night Without Armour
• Dani - Navy Stitching
• Dianne - Dianne Rambling On
• Rachel - Willing Hands
• Shel - Stash of Sanity
• Heather - Quilt or Stitch?

And a BONUS site every stitcher should be familiar with, The LNS Report Card. Take a moment to check it out and add some comments about stores you've had experience with, just to keep the list updated. It's nice to have a resource for checking out potential LNS and ONS, and if you don't see one you shop at listed, be sure to contact the moderator, Genie. She's usually quick to respond and will get shops added to the list as needed.