Another Fun Weekend in Grand Rapids

I visited my friend again last weekend and had a wonderful time. One of the highlights was Saturday afternoon when we drove to Rockford, MI to visit the JT Stitchery and Frame Shop:

This was a nice shop that was mostly devoted to yarn, knitting, and crochet, but had a decent sized cross stitch section also. The upstairs was a frame shop. The owner (I assume) was super helpful and friendly and told us about some of the interesting things to do around town.  I asked about knitting classes and she told me that they are usually on weeknights but that I could schedule a private class if I wanted to, which I might do, because I really want to learn to knit socks!

One of the places she told us about was The Old World Olive Press.  This is a very cool place!  The store is filled with little kettles that have various flavors and infusions of olive oils and balsamic vinegars.  There are little paper cups next to each of them so that you can sample all of the flavors. 

 I would love to visit this place again next time I need vinegar or olive oil!

We also went to a shop called WAR International.  WAR stands for Women at Risk.  The store is filled with beautiful jewelry and other gifts made by disadvantaged women around the world.  Profits provide safe places for women and children who’ve been rescued from lives of horror including human trafficking and slavery.  We made a purchase there and it kindof felt good to know that WAR International is a non profit organization and that our purchase was somehow helpful to people who really need it.

There were lots of other good things about the weekend, including scrabble playing and a little stitching. 

I’ve made some good progress on Alhambra and will save that post for another night.

What a Fun Weekend!

On Saturday, I went to visit a friend who lives in Grand Rapids, MI, which is about two hours north of where I live. He told me to bring something nice to wear, which I did, and was surprised by tickets to see the Grand Rapids Symphony!  The theme of the concert was “Scottish Visions” and featured a wonderful guest performer – Evelyn Glennie.    Ms. Glennie is an amazing performer and percussionist and what makes it so incredible to watch is that she suffered a profound loss of hearing at the age of 12.  If you click on the “Scottish Visions” link you can listen to her talk about how music can be perceived with much more of your body than just your ears.   It was interesting to watch that in many ways, she was indirectly leading the musicians by providing cues to the director, who was in turn leading the symphony and it all fit together just right.  There’s a short sound clip of the performance that you can listen to, and if you go to her web page link, there is much more to hear and learn about her.  There are also some links on You Tube.  She is an amazing musician and performer and the experience was something that I don’t think I’ll ever forget. 

My friend suggested that we go get a drink and talk after we left the show and he took me to a bar called the Kopper Top.  This was a cozy little spot to sit and talk.  The place was totally decked out for Valentines Day with fun paper hearts and all shades of pink and red covering the walls..  Strings of red lights everywhere.  I am told that they do this for every holiday and that its always over the top.  We only ordered drinks, but the service was good.  We stayed there and talked until they kicked us out. 

The following morning we went out to breakfast, then my friend took me to the Frederick Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park.  The grounds host a permanent sculpture collection.  We walked around in the snow and saw some pretty interesting things before the cold and the wind forced us back indoors:

The American Horse

B-Tree II

I wish I could credit the artists for these pieces….

There was much more to see, but for me, it’ll have to be on a nice spring or summer day where you can take your time and not worry about slipping on the snow and ice or wonder when your fingers might actually be warm enough again to work properly. 

The main building on the grounds has a nice cafe and lots of interior artwork that was fun to look at. I was particularly interested in the floor of the building which is a work of art in itself. The floor has bronze inlays everywhere with plant and leaf themes and is named Beneath the Leafy Crown by Michele Oka Doner. I took lots of pictures of the floor, but due to odd lighting and the inadequecies of the camera on my phone, this was the only shot that turned out well enough to post:

There were interior tropical gardens that were lush and green (and warm!) that we looked at too. I really liked the plants in this picture, and the train tracks shown were very extensive and as we walked along we would find the train tracks going over our heads. 

I really enjoyed the time spent at this place and hope to go back again when the gardens outside are flourishing.  The park also features what looks would be a nice childrens play area and an outdoor band shell.

(Note to self: Start carrying a real camera with you so that you can get better shots when you unexpectedly end up at a really neat spot.)

All in all a wonderful weekend with a wonderful new friend.

2009 Ornament Project Finished!

I finished my last (December) ornament on New Year’s Day!  I would say it was probably one of the more ambitious ornaments as it is 4″ in diameter and solid stitching.  Here it is:

The pins were a last minute idea and stuck in while the glue was drying. It needed something, I thought, and I didn’t feel like getting out the cording drill.

