Rainbows

My sister and I have been discussing rainbows for the past year and a half. We live in Arizona, not exactly the rainbow capitol of the world, yet have seen more rainbows in the past 18 months than we have ever seen previously.

Rainbows have always been a big deal to me, they are just so magical, a little gift from God saying hello. So believe me when I say, I might see a rainbow once a year here in the land where we get maybe 10 inches of rain per year, but never once a month which has been happening since Thanksgiving 2008. The last rainbow I saw is in the above photo, taken last month in Nevada.

And now that my sister and I are attuned to seeing rainbows, we are seeing them everywhere. Last month I was talking to her on the phone with the TV on in the background. We were talking rainbows (again) and a commercial appeared where a leprechaun carried a pot of gold over to a cardboard rainbow and set it underneath. I don't even remember what the commercial was advertising. I was just so stunned to see it while talking with her.

My daughter's dance recital this year was "The Wizard of Oz" and my sister was with me. Again we were talking rainbows and like idiots weren't even thinking that the ultimate rainbow song is "Over the Rainbow" until the whole cast came on stage in multi-colored costumes and danced to the song. We looked at each other with wide eyes and OMG mouths. One of our mother's favorite songs was Judy Garland singing "Over the Rainbow". So one connection made, these rainbows have to do with Mom.

I have been re-reading the Bible this year, my only new year's resolution, and turned to Noah's story to see what is said about rainbows. This is Genesis Chapter 9 verse 11:
11And I will establish my covenant with you, neither shall all flesh be cut off any more by the waters of a flood; neither shall there any more be a flood to destroy the earth.

12And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations:

13I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.

14And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud:

15And I will remember my covenant, which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh.

16And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth.

17And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that is upon the earth.

So another puzzle solved. My Dad's birthday was Sept 11th. Chapter 9 verse 11...

My feelings are my Dad is showing my sister and I that he is with our mother. He is saying his covenant with her has not broken since his death and neither has his covenant with his children. She has dementia and except for a few devoted friends and her children, her life is extremely limited. To know he is with her while she lives out the last bit of her life is extremely comforting. I think the rainbows will stop when she does. In the meantime, thanks Dad, we have needed to see these and we have always known you are still with us and your love for Mom is endless.

Long Overdue Update!

Christmas came and went, children came and went, I went and came back and stitched a little in between. The last 6 weeks have been a storm of emotions, happiness and sadness, full house and empty nest. Today is quiet and I have time to update here.


I had a wonderful experience a couple days ago on the 2nd anniversary of a good friend's death. One birthday, she had given me a small pitcher from England and I began finding them when I traveled and shopped. One from Mexico, another from Poland, you get the idea. Then I stopped finding them even though I purposely would search for them. The 2nd anniversary date, I was in Nevada with a friend and we came upon a clearance rack at a store and the small white pitcher pictured above was on sale for $1. When I looked at it closer, what I thought were little stars on the belly of the pitcher turned out to be X's, as in cross stitch X's and important in my mind since needlework is a love we shared. It wasn't until I bought the pitcher that I realized it was the 2nd anniversary of her death. I've changed and learned through the years and something I would have considered a coincidence years ago, is no longer a coincidence in my mind. Rest in Peace Anne, I miss you.



I received this Engish Cottage Sampler by Chessie and Me for my birthday last year and immediately started working on it. I was so tired of only stitching my own designs and made relatively good progress until Thanksgiving and the Christmas holiday seasons began. I just pulled it out again today and think I'll continue stitching it ASAP, the colors are gorgeous.




As mentioned above, I was visiting a good friend near Lake Tahoe and what was supposed to be a week long trip turned into a month due to various factors including a snowstorm. She taught me how to force bulbs so yesterday I planted four Paperwhite bulbs and can't wait for the roots to start growing around the marbles in the bowl.

It turned out to be an excellent idea to stay a month as I feel much better emotionally and physically than I did after Christmas when it got quiet around here again, my kids went back to college and I was sick with pneumonia. Now I feel ready to tackle new projects and get my life back on track. My intuitive daughter told me the other day that we are going through the same problem at the moment. How is that? She said she has had to find a new identity at college as her old identity from high school is gone. She is no longer the Japanese speaking, viola playing, black belt girl. Well, yes, the Japanese is still there as that is her major but she is one of many now and the viola is stored in our hall closet and her black belt is languishing until she finds a group that she feels comfortable working out with. As for me, I've devoted over 20 years of my life to raising kids and suddenly they are gone so I'm rummaging around in my mind, shuffling through ideas and trying to forge a new identity beyond motherhood. I'm still a work in progress.



And now to the good part, this is Nick on Christmas Eve. We were so happy to have him home from Thanksgiving until right after the New Year. He's funny, gentle and artistic and we couldn't ask for a more unique, creative son.




