Happy Thanksgiving!

Posted on November 24, 2005 by Jenna Magee

At least, to my American friends. My Canadian friends have already celebrated and I hope that those of you in other countries will at least take a moment to give thanks for everything that you hold dear in life. 🙂

Thanksgiving this year has been a bit low-key, as my grandfather passed away yesterday. That’s the 3rd family member in about as many months, so it’s been a rough autumn for us around here. As a result, this weekend will be busy with all of the things that surround a major life event such as this. I’m sure I’ll be happy to return home on Sunday or Monday, just for a little peace and quiet!

Not surprisingly, I had a migraine yesterday afternoon into today. Thank goodness I was finally able to get rid of it this morning. Yeesh! I’m starting to think that Anne and I are long-lost twins living in two different hemispheres! 🙂

As far as stitching goes, I’ve been working on my Chatelaine Tiny Rose Mandala Garden. It’s looking nice, though it seems to be so labor intensive sometimes. I’m enjoying it now that I’ve finally forced myself to pick it back up. I’m also working on a second copy of the Victoria Sampler Baby’s 1st Christmas ornament for another coworker. And, of course, there’s the model stitching that I’ve been doing. And, Anne caught me by seeing the third photo in my lineup of most recent finishes on my sidebar. Ashleigh was the recipient of the ornament that I stitched for the SBEBB Christmas Ornament exchange and she emailed me on Tuesday to let me know that she had received it, so I finally unhid it in my photo gallery and posted a thumbnail in my sidebar. Of course, I then proceeded to not post about it! 😆 So, yes, Anne, it is a new-ish piece. New to you guys, at least! You can click on the thumbnail in my sidebar and/or go to Ashleigh’s blog to see a bigger picture of the ornament. I neglected to take a final photo before sending it off, so what you’ll see in my gallery is a scan of the front and back pieces. I then stitched the two together with fiberfill in between them. The chart only had the front piece, but I repeated the outer motifs to give me some space to personalize the ornament and made it all up from there! Terry liked it so much that I have make another one for us to keep! 😉

Okay, well, that’s a brief catchup on what’s happening with me. I need to limit my computer and stitching time in order to keep the headaches at bay and the top of my head is already starting to feel funny, so it’s time for me to go! I don’t know when I’ll have time to blog again, so I may be silent for a few days.

Posted in Life in General, Stitching | 8 Comments

Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week – November 23, 2005

Posted on November 23, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Today’s “Stitching Blogger’s Question” was suggested by Kimberly and is:

Do you always sign your projects? If not, why? If so, do you use your first name, initials or what?

Another good question this week. My answer is no, I do not usually sign my projects. In fact, I most often do not sign my projects. I have only signed a small number of gifts that I have made. In some of those cases, I have charted out a small-ish version of my first initial and last name that looks like my cursive handwriting and I stitch it in a rather inconspicious thread color. In other cases, like exchanged pieces where real estate is limited, I stitch my initials and the year.

As I start to do some larger pieces, I expect to sign them with my cursive signature and the year.

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A Funny From Lelia

Posted on November 22, 2005 by Jenna Magee

I was cleaning out my Inbox today, which some of you may have noticed because I suddenly responded to old comments or emails, and I stumbled across this gem from Lelia. Too funny! And I hope no one will think this is offensive. I have nothing against alternative lifestyles… in fact, I have several gay friends whom I adore!

Rancher’s Wife

A successful rancher died and left everything to his devoted wife. She was a very good-looking woman, and determined to keep the ranch, but knew very little about ranching, so she decided to place an ad in the
newspaper for a ranch hand.

Two men applied for the job. One was gay and the other a drunk. She thought long and hard about it, and when no one else applied she decided to hire the gay guy, figuring it would be safer to have him around the house than the drunk.

He proved to be a hard worker who put in long hours every day and knew a lot about ranching. For weeks, the two of them worked, and the ranch was doing very well. Then one day, the rancher’s widow said to the hired hand, “you
have done a really good job, and the ranch looks great. You should go into town and kick up your heels.

The hired hand readily agreed and went into town one Saturday night.

One o’clock came, however, and he didn’t return. Two o’clock, and no hired hand.

He returned around two-thirty, and upon entering the house, he found the rancher’s widow sitting by the fireplace with a glass of wine, waiting for him. She quietly called him over to her. “Unbutton my blouse and take it off,” she said. Trembling, he did as she directed.