So, my 2009 Ornament Project is finished! Here they all are:

Yay! Will there be a 2010 ornament project?? Um.. no. I’d actually like to focus on my larger projects in 2010. I’m still got Alpine Seasons going and I made a really wimpy start on Alhambra:

I might also like to start a VS sampler too, but haven’t decided which one. I have a couple of smaller WIPS hanging around that I can work on when I get tired of the big stuff.

I’ve been in a bit of a stitching slump the last several months, but now that the snow is falling and I have a non-existant social life, I’m sure I’ll be doing a lot more stitching.

Happy New Year everybody!

Scrabble

I got a new Scrabble board from my parents for Christmas – the LL Bean one. When I put it away with the others, I started to wonder if I had a problem, then took a pic:

I’ve decided that I don’t have a problem yet….  but whenever I see a new version, I’m tempted to buy it.  I don’t know why since you can only play one at a time.  I also have a computer game and play it on facebook occasionally too.

I started playing in the summer of 1987 when my family relocated to Oklahoma.  We had to wait on the house closing so we lived in a Holiday Inn for most of the summer.  We got a Scrabble board and started playing by the pool a lot.  I probably really got into it when I was married to someone who could beat me most of the time.  I got better and I used to play with my last boyfriend, who used flashcards to memorize the two letter words!  When he and I played, it was anyone’s game. 

However, I no longer have anyone to play with.    I need to see if there’s a group in the area that gets together.  I hear there used to be a group at either Borders or Barnes and Noble on Sunday nights.

Feel free to challenge me on Facebook!

Sad News – TW Designworks is Closing!

I read today that Teresa Wentzler’s design business is closing!  Read about it on her website.  Boo hoo!  See below for pics of the TW designs that I’ve stitched over the years…  I still have some of her stuff in my stash and am sure I’ll get to them someday!

I finally have a computer at home again, so will be catching up on my blog reading and writing soon.  I’ve been working on my December ornament and chose something relatively challenging.  It’s 4″ in diameter and solid stitching, but I should be able to finish it up before the new year. 

There have been some changes personally for me… I’m single again.  I think it needed to happen, as we had different ideas about what we wanted regarding our futures, and even though it saddens me, I’m doing OK.  We are still friends and spend (very platonic!) time having dinner or going to movies.  The worse part is that its the holidays and am spending a lot of time home alone as I don’t have any family locally.  Even though I’m doing OK, I’ll be really glad when the holidays are over.

Here is a selection of some of my finished TW Designs. All of them can be seen at my Webshots page:

Are you tired of my ornaments yet?

Stitched and finished my November ornament over the weekend:

Victoria Sampler Wreath Hearts

What a quick stitch and a beautiful ornament.. I liked the fact that it has a lot of yellow and isn’t the traditional red and green like most other ornaments have been.  The great thing about this ornament too is that it would be really easy to adapt to another color scheme, as it only has 3 colors to begin with.  I’m thinking some sort of overdye on the klosters would be particularly awesome.

I also finished an ornament stitched earlier in the year:

Lizzie Kate Holly

Woo Hoo!  Only one ornament for the year left to go!  I just gotta figure out what its going to be and try to finish it up ASAP.  I’m pleased with all of the new ornaments I have for my tree, but I’m kind of tired of finishing ornaments. 

Keep any eye out and visit often as I’m planning to do a give-away to celebrate finishing the 2009 Ornament Project!

 

October Ornament and More 2009 Ornament Finishing

Friday I got the accessory kit I ordered for the Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Scissor Keep published in the 2009 JCS Ornament magazine.  I managed to stitch and finish it up over the weekend!  I used the template provided in the magazine for the final shape of it, but just finished as an ornament and not as a scissor keep.  On this one, I really wanted to join the cording at the base, but couldn’t figure out how to do it and have it look nice, so this ornament ended up with a tassle:

 

Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Scissor Keep

While I had my finishing supplies out, I decided to finish one more ornament that I’d stitched earlier in the year:

 

Just Nan A Little Joy

So… I’m approaching the end of my 2009 Ornament Project.  I have two more ornaments to stitch and finish, then one last stitched ornament that needs to be finished up!

September Ornament and Ornament Project Update

I finished up my September ornament over the weekend!

