Discoveries and Surprises

I'm not sure how I managed to get the previous post on here twice. I guess hi speed internet access is so fast it doubles itself in the same time as dial up thinks about doing it.

While in the process of rearranging books on the new shelves, I found my old book "Crewel Embroidery" by Erica Wilson from the 70's. Since I signed up for Sharon B's Take A Stitch Tuesdays and discovered I couldn't work with a

regular embroidery needle any longer, I've decided that I will have to do my embellishment with wool yarn and crewel needles, which a slightly larger. This made me remember that at the time I started doing needlepoint, in the early 70's when I was first diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis, and the doctors recommended some kind of needlework to keep my hands from getting too rigid, I had tried some crewel embroidery. I decided I enjoyed the needlepoint more so didn't continue with the crewel.

So, I started digging in my needlepoint storage drawers, and in the very bottom, scrunched up in it's plastic bag, I found my Jacobean style crewel embroidery piece. I don't know why I never did anything with it, it is rather nice looking, if I say so myself. I also found another kit which I had never done stitching on, although the linen was still stretched on a hoop. I soaked the poor grubby stitched piece in cold water with a little gentle wash in it overnight then laid it out to dry and pressed in on the wrong side, face down on a towel so that the stitching would not be flattened, and now plan to get a canvas stretcher to stretch it on, and hang it somewhere. I don't want to turn it into the pillow which it was originally supposed to be, because the two cats, not to mention grandchildren, tend to be hard on pillows.

I also got a good idea from the book of the type of sampler I will begin to do for TAST. I've done it in the past, I can do it again.

The mailwoman brought me a squishy this morning. I have subscribed to a Flower of the

Month fabric program from My Quilting Friends, and the flowers for April are daffodils, aren't they gorgeous? I already have the January Carnations, and the February Violets. Now I'm trying to figure out a great quilt to make with them. Something wild and splashy, because these are fantastic flowers. The fabrics are made by Northcott. It's all right for me to be buying fabrics because I haven't quilted long enough to build much of a stash. It's enough that I have to be on a food diet without having to go on a fabric diet at the same time. A fabric addiction will not be detrimental to my health, wealth maybe, but not health. Can fabrics take the place of junk food?

WlP Wednesday

I picked up a blue fabric to use as the border on the Solar System Strippy Ninepatch that I am making for the Quilt Studio 40 Quilts Service Project. I had an idea in my mind of the blue that would look right and was so lucky to find the perfect fabric. Should be ready to send the top to the longarm quilter in a week. There is enough of the cute solar system striped fabric to use it as the backing also. I hope this quilt will help some kid through a rough time. (Those ninepatches don't really have curved seams, the quilt is not laying flat.) I got so carried away with cutting strips for the ninepatches that I'm going to have enough for another quilt.

Now that the WOTB4 is over and I finished my New Testament women's blocks, I have joined the new WOTB2 group and am starting at the beginning of the Old Testament to study and make blocks for the women I missed by joining WOTB4 late. I'm working on blocks for Sarah and Hagar.

I put together some materials to start doing the Take A Stitch Tuesdays Challenge that Sharon B is leading, but when I sat down to do some embroidery stitching, I realized that my arthritic hands simply cannot deal with the small needle used with embroidery floss. I've decided to try doing the stitching with wool yarn and a larger needle. I manage to do some needlepoint with the large tapestry needles and I have done a little wool on linen crewel, many years ago, so should be able to manage some stitching. Maybe I'll have to do wool crazy quilt blocks instead of silk. That's all right, I love vintage wool crazy quilts. But I love the silkies also. Maybe I should get a sewing machine that can do lots and lots of embroidery stitches and do my embellishment that way?

My other WIP projects are peripheral to my fabric arts; I bought another basic book shelf kit to add to the shelves that are in my bedroom/studio, because I've been collecting more quilting and embellishing books than fit what is there already. Now all I have to do is put the kit together, remove books from shelves, restack bookcases, and then put books back in the rearranged shelves. I long for the results, but dread going through the process. Part of removing the books will be getting rid of lots of dust, I'm afraid. I'll wear a dust mask because I don't want that dust in my impaired lungs.

The other project is reworking my design wall/doors. I just have diaper flannel tacked to the closet doors and ChoCho tried to climb on one and it is now torn and sagging, so I bought a piece of foam core and will stretch the flannel over the foam core and attach that to the door. Hopefully, this will keep him from pulling it down again. It's bad enough for cats to sleep on the quilts in the making, but climbing on the design wall?! It's a good thing I love my cats so much because at times they try my patience.

The weather has been so warm and lovely the last few days and I have been feeling quite a bit better and more ambitious, which is why all these WIPS are in progress. Just as I was basking in the joy of feeling well, I leaned over this evening to put some dry bread slices in the cat pan by the back door, for the raccoons, and couldn't stop leaning. I fell, bashing my temple on a vintage graniteware pan hanging on the post by my back door, skinning up my fingers and shredding several fingernails. (There are also several broken flower pots that I will clean up later.) Joe was watching TV in the living room and didn't hear the crash, so I called him on my cell phone (which is always in my pocket for this very reason) and came out and helped me up.

I reclined for a while with a sack of frozen peas on the huge lump on my head. When the headache let up a little I managed to fix some comforting potato soup for our supper, with help from Joe, and conferred by phone with my former RN DIL. Once the initial shock wore off, I was amazed that I was able to function at a slow level, so I'm posting my WIP Wednesday and then going to take a headache pill and go burrow under the covers. I fear that when I wake up I will hurt in places I hardly knew I had. But I will get that bookcase put up, God willing.