I purchased an E-Z Stitch Lap Stand (made of Solid Oak) over the summer. I own a floor stand, but it is too awkward to carry with me when Sarah and I go to stitch with our friend on Tuesday evenings. I love this frame, and figured out how to use it without the E-Z Stitch scroll frame (shown in the picture to the right. Note: the cross stitch piece in the picture is not mine.)

I had been using a round hoop, which was a bit difficult given its small size and small working area when placed in the stand. I'm not sure where I got the idea, but I found out there is a mini scroll frame, which I searched for on the Internet, and ultimately purchased from a seller on eBay. I cut two small pieces of wood 4" long x 1/2" x 1/4", taped them together with duct tape to make a piece 4" x 1/2" x 1/2", and put it underneath the top bar of the scroll frame so I could clamp it into the sit-on-frame. It works beautifully, although the weight of the mini clip on magnifier pushes the frame down, so I simply hold it up a bit with my left hand as I stitch.

I have actually completed all of the holly and berries on this project; next comes the alphabet and, whatever is at the bottom! I find stitching over one to be tedious, even with the magnifier, and I am making a lot of mistakes, which I don't fully understand. I enlarged the chart as much as I could to make it easier to stitch . . . to say I'm frustrated is an understatement!

Take a Moment to Thank Our Troops

Please take a moment to go to Let's Say Thanks, sponsored by our local business, Xerox. At the website, you choose a postcard to send to a U. S. serviceman or woman; the art work on them has been done by young people throughout the country. After making your choice, you can select a pre-written message of thanks, or write your own. Just click "submit" and Xerox will take it from there.

Progress on Christmas Gifts #2

This is Julia's nightgown. I still haven't opened the buttonholes and sewn on the buttons (on my list for tomorrow), but I wanted to take the pictures while I had access to the camera.


These are the cloth shoes I made for Julia's brother, Luke, using the tutorial at Stardust Shoes. While they're not as cute as the ones here, they will be practical. Since I'm not completely sure about the size, I didn't want to put to much energy into them just in case they don't fit.

The next project on my list is stitching together Jamie Rae's smocked pinafore. (Jamie is my other brother's daughter; they live in North Carolina.) Once that is done, I can work on gifts for the local family members.

Christmas Decorating

I thought you might enjoy seeing pictures of a few of our Christmas decorations. The first picture is of our house, taken at twilight. As usual, the camera doesn't capture everything; there are electric candles in each window. You can also see the snow we got Monday and Tuesday. I think the official storm total will be around a foot.



This picture is my makeshift "mantle" in the great room. Since we don't have a fireplace, the shelf above one of our love seats suffices. The first large stocking, on the left, was made by Grace for her dog, Kelly. The other three large stockings I made; the two in the middle are my husband's and mine, while the one on the right end is Sarah's.

I love having a nice stairway to decorate! One of the upgrades we made to the house when we built it was to forego the carpeting on the stairs in favor of oak treads with painted risers.

This final picture has nothing to do with Christmas. I've had this bench, which I picked up at a garage sale, since before I got married. The seat is hinged, and we store some our our board games inside. I recently purchased this new piece of fabric to cover the cushion (it's merely pinned on.) I need to repaint the bench so it fits in with the Early American decor in the entry way. Any suggestions as to color and/or paint treatment?




Here is a close up of the wallpaper border. Maybe I should go with a light mustard yellow?

Progress on Christmas Gifts

It's been snowing and blowing all day. Despite being warmly dressed, I felt like the wind was blowing right through the house . . . some leftover Tomato Chicken Soup paired with tortilla chips helped. As I write, there has been a very temporary lull in the wind, but most of the time it blows and blows and blows. We are still under not only a high wind warning (winds up to 50 mph), but a continued winter storm warning which will last until midnight Tuesday night. With all the blowing and drifting, it's hard to say how much snow we've received so far, but overnight, we're expecting another 3 - 7 inches, and yet another 4 - 8 inches on Tuesday. On top of that, it's cold - it didn't get out of the mid-20's today, nor will it for the next few days.

What else is there to do on a day like today but work on Christmas projects? I've nearly finished the nightgown for Julia, having done some handwork today; all that is left is to open the buttonholes and sew on the buttons. I may add some bows to the front, but will get Sarah's opinion before make a final decision.

I also worked at enlarging the pattern for the cloth baby shoes I want to make for Julia's brother, Luke. At first I thought to use the scanner to enlarge the entire pattern by 20% or so, but then I realized that it was mostly the length that needed adjusting, so I cut the pattern in two, added the additional amount, and taped it back together. I also added the same amount to the "top" piece. I made a sample shoe, which is absolutely adorable, but unfortunately, it is too small, so I added more length to the pattern. My dear sister-in-law, Veronica, measured Luke's foot (not an easy task!), so I have some idea what measurements I'm after, plus I traced a shoe while at WalMart last week. I think it will work just fine now, so the next ones I make I will plan to send off. Despite my initial impression that these would be difficult to make, once I had all the pieces cut out, they went together relatively quickly and easily, thanks, in part, to the wonderful pictures in the tutorial.

If you are interested in making cloth slippers for yourself, try out this tutorial. I just downloaded it tonight, so I can't vouch for the instructions. The Sew, Mama, Sew! Blog has been featuring gift ideas since the beginning of November - check it out!

I managed to put half a dozen stitches into my cross stitch project before I felt too sleepy to continue. Oh, well.

Sew Excited!

We have finally entered, at least somewhat, into the digital television age! When our VCR started eating tapes, we realized it was time to evaluate our television recording options. We have a DVD/VCR combo unit in the master bedroom, but anything we record on video tape must be watched in the bedroom, which might not be convenient or comfortable. We couldn't see investing in another VCR to use with our primary television, so we began researching DVD recorders. With the impending switch or all television stations to digital format in February, 2008, we realized we needed to purchase a unit with a digital tuner, since we do not subscribe to cable or satellite TV. After consulting with the ever helpful Consumer Reports, we compiled a very short list of recommended DVD recorders with digital tuners. We waited and we watched the sale ads. We waited some more. Finally, last week Best Buy had one of the units on our list on sale, and at a much better price than we dared hope to pay!! Phil spent Friday and Saturday setting it up, and reprogramming our universal remote (which mysteriously lost all its programming.) We still don't know how to record, but hopefully Phil can figure that out very soon.

So what am I sew excited about? When we began surfing channels, we discovered that we now have more channels because of the ability to receive digital signals. No fewer than four PBS stations are available to us now, one of which - Create - is already my new favorite. I am thrilled that I can watch two different episodes of Martha's Sewing Room, The Donna Dewberry Show, America Quilts Creatively, and more! Wow!!

Cross Stitch Ornament

I finished my cross stitch ornament tonight and hung it on our tree, which still has very few ornaments on it, as we're waiting to hang them until all four of us are available . . . Although the background color looks white, it is really a "natural" or "raw" 28 count linen, and I used the alternate DMC colors instead of the Weeks Dye Works Floss. Even with a magnifying glass, the stitching was tedious, but not as much as the ornament I'm working on now, Christmas Holly by Hands to Work (also from JCS Christmas Ornaments 2007.) Oh, the joys of getting older!