“Snow Magical” and “Winter Cardinal Etching” - Two Cross Stitch Finishes

This piece is “Snow Magical” by designer Brenda Gervais. If you follow any flosstube channels on Youtube, you will know that this has been a very popular piece to stitch. The cute sweater and snow took a l-o-n-g time to stitch. Since Christmas, I have been working on this and one other larger piece, and I am glad to have finally finished this snowman. I chose a frame from Hobby Lobby to fully finish this piece.

Speaking of snow . . . in my previous post I wrote of an approaching snowstorm. Schools, meetings,  events, etc. were cancelled the day before, but then the forecast kept changing. The big snowstorm was a no show in my area although on parts of Cape Cod they received heavy snow. My friend Laurel sent this along which speaks to the difficulties of being a meteorologist in our area. If you don’t like our weather, just wait a minute.

Laurel also sent along a few photos that she had taken at the start of the lighthouse restoration project which I wrote about in a previous post.

Boy! I wish I had been there that day. :-)

I stitched this small piece, “Winter Cardinal Etching” by Cecelia Turner, this past week. The chart came from the 2020 Christmas/Winter issue of Punch Needle and Primitive Stitcher magazine. I stitched it for a gift when it first came out and always planned to stitch it again for myself. It took a few years to get around to it. I did change the floss used for the cardinal to DMC321 rather than the called for floss on the pattern. Cardinals in my area are bright red and the called for floss was a bit too dark.

On Wednesday, I received this sweet Valentine’s Day surprise from my godchild’s family. I can already see it displayed next year with the back filled with tiny Valentine cross stitch pillows. :-)

That’s it for now. Have a good week.

Garden of Liberty and Weymouth 400 Celebration

I FFO’d “Garden of Liberty” and added it to my patriotic dough bowl. I couldn’t resist stitching this cute little miss from Brenda Gervais’ booklet “Red White and Bloom.”

Let’s continue the patriotic theme. Weymouth, MA, where I live is celebrating its 400th anniversary. Weymouth was settled in 1622 just two years after the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth. The committee in charge of the celebration decided to hold four separate events. I had not attended the recent celebrations in South Weymouth and East Weymouth, but I did attend today’s event in North Weymouth which was held at Wessagusset Beach. There were three different trolley tours. I chose the Abigail Adams and Old North Cemetery tour. 

I may have mentioned this at some point, but I have always had a special affection for Abigail Adams. When I was little, I was always reading biographies from the children’s section of the old Tufts Library. I clearly remember reading about Abigail riding with her father Rev. Smith in a buggy down to Weymouth Landing. I was beside myself realizing that on those trips she would have ridden down Commercial Street which runs at the bottom of my street!!! :-()

Here are some photos from her birthplace that I took on today’s tour.

This small quilted wallhanging was beyond amazing. Click on the photo to enlarge it and you will see the signatures of  six of our former First Ladies: Claudia Taylor “Lady Bird” Johnson, Betty Ford, Rosalynn Carter, Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, and Hillary Rodham Clinton. What a treasure!!! Abigail Adams and Barbara Bush are the only two First Ladies, so far, who also had sons who became Presidents.

The tour also featured the Civil War monument in Old North Cemetery that honors the ninety Weymouth men who died during that war. 

The man with the magnificent handlebar mustache told us that fifty of those ninety men had died of disease.

There were also ladies representing the Sanitation Commission.

I had not heard of this group before, but the women explained that during the war their mission was to travel to different camps explaining about hygiene and food safety. They would also write letters home for soldiers unable to write. They comforted the dying and would write to the family of those who had died.

Back at the beach, there were food trucks and tables set up by various civic organizations and a group of Revolutionary War reenactors from the Hingham Militia.

We sure do like our history around here. :-()

Wait . . . one more thing . . . if you haven’t had enough Weymouth history, google ‘Weymouth Historical Commission’ and sign up for their newsletter, The Weymouth Gazette. Their recent publication had a number of interesting articles. Also, google ‘Weymouth 400’ so you don’t miss out on any upcoming lectures or events.

Have a wonderful week. 