My daughter, Maggie, brought home her boyfriend Noel from college. He stayed with us a week until we put him back on the plane to Seattle Christmas afternoon. Maggie stayed on another week until she too had to return to college. We loved finally meeting Noel, he was all we imagined and hope to get to know him even better in the future and maybe stay in one place for a bit. We hit all the local attractions plus spent 2 nights in Mexico, not to mention Christmas. It was a whirlwind but a fun ride nonetheless. BTW, that's our oldest cat Snowflake in the photo, looking appropriately catlike and cranky.

I'm stitching an ornament for the 2010 JCS Christmas issue plus one for their preview Christmas issue. I'll get back to work now.

Update before Christmas

I feel like the I'm the person in the sled in the above postcard. I'm careening down the hill towards Christmas and it's been a fun ride this year, I just hope my sled doesn't overturn. Busy is not even the word to describe the past month and the next few weeks ahead.

Our son, Nick arrived home from Savannah at the end of his fall quarter in time for Thanksgiving which we spent in Mexico with my husband's sister,her husband and my mother-in-law. Here's my husband, David, fishing on Thanksgiving Day:

Maggie wasn't with us this year and spent her first Thanksgiving away from home in Seattle.After that nice peaceful Thanksgiving we arrived home to do a dedicated purging of clutter,excess junk,clothes and assorted you-name-its that always seem to get put aside "in case we need it someday". Well someday arrived and we didn't need any of it and probably 30 bags later, Goodwill was happy with us. The garbage men weren't. I have to say that even though cleaning is not high on my priority list, the results make me realize how worthwhile it is. It's like a new lease on life.

Maggie will be home in a week with her boyfriend,Noel,for winter break. He is also a Japanese major, like her, and we think they make for a really cute couple and are excited to meet him. We are planning another 2 night trip to Mexico and all the usual Tucson tourist attractions such as San Xavier Mission and a whirlwind tour of Maggie's childhood places (should take 30 minutes tops), preschool, grade school, high school, dance studio? 19 years worth in record time.

I was asked to design a piece for Mother's Day for Just Cross Stitch and I'm almost done stitching it. I was having a designing block and it was just the inspiration I needed to get going again. Now I have ideas for a few more things but they'll have to wait until after New Year's since I am devoting the rest of the month to family and kids. Having my children gone has been one of the hardest episodes in my life but also one of the happiest to see them blossom and grow.

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope you have a blessed New Year. Oh, thought you might enjoy a photo of the state park near our home.

Some more designs

Me & You Sampler


Her Majesty


Gentle Thoughts 2 (next 2 designs in one chart)



Heart's Peace

Question?

And a close-up...



Does anyone have an interest in my releasing this design? I call it "Seven Sins & Seven Virtues". It's stuck on the hard drive of my old computer and I can retrieve it but I don't know if it is worth the hassle. Let me know if this is a design that you might collect or even stitch. Thanks!

WOW!

I'll say it again, wow! Olga has these and more photos posted in her blog here

This is my Stitching Treasures piece from the October issue of The Gift of Stitching magazine. I think the pink gingham fabric was inspired, sure wish I had thought of it and I love the little sunflower pincushion. Thanks Olga so much for sharing, you did a fabulous job!

Two new designs

The above are 2 new designs. The first 2 are in one chart packet and I'm calling them "Gentle Thoughts". They use 32 ct Antique Ivory linen. The scans look different but in person they are the same fabric.

The 2nd design is the "Singing Bird Stitching Pocket", once again finished by the fabulous Deb Hunter of Artistic Needle. Instructions for assembly are included and the threads are from The Threadgatherer's Silk 'n Colors line. This piece uses 32 ct Antique White linen.

I have a couple more designs to release (including Gentle Thoughts 2) plus the promised family record sampler. It's totally ridiculous that I have stalled on getting that piece finished and it's all due to stitching my dad's name under the willow tree. I seem to be having a mental block about doing that but it will be done very soon, just have to bite the bullet and get stitching.

These are fun

I saw these recently and thought they were fun. I wonder if it was common for cross stitch to be used on postcards? I imagine these are early 20th Century. Anyone want to stitch one?

Stitching Treasures

I'd completely forgotten about this until I got my email this morning. It looks like Kirsten did a great job with the finishing, I'm so please with how it turned out and the step by step photos for the finishing job are great.

Joy

This was my design for the Just Cross Stitch annual Christmas Ornament issue this year. Now I'm trying to think of ideas for next year. If you have any, just leave a comment, thanks!

I found this and am not sure who stitched it but it's my design from the 2008 issue, I love how Deb finished this piece.

Vintage needlework graphics

I love these.

Antique Sampler Verses

I've collected sampler verses for quite a while now and thought I'd share a few. Do I know where they came from or what year or what sampler, no I don't. I just collect the verses and not the particulars. Enjoy!

"Fragrant the rose is but it fades in time. The violet sweet but quickly past the prime. White lilies hang their heads and soon decay and whiter snow in minutes melts away. You whose fond wishes do to heaven aspire who make those blest abodes your sole desire. If you are wise and hope that blest to gain...use well your time live not an hour in vain. Let not the morrow your vain thoughts employ...But think this day the last you shall enjoy."

