Sunday, July 22, 2007

Fair Report


What a wonderful day it was yesterday. The weather could not have been much better here in Central IL for the middle of July and it's always fun hanging out with my oldest daughter and sister-in-law Nancy having time to gab and eating fair food, and watching judges attach ribbons to winning pieces. Nan entered lemon squares, but what a bummer, they didn't win anything.

Darling daughter, who used to stitch beautiful things and hasn't for sometime now was just along for the fun of it and to help me juggle entries. Not a lot of entries this year, but for the first time, they all got to hang rather than just the winners, which is so much more fun.

I managed 2 blue, 2 red, 2 pink in needlework, and a red in photography. My other daughter got a third in photography.

BLUE: 1st
My biggest thrill was that my Queen Sampler got a blue ribbon.
Remember Me on Halloween (BOAF)

RED: 2nd
Celtic Birds basket band
Blackbird Designs Flea Market Tray

PINK: 4th
With My Needle
Floral Needle Rollup
Three Friends/Trilogy clock

My grandson's Cherish All Living Things/LK got nothing.

My winning photograph was taken in the cemetery in Salem Mass (Witch City).

Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Champaign County Fair



The fair is coming, the fair is coming. It's not my favorite thing in the world, the food is greasy, the place is way too dirty and dusty for me and my allergies, and the people who work it and who hang out there are a little rude and out there even for me. But we get free entrance at lunch (we who work at the hospital park at the fairgrounds all year and during fair week we are displaced so they give us that much) and I usually wonder down one afternoon and look at the craft and art entries but the past two years I haven't entered. (I think it was the heat rather than not having something to enter). Last year I was shocked how little had been entered (one category had all of one entry in it) so I'm going to take another shot at it, so pray it's not stinking rotten hot on Saturday as I sit there watching the judges do their work and wait to see the final results of that, my photography entries, as well as my daughters photographs, and my SILs Lemon Squares. I have several pieces that I'll enter to the point I'm competing against myself, so wish me luck. Anyway, I'll enter this basketband piece I finally got finished a couple weeks ago.


I've spent the weekend being inspired to do some finishing and pulled out this little needle rollup by With My Needle I had done ages ago and hadn't figured out what to do with it. I was on such a roll that I couldn't put it down and was finishing up the joining as we were going across town for dinner Sunday night. I'm happy enough with the way it turned out even if it's on evenweave, I'm still just shocked that it's so much smaller than I had imagined when I bought the chart.


I also finished a birthday gift for a friend, but I'll wait a few days to show you that until it arrives across the pond.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Ornament Finish and a Very Old UFO



COOKIES FOR MR. C
by Susan Greening Davis
of Still Stitching with Susan LLC
2006 JCS Ornament Issue


Who knew how really adorable this ornament would be! Kitted up for sale at the Rockome National Counted Cross Stitch Show this year by Stitcher's Express (Mattoon IL), this ornament was a must have after you saw the finished one on the counter. I'm not going to sit here and tell you it was a snap to stitch and finish, because for me it truely wasn't. But once you get it laid out and put a few stitches in on each side as your guide, you don't need your pattern again until you put the words on. I changed mine from "Cookies for Mr. C" to "Cookies for Santa". Once you have those gingerbread men on it and have it all put together, you can't stop thinking about baking.....but not in this heat!


Pocket Full of Posies
by Anne Stanton
from JCS Magazine (April 1998)


This very old UFO is the piece I'm focused on for now. I'm not sure what it was about this design that spoke to me at the time, but I think it was that it looked like a bit of a challenge (doesn't anymore) and it had #12 perle in pink. The fabric is 28ct Carnation and I'm using DMC and perle cotton. I have had very little of this done for years and lately couldn't stop thinking about it, so decided to go find it and start in again. I have a few other pieces that are tickling the back of my mind, but I think they'll have to wait until I finish this one to even go looking for those.