March Word Play FFO and Happy Spring

Happy Spring, Everyone! Here is my latest cross stitch finish; it’s “March Word Play” by Brenda Gervais. It took me two weeks of dedicated nightly stitching, but I’m thrilled with how it turned out. I added a soft green chenille trim, and I did not use the floss called for on the pattern, but instead selected my own colors. It looks similar to the piece as designed, but I chose to brighten the colors a bit. The green buttons were from the giveaway back table at our guild meeting. :-)

I cranked the drawbridge down on my castle and ventured out a few times this week. Last Saturday, I went to a family party to celebrate Confirmation Day for my cousin’s triplets. (For those of you who remember when they were born, know that they are now sixteen as is Miss Lucy.) Wow!

On Tuesday, I attended an in-person meeting of the Crosstown Quilters Guild, and it was great to see everyone. The speaker, Anthony Ferranti, gave a very informative, entertaining talk on sewing machine care and maintenance. The best part. . . he makes house calls! I do not want to post his contact info here, but get in touch with me if you would like it. (Mask note: I was one of only about seven ladies who wore a mask during the meeting. My doctor has said it is okay to get together with fully vaccinated friends, but that I should not let my guard down.)

Wednesday was a wonderful doubleheader. At noon, a group of retired teacher friends gathered for lunch in Hull. Prior to the pandemic, we would meet each month for lunch at local restaurants. It was a very relaxed gathering so much so that we were shocked when someone noticed it was 4:30! That meant I had to dash home to feed and take Emma out before picking up my friend Edith at 5:30 and heading to our friend Maribeth’s home for dinner at 6:00. Whew! Being super cautious, I have not been with some of my  friends since last summer. ( At this point, the covid numbers and hospitalizations are way, way down, so I am cautiously taking advantage of it, but keeping an eye on things especially with respect to the new Omicron BA.2 subvariant which is making an appearance in some parts of the country. It has caused spikes across Europe.  My castle’s drawbridge can be very easily cranked back up :-).

Just for fun, I did one more thing today. I headed down to North Attleboro to visit Stitch New England, a cross stitch store. I had received a refund for a cancelled guild quilt retreat, so I felt it would only be prudent not to let that money burn a hole in my pocket. This is what I purchased. :-() It’s only a dangerously close forty minute drive for me, but if you live further, they have an online store.

I love how this bear at the hair salon where I went yesterday is always decked out. He always wears a mask!

And finally, if you enjoy puns, you will love this! (I saw it on the blog, Live a Colorful Life.)

Have a great weekend. 

An Historic Day - December 14, 2020

 As I write this post, states are casting their votes for President and Vice President in the Electoral College. It is official. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris will become our next President and Vice President on January 20, 2021.

Equally historic, planes, trains, and trucks are transporting our first covid-19 vaccine to selected sites across our country. Health care workers, fittingly, will be the first to receive this vaccine.  Experts did not believe that a vaccine would be ready until next year. Besides the Pfizer vaccine, there are a number of other vaccines being developed. This has been a truly historic accomplishment. Some health care workers will receive their first dose today; their second dose will be administered in three weeks. Though the majority of the population will not receive the vaccine until summer, this is hopefully the beginning of the end to this nightmare. If only people will keep up their guard, wear masks,  and follow the recommendations of health care experts. Today we reached the grim milestone of over 300,000 deaths in our country due to this scourge. 

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Okay, now for some lighter elements. . . In my last post, I told you I had received a package. Here is what was inside. I signed up for the "Stitch Quarterly" program from The Fat Quarter Shop.  In the package, there was a project bag, a pattern, a piece of lovely pale mint 14 count Aida fabric,  floss, floss drops, a needle, and a small tin for storing needles. I love it, but judging from the number of stitches involved it will not be finished for this Christmas.

 

 

I have been working on a number of other Christmas cross stitch pieces including this 4-part free pattern, "Merry & Minty," issued by Brenda Gervais. You may download the 4-parts on her Facebook page.

Last evening on 60 Minutes, Leslie Stalh had a report on the staggering rise in health care costs. Well, yesterday morning while waiting for my printer to do its thing, I was going through some drawers when I came across a couple of interesting items.  The first was a cemetery deed. My paternal great-grandparents had purchased a grave lot in June of 1866.  I didn't recognize a couple of names on the deed, so I will have to check that out. My great-grandparents and my grandparents are buried in Holyhood Cemetery. I used to go each Memorial Day with my aunts and my parents to visit the grave. Even as a child, I thought it was a pretty spot. There is a beautiful tree shading the grave and a chapel near by. . . not a bad place to spend eternity.

