Snowmageddon 2015

I feel like a cry baby when it comes to nasty weather since I see folks who have it so much worse on the evening news every night, but... today makes Day 5 that hubby and I have been snowed in.  Thank goodness I bought extra supplies at the grocery before it hit.  I normally think the warnings are excessive and consequently tend not to stock up like it's the end of the world.  Glad I did this time.  Thankfully, we have several more days worth of real food before I have to make shoelace soup.

With record low temps and snow deeper than the top of my boots, I'm staying put for yet another day...

And, even though I thought I had updated everything yesterday, I found a few things I forgot to share:

Fresh finish from last night.. seasonal freebie (so hard to resist, aren't they?) 

My new favorite scissors sheath, on the right:

The tin topper and scissors fob were completed by me eleven years ago (much to my dismay).  It is hard to believe it has been that long.  I always thought they needed a third piece to complete the set.  Two things hardly constitute a set, right?  But, the chart was only for the tin topper and fob.  So, a few weeks ago while browsing at the Stitch Niche in Lexington, I saw the ultrasuede scissors sheath (with plain white 18 ct. monocanvas insert).  The color of the suede immediately reminded me of my little bargello set.  I adapted the pattern to fit the sheath, and I'm totally pleased with the outcome.   Now it looks like a "set", yes? 

Speaking of sets... once upon a time, I bought this Fern Ridge "shear hospitality" felt pineapple kit.  Nearing the end of the blanket stitching around the fronds, I ran out of thread.  So with a good amount of mumbling, it was tucked away, out of sight... for years... Truthfully, I'm making an effort to finish a few UFOs from "way back", and this little guy was so close to being finished, it was one of my first UFO finishes of the year.

File this under "Just for Fun":

Pumpkin pinkeep

tiny felt ball mounted on oversized wooden button

And lastly, I'm just remembering to share the final finished pics of the Blackwork Band 
Sampler class I facilitated for my EGA chapter last fall.  Because I love color so much, it is hard for me to stick to black thread only for blackwork.  The design itself inspired the colors I selected.   Because I'm running out of wall space, I finished mine as a combination teabag/marking pin wallet.  This band sampler is part of the Petite Projects series from the Embroiderers' Guild of America which provides members with free small educational projects in varied techniques.  The cutwork nametag I shared yesterday is also an EGA Petite Project.  If memory serves me, I've completed four of the petite projects and am always glad I did.  You can learn a lot about a new-to-you technique in even a small project.

Blackwork Band Sampler

by Julie Fera

for The Embroiderers' Guild of America

And that's a wrap for this frigid Thursday friends.  Until next time, Stitch Happy!

Chicken Stitchin'

What's kickin' chicken?

Isn't this pincushion just about the cutest thing you've ever seen? 

I thought so too!  My thanks go out again to my EGA chapter Education Crazy Smart Genius, Liz, for bringing this project my way.  Since our Education theme is Traveling Around the World, Liz draws inspiration from folk needlework from all over the world.  Our chicken pincushion was found on a Russian blog, so he is our Russian chicken.  :-)  

To make your own, you only need to stitch a rectangular shaped piece about 3"x7".  If you want your chicken to look symmetrical, keep in mind that it's "spine" runs down the middle of your design (landscape orientation). 

Click here for the tutorial and to see many different chickens.  I "heart" the plaid one. 

:-D

Speaking of birds!  I caught one of the pileated woodpeckers with the camera the other day.  They don't get too close to the house but this one seemed to be very intent of getting the attention of another woodpecker.  My guess is that it was not paying too close attention to where they were.  You can't miss those bright red heads!

Hubby and I are off for our great adventure tomorrow.  I've set up a series of posts that should publish automatically while we are gone, to let all the fam know where we are and what we are doing.   Feel welcome to follow along..

Arrivederci!

Not bad for a 100 year old...

After a particularly hard day/week/month, I found myself surfing the bay of 'E' the other night for a little de-stressor.  I shoulda known better.  Look what showed up at my door yesterday:

1910 Singer "Red Eye" sewing machine

Beautiful, isn't it?

I've admired these antiques (from afar) for years.  It needs a little dustin' and a cleanin' but for 101 years old, I think the old girl looks pretty good.  I certainly didn't have any plans to buy (or "win") one, but luck must have been smiling down on me (or feeling sorry for me).

I've loved this particular model ever since I saw the one below in The Franklin Institute science museum permanent "Amazing Machines" exhibit in Philadelphia many years ago:

On the stitching front, I'm working on the cutest little "chicken" pin cushion you've ever seen.  The project was presented as our chapter program last week  - inspired by a Russian blog.  Visit Saolya (click here) for more.  She calls it a 'berlingot' but you may know it better as a humbug. 

Adorable!

Hope you are having a great week, wherever you are!