“Now take off my boots.” He did as she asked, ever so slowly. “Now take off my socks.” He removed each gently and placed them neatly by her boots.

“Now take off my skirt.” He slowly unbuttoned it, constantly watching her eyes in the fire light. “Now take off my bra.” Again, with trembling hands, he did as he was told and dropped it to the floor. “Now,” she said, “take off my panties.” By the light of the fire, he slowly pulled them down and off. Then she looked at him and said, “If you ever wear my clothes
into town again, you’re fired.”

Posted in Life in General | 4 Comments

Chart Title Quiz Addendum

Posted on November 22, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Anna, a.k.a. Mistress of the Chart Title Quiz, sent me a lovely note this morning to clarify the “rule” of the quiz. It’s not that you HAVE to stitch every design you pick, but you have to choose designs that you would WANT to stitch. The idea being not to choose ugly charts with a suitable title for your answer. 😉

I suspect that will put some of your minds at ease and encourage other reluctant stitching bloggers to join in the fun!

Posted in Meme | 1 Comment

The Chart Title Quiz

Posted on November 21, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Originated by Anna, this is a fun quiz, but it took me quite a while to think about the answers and then find pictures.

So, here’s the deal. Using your favorite chart titles, answer the following questions. The only rule: you have to stitch the designs you pick, if you haven’t already. However, I’m going to say that personally I can’t commit to ALL of these, seeing as I’m already SABLE and don’t need any more charts! 🙂

Here we go:

1. Are you male or female?
Big Girl Panties
Dolly Mamas Big Girl Panties by The Janlynn Corporation

2. Describe yourself:
Computer Wizard
Computer Wizard by Jeanette Crews Designs

3. How do some people feel about you?
Best Friends
Best Friends by Lizzie Kate
(The verse reads “Some of my best friends are children.” A commentary on my refusal to grow up. 😉 )

4. How do you feel about yourself?
Moonflowers
Moonflowers by Lavender Wings
(The verse reads “The flowers whisper to the night of wonders to unfold When dawn steals across the sky for all to behold.”)

5. Describe your love interest:
Once Upon a Time
Once Upon a Time (A Fairy Secret Love) by Passione Ricamo

6. Where would you rather be?
The Seaside Kingdom
The Seaside Kingdom by Mirabilia

7. Describe what you want to be:
Star Light, Star Brite
Star Light, Star Brite by Lavender Wings
(I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, which was something that says you’re a shining star, like the song lyrics. Sounds like I’ll have to design one myself!)

8. Describe how you live:
Rules
Rules by MonsterBubbles
(The verse reads “Think Fast, Laugh Loud, Love True, Work Hard”)

9. Describe how you love:
Celtic Heart
Celtic Heart by M Designs
(I may be complex, but I’m all heart.)

10. Share a few words of wisdom:
Adjusting Our Sails
Adjusting Our Sails from Dimensions
(The verse reads “We cannot change the direction of the wind… but we can adjust our sails.”)

Posted in Meme | 2 Comments

Happy Dancing!

Posted on November 19, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Two stitching completions for me today!

First, my commute project for the past couple of weeks – Victoria Sampler’s Baby’s 1st Christmas ornament, stitched for a co-worker with a new baby:



Baby's 1st Christmas Ornament

And second, the matching ornament from Victoria Sampler’s Christmas Hearts limited edition kit:



Christmas Hearts Ornament

Other than these, I’ve been working on a model this week, plus I started the M Designs Peace Tree ornament. I’m also chipping away at my 2006 Stitching Goals. Any remaining stitching to be done this weekend will probably be on the model and my Chatelaine Tiny Rose Mandala Garden (yes, I’m still procrastinating).

Posted in Stitching | 9 Comments

Stitching Blogger’s Question of the Week – November 16, 2005

Posted on November 16, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Today’s “Stitching Blogger’s Question” was suggested by Kimberly and Lili and is:

How do you feel about staying totally true to a pattern? Do you feel that you have to rip out stitches to fix a mistake or do you feel it’s acceptable to incorporate a mistake into the design?

What a fun question, thanks gals! As a model stitcher, obviously I have two points of view on this question, depending on whether I’m stitching a model or a personal piece. If it’s a model, I cannot make a mistake. The designer is counting on me to accurately and perfectly represent the design that they have created so that they can market it. Imperfections are unacceptable.

