week 27 ~ week 30 TAST and the 15 minute challenge

a few weeks ago i put together a basket of preserves and home baked scones for a local fundraiser/silent auction.

the preserves were some that my daughter put up and without them the basket wouldn't have been nearly as tempting.

i had a great time making  and adding tags, napkins and fancy jar lids with that bunny fabric that i love so much~!

i was unable to attend but word has it that the basket went for a very nice amount/donation for the cause (my local family resource center) which makes me happy.

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and now for some TAST stitch sharing.


week 27 ~ bonnet stitch: 
i had trouble with this stitch but i'm not sure just why. once i thought that i had a handle on it i decided to place it on a postcard seam using an aqua pearl cotton (size 8). i added a fly stitch to the "top" part of the stitch and a colonial knot settled nicely between these stitches. both the fly stitch and the colonial knot are worked in a raspberry colored floss (one strand for the fly stitch and three strands for the colonial knot.


week 28 ~ up and down buttonhole: i really liked this stitch and have worked it into my stocking in a double row along the top of a piece of lacy vintage cuff. the row on top is worked with a shallower stitch length than the row on the bottom. i've used pearl cotton 12 in red. 

week 29 ~ basque stitch:

i used two strands of metallic thread (one in red and one in a brass color) for this stitch and added a small pearly bead to the catch part of each one. metallic thread can be a bear to work with but i ran both of these threads through some bees wax which helped enormously. the bees wax also gave the threads a bit more body which made the curves within this stitch stand out nicely.

i also worked this one into a section of my own stocking.


week 30 ~ oyster stitch:
this is another stitch that i really liked.
i worked it into a different section of the lacy vintage cuff that is on my own stocking and once again used pearl cotton 12 in red.

the really nice thing about stitching around lace bits is that it's possible to use the various lace elements to naturally dictate and control the spacing of stitches.





there are more stitches that have been worked but i'm going to save those for another post.

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i've been able to meet my goals with Kate for the fifteen minute challenge on all but two days this summer which makes me feel good. some days i would like to be able to do more than that but winter's coming and those days won't be filled with the gardening/outdoors work so i can snuggle in and stitch for hours if i want to (i hope).

 

 

 

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recent gifts include:

• the comfort that my blog readers have made me feel in regards to my irregular posts ~THANK YOU ALL~!
• a visit from my daughter and a friend of hers that helped catch me up on a few things as well as gave us some time to share a few pleasant meals and some good conversation
• the smell of the freshly cut lawn

some creative spontaneity

about a month ago i happened to visit Nina, a very creative blogger who was experimenting and having fun putting some atc's together. i hadn't been involved with an atc trade for quite a while and she was making it look so tempting that i wanted in on the fun. Nina very graciously agreed to trade with me and i immediately began to create mine. if you want to see the cards that i sent to her then pop over for a visit to Mrs. Moen; The Not So Secret Life of a Quilter.

these are the fun cards that she sent to me. i love what she's done using textures, layers and just minimal accents.



Orange Flower

love this creative use of the orange paper clips


Tiny Forest



another simple and fun idea





Lovebird



this one's my favorite~!



love that nest of thread bits.

Little House

and check out this tiny little dwelling with it's wonderful "goodnight moon"

awesome huh~!?  

i have been inspired to use more creative textures within my own work.



sometimes it's good to just spontaneously jump in and PLAY a little bit~!!~ thank you so much Nina for the opportunity to enjoy both the creating, sharing, and (best of all~!!~) the receiving of a few more atc's.



:- )

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recent gifts include:

• the enjoyment of acting on a playful impulse and sharing in creative experimentation
• walking on the sun warmed soil in bare feet to pick (and eat) snow peas from the garden
• seeing the summer flowers colorfully burst into bloom  
• watching a couple of orange kittens romp in the field; so fierce and funny with fur standing out in excitement as they clumsily play their "gotcha" games with each other.

i've got no less than four posts in "draft" mode.
but none of them quite ready to post yet due to something or other missing . . . 

i know that i've been away for over a month and feel the need to get back into the blog world but am wondering at just where to start.

i don't like my blog to be about complaints and dark days but the fact is sometimes that's what i've got. today is one of those days.

initially i was away from blog land due to some efforts needed within the garden. i love (make that LOVE~!!~) to be in the garden, however if i work in the garden, even for a short time, then the rest of my day is pretty much shot. due to MS i'm sometimes forced to make decisions about what i get done which really saddens me. i'm one of those gals that likes to "have her cake and eat it too" and back in the day i could do that. it came at a cost but i did it anyway. quite frequently i notice that i can do this less and less which leads to anger and depression.
so it's a dark day. or two.  please bear with me as i work through it.

i have actually accomplished a number of things (besides short but intense busy spells in the garden) while not blogging. none of them earth shattering but when i'm not taking extraordinarily long naps i do try to at least keep my hands busy. i'm happy to say that my 15 minutes of sewing project continues despite all of this  and i'm not too far behind on the TAST work. i even have some new prayer flags and atc's.
i do get bored easily and move from project to project which results in much done but not a lot necessarily crossed off of any lists. sometimes i really do think i have ADD . . . sure, why not add that to my list of ails.

lately, i can't seem to always muster up the steady hands (or time) needed to take a photo that i'm happy with which puts me even further behind in relation to what i want to post as well as disgusted by what MS continues to take away from my life.

this summer i've been on my own quite a bit (wonderful husband works long, hard, hot hours at 'stomping out' wild land fires). this results in a few more household responsibilities left to me to factor into my time/energy. it seems to take very little to upset the balance and create a pile-up of bits and pieces to attempt to get back into some sort of manageable routine . . . which leaves me running about stomping at my own 'fires'.

so what started out as a small break from posting has turned into a long dry spell. i apologize. i have had a few late night moments that i used to wander aimlessly around the internet and have to admit that i often don't even have the energy to make a comment. sporadic lurking has become my 'contribution' to the web. i'm ashamed but cannot seem to find the energy for more.

i have had some extremely thoughtful inquiries about my mysterious long absence and i want to thank those who have kept me in their thoughts while i've been 'off the radar'.
the fact is that i am (mostly) okay. i miss my semi regular routine of blogging and know that this will all sort itself out eventually.
i appreciate whatever patience anyone wishes to bestow upon me and hope that i will not continue to disappoint.


despite all of this i do find that i have much to be grateful for and some of my recent gifts include:

• the peace that i find watching my pond and it's residents
• a bountiful harvest of fresh tomatoes being gathered
• the incredibly good taste of those warm from the sun, freshly picked tomatoes
• a cottontail bunny that comes to steal peas in the evening . . . i happily share them with this sweet creature
• warm milky tea sipped in the cool early morning while watching the hummers start their day
• being able to somehow (!?! garden hose in one hand and dog on leash in the other!?!) separate two sizable very bad dogs from a fight without getting bit
• both dogs coming away from said fight with only minor injuries
• witnessing the drama of a fiery red sunrise
• potatoes and onions promising their own generous harvest
• spellcheck

i hope that you are finding many gifts to enjoy within your summer days as well.

i would also like to apologize for dropping the ball on my ongoing give-aways. i hope to get back to those sometime in the fall.