Reruns

First, thank you to everyone for your kind messages.  I will survive.  I always do!  Things will definitely get better once I can buy a house and have some space and access to my things.

So, until then, I'll post photos of my stitching and things I made prior to all the chaos.  I'll call them "reruns"!

I know you've seen some of the blocks for my McHenry quilt.  I started this a few years ago when my former husband was going through cancer treatment as a way to keep my mind busy.

The photos on the blocks are some of the historic buildings here in McHenry, Illinois where I live.  I did work on this since I've been here at mom's but finally got fed up trying to stitch in such a small  space so I put it away for the time being.

Anyway, the photos are printed on Inkjet Fabric Sheets which I run through my printer.  Once they're heat set with an iron, the images are permanent.  Not that this will ever need to be washed!

Each block is 9 inches square and worked in the traditional Victorian style.  It's pieced by hand on a cotton foundation.  All lace is either vintage or antique.  A nice lady here in McHenry gave me a box of velvet fabrics along with some old lace.  I can't access my antique lace at the moment.  And I can't access most of my fancy crazy quilt fabrics so there's a lot of velvets on here but that's okay.  Like I said, I'll get back to it.

There are no sequins on this quilt and no embellishments.  (Hard to believe for me huh?  Me who loves glittery things?  LOL!!)  The only buttons are tiny vintage mother-of-pearl buttons used to make a spider on each block.  I did make some fabric yo-yo's to use as flowers.  Everything else is hand embroidered.

I've included the names of the buildings along with the dates that they were built.  I do my own research as I'm a McHenry historian.  I'm also on the board of the McHenry Area Historical Society which is just such an honor for me!!

For the names and dates, I chart them out in my cross stitch pattern software and then I use waste canvas to stitch them onto the blocks.  Once the stitching is complete, I just pull the waste canvas threads out from underneath the stitches.  One by one but it goes pretty fast and it's a great way to do cross stitch on crazy quilting!

Anyway, when I can get back to this, I still have a lot of buildings to document so it'll  be quite large. Most of the buildings that I'm documenting are still standing.  A few have burned down or were taken down due to deterioration but most are still here.

 Once it's complete I plan to use it for promotional purposes for the historical society.

Pretties

If you follow me on Facebook, you might know that I'm trying to post pretty or happy things everyday.  Under the circumstances, I think everyone needs something happy to look at.

I thought I'd start doing the same thing here.  But first, I thought I share the past few years of my life.  You've probably noticed that I haven't been very chatty for a very, very long time.  It's been a rather challenging time in my life.

You may know that I've just been through a horrible, 2 year long divorce.  And you may remember that I took care of my husband while he went through eye surgery for an almost completely detached retina and then a year later, I took care of him while he underwent chemo and radiation for cancer of the tonsils which he put off for 5 years despite me, my mother, his mother and my aunt telling him to take care of it.

Not only did I take care of him, I took care of my cats and my elderly cat Lucy who I lost 2 years ago.  I took care of the house, kept the roof over our heads and food on the table and paid the medical bills for those 2 major medical problems.  He lost a lot of time at work.   I also worked my tail feathers off to pay for a new roof on the house and a new water softener.  And I did it knowing the whole time, that he was fooling around with my sister.  There, I said it!  And I needed to say it!

In order to take care of all the medical bills and keep food on the table, I not only humiliated myself by setting up a Go Fund Me account, I sold 2 of my crazy quilts and my entire collection of crazy quilt purses that I made for myself.  There were about 25 of them.

When all was said and done, when I had everything paid for, he filed for a divorce and bullied me out of my house.  He was vicious!  I took my 4 cats, my personal things, my computer and my car and I have been living and working in my parent guest room for 2 years now.  The divorce was brutal and expensive.

I've tried to stitch here but most of my craft supplies are packed up and out of reach.  My 2 sewing machines are not accessible.  I can cross stitch but I only have a tiny space and quite frankly, I'm tired of trying to function in a space that I can't function in. 

So, I've focused all my energy on my work.  My cross stitch patterns and Crazy Quilt Quarterly magazine.  Knowing that when I buy a house and get settled, I will be able to get back to all the things I enjoy doing.