"His Purposes will ripen fast, Unfolding every hour,
The bud may have a bitter taste, But sweet will be the flower."

"The Lord is just in all his ways
And holy is his works each one
He is near to all that on him call
Who call in truth on him alone"

"All our gaity is vain
All our laughter is but pain
Lasting only and divine
Is an innocence like thine."

"Do you wish to be rich: be industrious and frugal
Do you wish to be healthy: be active, sober, and temperate
Do you wish to be happy both here and hereafter: study
your Bible and do what it teaches you. God is my friend
My son if sinners entice thee, consent thou not."

Sampler theme box of drawers

This is an idea I was excited to try though in the end my execution of it is only so-so.

This is a Countdown Calendar from Karen Foster Design You can do a google search to find a place to buy one if you are at all interested in doing something like this. They are about $20 but I've seen them a bit lower on some websites. I have seen these made for with Christmas and Halloween themes to help children countdown to the holiday. You can insert little treats and trinkets in the drawers.

I thought I'd make one with a sampler theme and maybe keep charms and buttons and any other small item in the drawers. So here are my warnings if you decide to try this yourself.

First, the box is made of slick white cardboard. It took me 3 days to get the piece painted because unlike regular flat cardboard, the paint needed many layers of coverage. Very frustrating when you want to get onto the fun part. The tiny edges in between the drawers do not take paint well at all and I finally said "enough with this, it will have to do". Thus the coverage isn't perfect.

Second you need to paint the drawer fronts or else have a bit bigger template for the paper coverings as the white will show if you don't paint them. The drawers are equally as frustrating to paint as the box.

Third, you need to notch the paper to bend it around the half circle drawer pulls. I was advised to buy a circle punch but unfortunately it is very, very difficult to figure out where exactly to place the punch so that a half circle forms rather than a full circle so I ditched the punch and did the notching. However, gluing the little ends of paper to the back proved difficult as there wasn't much to work with. I would cut the top of the paper larger next time in order to have more to work with in order to make the half circles more regular.

I plan to try another little box piece but using small matchboxes, 8 sets of 3 stacked in a pattern and I will post it when/if I get it done. I do know the regular cheap matchboxes take the paint much, much better than the slick surface of the countdown calendar. My other thought for the calendar is to cover the side and back surfaces with paper instead of paint but that could present a whole new set of problems.
Good luck, I would love to see any that you might produce!

Teach Me Samplers

I love comparing antique samplers that have the same verse. The samplers above all are stitched with "Teach me to feel another's woe To hide the fault I see That mercy I to others show That mercy show to me".

It's interesting to see how each stitcher illustrated a verse to their own liking. If you like looking at old samplers be sure and visit Needlework Antiques where they have a gallery of antique samplers.

~Good luck Nick~

Just wanted to say good luck to my son who has gone to Savannah to finish up his BFA as a transfer student at Savannah College of Art and Design. We are so proud of him but will miss him very much. He thinks he'll like the humidity after years of the Arizona "dry heat" but I think the next picture makes me wonder about that assertion, he looks a tad bit miserable,lol.





On another note, how would you like to have an historic lighthouse in your backyard? This is the front of the house, you can see the base of the lighthouse through the trees.


And look what you see going around to the back of the house. Those trees are in their backyard. Unfortunately, it is not a lighthouse open to the public and is surrounded by a fence on US Coast Guard property. This is Amelia Island in Florida and we stayed there a couple days for a little getaway. It's a lovely little place with an historic downtown.

A small preview

I thought I'd show you a small piece (and the only over one part) of my new Family Record Sampler. I've done it all in pale greens/browns with a hint of pale pink, purple and yellow. It has a house, a willow tree, birds, some flowers and of course an area to write in all your family info, names, birth dates etc. I've made it without an elaborate border so that it can be adjusted to fit as many names and dates as you wish. I have a very small amount left to stitch and then I plan to release it. Thanks for looking!

Blessed Harvest

Here's another new release, Blessed Harvest. Well, as you can see by the date, it's not THAT new, in fact, I've had nothing but problems releasing this in a timely manner the past few years. I couldn't seem to coordinate it with a fall release or else I'd forget about having it on hold. So finally, it's out with a corrected date on the actual chart.

We've been busy this past month taking DD to Seattle to start her freshman year of college. She seems to be adjusting very well (knock on wood) and we were impressed with the city, it was gorgeous and we loved the fact that getting into a car didn't involve getting burned on a steering wheel or driving miles before it would get cool inside.


Nest week it's Savannah to deposit our son and then empty nest reigns! So far, so good.

Cottage Pinkeep Sampler

First I would like to say thank you to all who have participated in the Angel in my Pocket project as seen below. I so appreciate each and everyone's donation. I have not yet sent everything off to Peggy yet but will be doing so this week.

Next, I have another new sampler I'm calling Cottage Pinkeep Sampler. Bascially, each of the 9 squares in this sampler can be made into a little pinkeep as seen above. The piece uses 32 ct Antique White and all Anchor threads. I hope you enjoy it.