Sweetheart Tree’s Stichers Favorite Scissor Fob Front and Back

I also did some finishing of ornaments I stitched earlier in the year:

The Prairie Schooler’s Snowy Night Front and Back

Country Cottage Needlework’s Snowy Eve Front and Back

Plus I finished the Brittercup Poinsettia in the previous post. So, for my 2009 Ornament Project, I have three more to stitch and two that just need to be finished.

How To Finish an Ornament Using Aluminum Ornament Forms

Have you ever avoided stitching a round ornament because you weren’t sure how you were going to finish it??  Aluminum ornament forms are the solution…  its super easy to do and they always look great, and more importantly, perfectly round, when you’re finished.

 

Ornament Forms

I’ve seen these at a couple of different LNSs.  I most frequently buy them from The Silver Needle in Tulsa, but I also know that House of Stitches carries them too. 

I was finishing up some ornaments today and thought I’d take some pics of how I used the ornament forms for anyone who is curious about trying these out.

You Will Need:

• Stitched ornament
• Pair of ornament forms  that fit the stitched piece
• Backing Fabric
• Thin batting
• Tacky Glue
• Strong thread and a needle (I usually use #8 perle cotton)
• Trim (ribbon or cording)

I like my finished ornaments to have a little padding, so I squirt some glue on the convex side of the ornaments, stick some rough cut batting on them, then trim away the excess batting using the outside of the form as a guide:

Using your ornament forms as a loose guide, trim both your backing fabric and your stitched ornament to about 3/4″ beyond the circumference of the ornament form.

Thread your needle with some sturdy thread (I use perle cotton) and stitch a running stitch near the edge of your trimmed fabric.  As you can see from my pic below, there’s no need to create a perfect circle with your running stitch or even have the stitches be nice and even!  When finished, make sure that the tails of your thread end up at the front of your stitched piece.

Next, place one of the ornament forms, batting side down, on the back of your stitching. Do your best to center the form on the stitching.  Pull the tails of the running stitch to cinch up the fabric around the form. Think of it kind of like cinching up a draw string bag. Tie the tails with a square knot, then put a little dab of glue over the knot:

Turn the form over and make any small adjustments needed to be sure the stitching is centered on the ornament form.  The batting should be betwen your stitching and the convex side of the ornament form.

Do the same with the backing fabric on the other form:

Don’t worry about the fabric bulk created by the cinching. Because the ornament forms have a rounded surface, there is plenty of space for the fabric bulk to be contained within the hollow space at the center of your ornament.

Next, dab a small amount of glue around the edge of the form that is fitted with backing fabric:

Pick up both halves of the ornament and line the edges up and press firmly together. If you want a ribbon hanger (click here for a pic of ornaments that I finished this way), you would want to slip the ends of the ribbon at the top of the ornament before pressing together. I chose cording for this ornament, so no need for this step:

Wipe away any excess glue then put the ornament under a book or other heavy object for the glue to set.

Twisted cording is the next step. I make a little puddle of glue on some scrap paper or fabric, then use the end of a pin to run glue along the seam between the back and front of the ornament. Using the pin helps you avoid putting too much glue that will squeeze out from under the cording, and also gives you more control over where the glue goes.

Arrange your cording around the ornament, leaving room at the top to create a hanger, and gently run the cording along the glue line between the front and the back of the ornament:

Take some thread that matches your cording and wrap around the cording at the base of the hanger and the point where the cording joins at the bottom of the ornament. This helps secure the tension on the cording while the glue sets and also just looks nice.

Clip the ends of the cording at the bottom then untwist and separate the threads to make a tassle.  Trim the tassle threads so that they are all the same length:

You are finished!

What Do You Do With Your Biscornus?

This is another Sweetheart Tree Biscornu (Lavender Blossoms) I finished up a few nights ago:

This was a fun stitch… as you can see I simplified the back, which is designed to look just like the front.

I was so excited about receiving the Sweetheart Tree Stitcher’s Favorite Biscornu and Scissor Fob kits that I started them right away!  I’ve decided that the scissor fob will be my September ornament and finished stitching one side of it tonight.  I’ll post pics once its finished up as an ornament.  It is a quick stitch, any the tiny size makes it even more cute!

So, I have finished four biscornus total.  One I put a hanger on and gave as a Christmas gift last year, but the rest are just sitting in my bag of stitched stuff.  What should I do with them?  I could finish them as ornaments too, but it just seems like I should be able to do something with them so I can see them all year.   A friend suggested putting them in a basket, but I have two kitties that would just LOVE to bat those around on the kitchen floor.

So… what do you do with your biscornus?