I am planning on buying a Townhouse in the near future.

So, with all that said, I have some nice plans that I'm working on and I will share those as they become feasible.  I hope to get back to being more chatty and more active here on my blog.  If you remember, I used to bake a lot and share my recipes.  I used to post a lot of photos of my kitties.  I used to share my flea market finds and lots of other things that I felt were of interest.  I used to do give aways and I just can't even remember everything I used to do here but I always tried to make this a fun stop on your blog hops!  

I used to share my works in progress but I just don't have any at the moment.  That will change.

So for now, I will share some of my previous pretties!

This is my Mozart purse:

I made this quite a few years.  Mozart is my favorite composer.  The signature is his.  I found it online, traced it and embroidered it on the block.  The little treble clef is a rhinestone pin that I found at a flea market.  I hand painted the lace applique and beaded it once it was sewn down onto the block.

You can tell my earlier pieces by my little signature cat.  I used to stitch him on my blocks.  Maybe I'll go back to doing that when I can get back to doing these.

I've also been asked if I plan to get back to making some things to sell.  Yes, as soon as I can buy a house and get settled.  Yes, I will.

So that's what's been going on for the last few years.  It has not been pleasant but every storm runs out of rain eventually!!

The Never Ending Sampler - Panel 6 Band 10 - Complete

Today I have Panel 6 Band 10 of The Never Ending Sampler.  Band 10 completes Panel 6.

Download the PDF file for the Never Ending Sampler Panel 6 Band 10

Last week I talked a little about Panel 7.  I'll post more information on that soon.  I like to give everyone some time to get caught up so we'll start the next panel in a couple of weeks.  Before that, I'll give you the floss list so you can gather your supplies.

Have a great weekend!

The Never Ending Sampler - Upcoming Panel 7

We're almost done with Panel 6 of The Never Ending Sampler.  There will be one more band which will be released next week.

I'll give everyone a little time to get caught up on the previous panels but I thought I'd share my ideas for Panel 7.

I'm trying to make these all different.  I don't want anyone getting bored!!  So for Panel 7, I will be working the design as a more traditional, antique style sampler.  I always call them "schoolgirl samplers".  Traditional sampler motifs along with an alphabet and probably a phrase regarding needlework.  I already have one in mind!

The size will remain the same:

Each panel is approx. 6 inches wide X 18 inches long when finished.
That's the stitched area on 14 count Aida or 28 count Evenweave over 2 fabric threads.
You'll want your fabric panels to be 12 inches wide x 24 inches long.
That will give you 3 inches on each side for framing.

To give this design an antique look, I'm recommending a natural color for fabric.  Perhaps something with an over-dyed look so it has the feel of age.  A tan, light brown or parchment color will give you that look.

You can work on 28 count Cashel Linen, Lugana or tradition linen over 2 fabric threads.  Or you can work on 14 count Aida.  The choice is yours.  I don't want to recommend a specific fabric color because I want these designs to be yours.  I want you to choose the color you stitch on.  Depending on the fabric color, you can make it look really old, primitive!  Or, it can be more subtle.

Also, I will be using Sampler Threads by The Gentle Art, again to give this design the feel of being old!
I will also give you the DMC conversions in case you don't want to invest in the Sampler Threads.  I love them and I love stitching with them.  They're over-dyed and have a subtle shaded look to them which in turn, will give your sampler more of an aged look. 

Click here to see at the wonderful colors in The Sampler Threads line.  Most needlework retail stores stock them.  But again, I'll give you the DMC conversions as well.

Also, I will post the thread list in advance.  I'll get my list together sometime next week and post them so you can get your supplies together.

So start thinking about your fabric color for Panel 7.  Again, I'll get the final band of Panel 6 posted early next week!!

Also, as a reminder for crazy quilters, many of these bands can be used for seam treatments!!!

Never Ending Sampler Panel 6 Band 9

Today I have the next band of the Never Ending Sampler ready!

This is Panel 6 Band 9:

Never Ending Sampler Panel 6 Band 9 PDF Download

There will be one more band and then Panel 6 is complete.

Tomorrow, I'll talk a little bit about Panel 7!!