One Nation Framed

 I got One Nation back from the framer this week.

My son and husband hung it up on Thanksgiving.  I chose to hang it in the family room because the furniture is blue.  It hangs under an old saw we found in a barn on my husband's grandfather's farm, and the pie safe underneath it  belonged to his great grandmother. 

Fall Blooms

 When the leaves start to change, my camellias start to bloom.  I have two of them in my yard.  One is a spindly  pink camellia that blooms prolifically.  I have tried to get it to be bushier by pruning it, but it insists on growing tall and sparse.  This plant has been blooming about a month.

My other one is shorter and fuller, but it has only ever bloomed twice even thought it's been in the ground for years.  It just started blooming last week.  My theory is that it only blooms when it gets an abundance of rain, which we have certainly had this year.

Old Crow & Company

 I've gotten the rest of the pumpkins and the last bird blanket-stitched.  I've also finished the vines and berries on both sides.   I ended up buying a white Clover marking pen to draw out the vines. It worked ok, but skips on the wool.  

I haven't really worked on this runner much this week.  I was trying to decide if I wanted to do the feather stitching along the outside or not.  I think I'm going to do it even though one of my pumpkins and one of the vines are going to be very close to the feather stitching.  This project  is supposed to be primitive looking, so it won't matter if my spacing isn't perfect.  At least that is what I am telling myself!

To see what others in the group are working on:  Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen

Blue Ridge Beauty

 I just finished my Blue Ridge Beauty top.  This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern found in her Adventures With Leaders & Enders.  I made mine smaller than hers and used all scraps and stash.  I'm still having to force myself to sew most of the time.  I tried to work on this quilt an hour a day.  It took me about 6 weeks to complete.

This quilt is 71" x 83".

Stash Report:

Used this week: 4.625 yards ( Blue Ridge Beauty top)

Used YTD: 92.0 yards

Added this week: 0 yards

Added YTD: 52.125 yards

Net:  -39.875 yards

Nothing To Fear

 I finished My Big Toe's Nothing To Fear today.

I made this project for one of my sisters.  It will be under the tree this Christmas with a 'From Santa' tag on it.  In our family, we draw names for Christmas, but if you find a small gift that is perfect for someone else, you put it under the tree as a Santa gift.  There are no rules for Santa gifts.  Some years there are a lot, and some years just a few.  Santa gifts are sometimes funny, sometimes practical. 

 Last year the five girls in my family got rain gauges from Santa.  One year my brother-in-law got a light for his toilet.  The first Christmas I was married, Santa brought me a bag of potatoes. (We had gone to my in-laws that year for Thanksgiving, and I was amazed that they did not have mashed potatoes.  I thought everyone had mashed potatoes for Thanksgiving.)  I usually try and find some tacky Virginia Tech ornament for my brother to get from Santa.  Santa usually brings my mom at least one puzzle.   If you don't want someone to know who Santa is, you have to use different wrapping paper than what you use for other gifts and sneak the gift under the tree.  

Gingerbread Stitching House

 I've been working on The Victoria Sampler's Gingerbread Stitching House for several years.  A lot of that time, the pieces were tucked away in a box because I was too afraid to start the finishing.  This week I pulled it out and got to work.  This piece stretched my finishing skills.  I would give myself a B- on finishing, but it is mostly done now.

This little house took me about 3 afternoons to put together.

I left off the twisted cord around the roof because I didn't think I could apply it neatly.

Each side of the house is a different pattern:

 

The top comes off and is a needlebook.  The chimney is a small pincushion.  

The biscornu is my favorite part.  I love all the beads and the way the white pearl cotton contrasts with the brown linen.  It fits inside the house.

This scissors case is a companion piece, found in one of the JCS ornament issues.  I am pretty good at finishing flat ornaments, but this piece was a challenge because of the lining.

I still have a small scissors fob to finish.

Old Crow & Company

 While I was waiting for cross stitch fabric to come for my next project, I started a wool kit that I bought a few years ago, Primitive Gatherings' Old Crow & Company table runner.  Because I have only done one other wool project, I made sure to follow all the instructions in the kit, including using Lite Steam-a-Seam 2 fusible web to adhere the wool pieces.  Big mistake!!! Now as I sew through the wool, I am also sewing through the Steam-a-Seam, and my needle gets sticky.  There is no going back now, but I am not enjoying this project.

I have finished most of the stitching on one end of the runner.  Now I need to find a good way to mark the other vines.  Since the wool is black, there is no way to trace them, and my free handing of them isn't great. 

This won't be done in time for Halloween this year, but I would like it done by Christmas.  If anyone has any tips for stitching wool projects, I would be glad to hear them.  I can tell you I will not be using Steam-a-Seam again!

To see what others in the group are working on:  Avis, Claire, Gun, Carole, Sue, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Cindy, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Hayley, Megan, Deborah, Mary Margaret, Renee, Carmela, Sharon, Daisy, Anne, Connie, AJ, Jenny, Laura, Cathie, Linda, Helen