Stitching Update....

 

 A Stitch Here... A Stitch There...

It Has been a while, Dear Readers, since I showed you progress on the many petit-point projects I have under way. Above is the mini Christmas stocking kit I started on the "extra day" of my recent travels. I was so worn out once I got home that tackling big projects was beyond me. So I pulled out the little stocking and just added a few stitches from time to time. These stockings are quite small and the stitches add up quickly!

Before too many days had passed I was seeing great progress!

The background is supposed to be "pink" for a girl...

but it is such a pale shade of pink it almost doesn't look pink!

And as I began to recover my energy 

 and look around at all my waiting projects....

(a few too many perhaps?)

I realized that I was so close to completing the 

William Morris carpet that I should just get it done!

All I needed to do was finish the border background

 and bind the edges all around.

Sorry about the darkish picture......

But you can see that the stitching is finished!

Here you can see it has been removed from the frame 

and I have begun to bind the edges.

And as for the Dragon Carpet, Dear Readers, 

I had reached a difficult place and hadn't done much....

I had completed most of the leafy vine sections

 that I was sure I would use as the original chart placed them.

You might remember that the original was very different... 

(no dragons for starters!)

 

 The central medallion was way too small.... 

so I designed the Dragons for the middle...

But on either side of the center there is a

 "golden" figure of something I can't quite decipher.

Is it supposed to be a pineapple...?

A Turtle...?

I just am reluctant to continue with this part of the design!

It needs a makeover....

Which I am starting to attempt to design....

You will be the first to see it when I have it figured out!

But meanwhile, the border needs to be worked on... 

and this frame is too small to do that comfortably....

But, Hey, I just took the other carpet off the bigger frame....

Here are the two frames stacked for comparison.

It doesn't look like much of a difference....

But more space is more space...

so I stretched this in the bigger frame.

Just look at all that extra room!

(Sorry it is a little blurry...)

 

I put the frame in the stand and got to work!

Up until this point I had used the smaller frame like a hoop

just holding it in my lap which was a bit awkward.

 

Now I have room to work on the borders 

as well as the redesigned side sections.

We shall see how it goes!

Meanwhile, I have finished the little stocking kit.....

 

All I have to do now is stitch it to the backing....

I'll add it to the collection of stockings waiting for that step!

 

So you can see, Dear Readers,

a stitch Here and a stitch There 

adds up to a whole lot of 

stitches in Time!

 

Over The Hills.....

 

And Far Far Away....

It Was that time of year, Dear Readers, for my Annual Trek out West to visit my Family. It is a Long Long way to Silver City, in the southwest corner of New Mexico, requiring several flight changes through several airports.... up and on the road way before dawn to get to the first airport an hour from home.... a mad dash from one flight to the next in Denver on those moving walkways.... a couple of hours waiting in Albuquerque, where I could at last grab some food... and then onto the little plane out into the desert in the late afternoon. I was lucky to be able to schedule all the flights for the same day!

We took off in the middle of the afternoon up into the clouds....

I didn't manage to get window seats in either of the long flights, 

which I usually try to get because

 I love the view from up there above the clouds!

The little plane seats only eight passengers

 and everybody gets a window seat.

The pilot is right there and you can watch the instrument panels too...

Here we are approaching the landing in the desert.

It is waaaaay out in nowhere.... 

a tiny little airport in the desert.

There are a few large towns nearby 

and a couple of Enormous open pit copper mines.

My brother met me at the airport 

and brought me to my Mom's house in Silver City.

My goodness it is a long way to go!

It was wonderful to see them....

but it wasn't the same.

My Dad died last April at age 94 and 8 months...

so everything was different....

he wasn't there anymore.

 

 I spent some time at my Dad's house with his partner... 

in the house he designed.... 

sitting at the table that was my Grandparents table...

going through his things... 

deciding what to do with his artwork, 

his sculptures.... 

his writing and his photo slides.....

I packed up boxes of stuff to ship home to my house 

(not that I have much room... but it needs careful reviewing....)

This will take time.

 

 

I spent days at my Mom's....

going through more boxes of things from Dad

 that had already been moved out of his house

 and were waiting for me to look through...

packing more boxes...

discovering some treasures....

(he wrote quite a lot.... poetry and philosophy....)

a file of ancient family photographs... 

that I had never seen before...

And I spent hours with my Mom talking about "stuff"... 

family stories from long ago....

Interesting tidbits I had discovered about some family history...

(I am the family historian in case you couldn't tell)

looking at family trees I had put together...

and helping her with paperwork that had piled up.