On to the Leslie Stahl connection . . . also in the drawer was a bill/receipt that I don't ever remember having seen before. It was the bill for my birth at Santa Maria Hospital in Cambridge in 1951. My mom was in the hospital for ten days, and it cost 214.29!!! In case you cannot make it out: $150 (10days @ $15. Lab Fee $7.50, Pharmacy $7.05, Delivery Room $20.00, Baby Board $27.00, Telephone $2.24, and Radio $.50. Isn't that something!!!  :-)  I love finding stuff like this. :-) I wonder how much a similar stay would cost today???

Lastly, please follow the recommendation of our governor. Those owners of restaurants, gyms, theaters, etc.  that have suffered economically from covid restrictions might not agree, but I think Gov. Charlie Baker (R) has done a very good job here in Massachusetts. 

Stay safe. Have hope. Find a reason to smile. Please wear your mask.

Decking the Halls

 Hi Everyone! Here are the two small cross stitch pillows which I mentioned in my last post. I followed a tutorial by Lori Holt on Youtube on how to make cross stitch pieces into small pillows.

Can you see the pair of dear little deer at the base of the lamp? I came across them while going through things in my cellar. I can remember them from when I was little, and I thought I would put them out for awhile. :-)

 The charts for these pieces were found in this magazine.

As you can see by the spelling of "favourites," this is a British magazine that I picked up at Joann's. You will also be able to see on the left side of the cover page that these little pieces were designed to be part of an advent piece; I decided to just stitch a few of these as pillows for my red two-tiered tray. I hope to get a few more stitched before Christmas, and if not this year, next year.

I spent the day inside decking my halls. The front yard has been done since the weekend after Thanksgiving. This sled belonged to my dad's family, and it would be about a hundred years old or so. It spent years in the corner of the cellar, but for the last fifteen years or so, I have added it to my outside decorations.

 This tree was made by my neighbor; his has white lights while I chose colored lights.These photos were taken just as the lights were coming on. You may notice that the postman had left a package on my front steps. Yeah!!! I'll show you what was inside of it in my next post. It made me smile. :-) 

I had bought a wreath from my favorite cub scout, and it came with a simple red bow.  I have always loved decorating wreaths, and here is the result this year. On a shelf in my garage I have two bags full of bows, pine cones, and assorted baubles. Some of the painted pine cones on this wreath have been around for years. 

I coordinate the decorations with those that I put on the sled.

This small village is on a table in my sunporch. Three of the houses were purchased at a thrift store after Christmas for a ridiculously low price. I have absolutely no plans or desire to add to it, but I think it looks cute here. 

 Now,  do I have a recommendation for you!!!!! Last night I watched on Netflix, The Christmas Chronicle  with Kurt Russell in the role of Santa Claus. I had heard about this movie last year, but I didn't bother watching it as I thought it was more geared to children. Boy, was I wrong. It is geared to anyone from nine to ninety-nine. (It might not be good for really little ones.) It was FUN!!! I highly recommend it to all, and I am looking forward to watching The Christmas Chronicle 2 with Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. If you want to smile and increase your Christmas spirit, definitely check out The Christmas Chronicles.

Final thing . . . if you are a cross stitcher, designer Brenda Gervais has a free Christmas chart, "Merry and Minty," on her Facebook page. (I am not on Facebook, but anyone can access the chart here.)  The first part was posted Monday and part two was posted today. Yes, I have started it though I already have a stack of projects calling my name; I suffer from  FOMO ( fear of missing out.) :-)  :-)  :-)

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 Devastating statistics for December 9, 2020

From tonight's CNN headlines: 

The United States reported a record-high number of new Covid-19 deaths on Wednesday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

So far on Wednesday, 2,939 new Covid-19 deaths were reported, according to the university. The US is currently averaging 2,230 new deaths per day, according to the data.

The US has reported 289,188 total coronavirus-related deaths since the start of the pandemic, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Stay safe everyone.