It was much too short and way too busy....

and then it was time to go home.....

Retracing those steps...

On a crystal clear desert morning... 

at the Tiny airport.....

Except.....

There was a problem with the airplane.

It was grounded.

They moved it away and we had to wait

 for a replacement plane to fly in from Phoenix Arizona....

which took hours.....

 

It finally arrived three hours later 

and they did all the "turn- around" as fast as they could. 

And we headed North to Albuquerque...

more than three hours late and I was sure 

I would not be able to catch my scheduled flights.

It was a bumpy flight through lots of clouds...

(a bit too bumpy for taking photos...!)

And when we arrived I needed to reschedule my flights

 for as soon as possible which turned out to be not until the next day...

so I got a hotel room near the airport....

on the seventh floor with a great view of the Sandia Crest...

(that big hummock of a mountain)

and watched the rain showers passing through.

And pulled the embroidery out of my suitcase

 which I had not even had time to do all through my visit!

Yes, it is another of Janet Granger's mini stocking kits,

this time with a girl theme... 

pink, with a doll and dollhouse

and other toys.

I was so glad I had it with me!

I started right away...

and I made some good progress before the light began to fade...

(these kits are 40 stitches to the inch and require good lighting to stitch).

The sun was setting.

And the following morning, 

up well before dawn and at the airport and through security

 and on our way at seven AM...

It was pouring rain in Chicago where I had to change planes,

but there was time to catch a snack before boarding the last flight home.

Once again I had no window seats... 

so no pictures of clouds to share...

I was going Home at last!

I arrived well before sunset, East Coast time...

but after the Autumnal Equinox....

Fall had tiptoed in while I was away.

Yes, Dear Readers, 

It's a Long long way to Silver City, 

And it just wasn't the same... 

(but it really never is...!)

I am Very glad I went.... 

over the hills and through the clouds,

 and wish it could have lasted longer...

But it sure is Wonderful to be Home again!

The Annual Trek...

 

Gifts, Rugs and Rain....

I Took a trip, Dear Readers, to visit my folks in the Southwest, a Long Long Long way from home. It takes two days to get there so the first night I stop in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the next morning I take the little plane (8 passengers) down to the southwest corner of the state. The above picture is coming into Albuquerque over the Manzano Mountains. I dodged rainstorms wherever I went. There was a large "Tropical Storm" headed for my part of New England on the morning I left, but it stayed just far enough off shore that my flight was not cancelled. It was pouring in Atlanta when I changed planes, but the flights were not delayed. The morning flight from Albuquerque to Silver City re-routed around large thunderstorms, but we were on time for landing in the dry desert. They have not had a good Monsoon Season this year in this region. But it rained hard on my second evening at my Mom's!

Here you can see the water pouring off her porch roof!

And it rained again at my Dad's way up in the hills. 

They have had more rain where he lives, 

probably due to the higher elevation and the steep hills.

Silver City is at something over 6000 ft. elevation

 and my Dad's place is probably another thousand over that.

(Sorry I don't have the exact elevations!)

They are in "high mountain desert" conditions and

 last spring there was a wildfire just north of my Dad's home.

Here's a picture of my Mom, (aged 92!) and her dog Daisy.

I bring small petit-point kits with me when I travel out there

 because they fit neatly into my bag.

On last year's trip I had started the stocking you see above,

 and this year I completed it!

This year I spent quite a while going through

 old family Photos with my Mom,

 trying to identify and label them.

She had an old suitcase full of them!

I found quite a few Treasures, including some "missing" artwork

 that had been done by my Great Great Aunt and her husband.

 My Grandma had showed it to me when I was a teenager,

 and I hadn't seen it since.

Mostly very fine pen and ink drawings!

 

My Dad's partner gave me a bunch of little woven "mug rugs"

she and her weaving group made.

They are the perfect size for dollhouse rugs!

I love the texture of this ribbon rug!

This one has lovely colors and is a very fine weave....

Here's the reverse side.... I am not sure which I like best!

And these two are a pair. They have subtle differences.

And here you can see the reverse side of each.

All of them are approximately 4 x 5 inches excluding the fringes.

Of course, the visit was over far too soon, 

and the long trip home, done all in one day 

because the flights leave Silver City early, 

followed a familiar theme.

 

 

The flight from Albuquerque was re-routed to avoid

 storms in the upper plains on the way to Chicago...

but arrived on time anyway. 

And my homeward leg landed late in New England

 in the middle of pouring rain

 from yet another "Tropical Storm" 

that had set it's sights on New England!

Two former Hurricanes in two weeks?!?

 

 I was very glad to get home to my familiar little worlds.

 

 The Baktiari carpet is getting close to finished!

So I took my Annual Trek, Dear Readers, 

traveling a Long way from home.

But seeing my Family is such a Gift... 

and while the challenges of Travel don't get easier,

I Treasure the Time I had with my folks, 

and perhaps I also brought them the Gift of a little rain!

 

 

Finishing.....

A Few Little Things.....

It did Not take me long, Dear Readers, to complete the stitching of the Three Kings stocking! I enjoyed every minute of the stitching and am pleased to report that I didn't change anything about the design (I love it as it is...) and I didn't make any mistakes in the stitching! All it (and the other completed stockings) need now is to be stitched to their backing material. No, I did not finish doing that step. But I was in a "finishing" frame of mind and so I made sure to put the paint on the other side of the lovely arched door for the Dollmaker's Studio.

You might not be able to tell from the photo, 

but it is a different shade of green for the outside... 

it is more of a Forest green and the paint is flat with no gloss.

 It needed to look a little bit weather worn.

Here I am giving it a test in place....

 the lighting is too harsh, and it only has one coat of the paint....

 but I wanted to see how it would look....

I know... it is hard to tell!

A second coat of paint helps!

But while the paint is drying

 there are a couple of other little things I am finishing....

You might recall the little footstool with the Tree of Life stitching.....

(I apologize for the blurry picture... I didn't take many of this project!)

It required patient gluing to the backing and foam cushion....

Which I was Finally in the mood to tackle!

Ta Daaaa!!!! Finished!!!

(How long did this simple step take for me to do...?)

I will show you a better picture later.... 

because I am Finishing Things....!

 

Next up is the Little Tudor Stitching panel

 to go in the embroidery frame...

The Whaaaat??? I hear you say...

It has been a couple of years

 since I was working on this one.....

 

Here you can see the stitching is almost Finished....

But I needed to construct the little frame that it goes into... 

(which is part of the lovely Janet Granger kit....)

and when I pulled out the instructions.... 

it needed special wax finishing for the mahogany wood.

I hadn't ordered that.... 

and it wasn't until the Covid lockdown

 that I got around to ordering the Finishing kit. 

I am glad I did! 

It's a lovely Delicate turned wood mahogany frame!

And I have never Ever used real wax polish on anything.... 

so it was a real learning experience!

But it turned out beautifully!

I am sorry my pictures are so lousy...

I was so intent on the process I was forgetting to take pictures.... 

so this is what I have to show.

Meanwhile, the paint has dried on the door frames... 

and it is time to carefully cut around the edges 

and remove the painter's tape from the windows...

I think it looks just like I hoped it would!

I just need to re-attach the hinges... 

with a little judicious shimming

 and it will be finished!

But the exterior of the Dollmaker's Studio

 has a Looooong way to go before it is done.

(Egg-carton stones somewhere on the horizon...)

And the little piece of tapestry stitching

 had to be mounted carefully in the frame....

Again, I apologize for the poor focus! 

But I was in a hurry to put it  in the stand.....

And add the tiny needle to the thread....

Because it isn't quite "Finished" yet...!

See the tiny "needle" I made?

It is just a bit of very fine wire 

superglued to the thread...!

I just LOVE the way this turned out!

This kit is so well made and the results are beautiful!

And with the footstool.... 

(with the carved feet which you can barely see)

I am very pleased with the results of both of these kits!

And while I was Finishing things.... 

I also Finished the "stones"

 around the little window in the Castle Dungeon....

And I added the shutter too... but forgot to take any pictures...

 and it still needs the sculpey "hinge flanges" 

because I need to make some more.

This completes the "upgrade" on all the windows

 that had already been "finished". 

There are still many windows in the Castle

 that have not been worked on at all.

And because Elizabeth wanted to see the

 ceiling of the Guard Room in a better light....

I will Finish this post with a picture... 

This ceiling was painted so long ago I forget it is here...

Here you can see it with full illumination....!

The scattered stars are reflective, 

but because the ceiling is vaulted,

 they never all reflect the light at the same time....

So only some of them appear to be shining.

And the harsh light really brings out the raw paint strokes...

This is mostly copied from a Medieval Illumination

 series showing the zodiac figures.

So that's what I've been doing lately, Dear Readers,

 a whole lot of Finishing!

But as I am sure you can Imagine, 

I am a long way from finished with the "finishing"!