In personal stitching, though, I’ve made a conscious effort to take a more relaxed approach. If I make a mistake and it’s something no one will ever notice or care about, then I leave it in. For example, my Christmas Hearts Bellpull has a mistake in it – one stray cross stitch in the wrong spot. I found it after I had finished confetti-like stitching of that color through an entire stitching and had moved on to another color. It didn’t affect the design at all, so I just let the error lie and no one knows but me. I have also modified designs pretty much since I started stitching. Color changes, minor changes to the design, personalization, etc. I suppose some designers might have a problem with this, but I haven’t actually heard one state such a position to date. I think a little bit of variety and personalization of a design is a compliment (and complement) to the designer and the design itself. Besides, it makes the world interesting. Not allowing any changes to a design would be like not allowing stitchers to pick any fabric they wanted on which to stitch the design. I think most designers are about creativity and freedom of expression, as long as the chart is properly paid for and credit given where credit is due.

Besides, I have enough stress in my life as it is. If every single thing that I stitched had to be absolutely perfect, I would probably stop stitching because it would no longer be relaxing for me. 🙂

Posted in Stitching Blogger's Question | 2 Comments

A Few of My Favorite Things

Posted on November 16, 2005 by Jenna Magee

Christine has tagged all of her blog readers, challenging us to list some of our favorite things in honor of the 40th anniversary of The Sound of Music.

And so, after some thought, here are a few of my favorite things, in no particular order:

  • Waking up to a cold, crisp winter morning, cuddling up in a cozy, warm blanket with a mug of hot chocolate (with LOTS of marshmallows on top) and looking out over a pristine white landscape of freshly fallen (fallING is even better) snow.
  • Brightly colored orange, red and yellow leaves glowing on the trees in the autumn.
  • The peaceful sound of waves lapping gently at the shoreline.
  • The fresh scent in the air after a cleaning rain.
  • Waiting in an underground station in London on hot day and feeling the cooling blast of air come through the tunnel before the train arrives.
  • The incredible green color of the grass and foliage in Scotland.
  • The excitement of stash enhancement and the pleasure of completing a stitched piece.
  • The wonderful feeling you get when watching someone open and appreciate a gift that you’ve worked hard to make or find that is something special only you could give.
  • The softness of Phoebe’s fur.
  • The delicious taste of hot, gooey chocolate caramel cake. Mmmmmmm.
  • Cuddling in the arms of my best friend and lover (otherwise known as my husband).
Posted in Meme | 1 Comment

My Blog is Still Here!

Posted on November 15, 2005 by Jenna Magee

AnneS informed me overnight that she hasn’t been able to get to my blog for two days. Well, I’m still here and I’m still blogging, even if apparently no one can get to my blog! 😆 Terry did a lot of hard work this weekend, replacing two of the older servers in our basement server room (yes, I know, we’re computer geeks) with two newer servers and making a lot of configuration changes at the same time. As anyone who work with computers knows from experience, nothing ever goes right no matter how much you test ahead of time. 😕 So, anyway, despite thinking that the worst of the bugs were worked out by the wee hours of Monday morning, after a LONG weekend working on it, apparently something slipped through the cracks. He assures me that it should be working now, so you should once again be receiving my annoying posts in technicolor. Just what you always wanted! 😉

So, other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play? Otherwise known as, what else has been going on around here? Well, I’ve been RAK’ed again. This time by a certain ex-Kiwi duck fanatic. Anne sent me a lovely skein of Needle Necessities floss in the most wonderful shades of lavender, a monstrous piece of dark grey Belfast linen that I think will work great for the Victoria Sampler Winter Banner, amongst other things, and a really cute little 2006 calendar featuring silly pictures of posed kangaroos! Thank you Anne!

Oh, and in case I neglected to publicly embarrass, er… thank, our favorite material girl sufficiently, I want to give another shout out to her for her great RAK the other week, as well. I just want to make sure I thank everyone enough!! Stitching bloggers truly have some of the biggest hearts I’ve ever known!

Yesterday was also an eventful mail day because I received another model to work on. I’ve been waiting for a couple of weeks for this one. It’s a nice little hardanger project and the designer unwittingly (or maybe purposefully?) chose my favorite colors for it. Yep, purples. But, as usual, it’s an as-yet-unreleased design, so I can’t say anything more… *insert Mission Impossible music here*

This post will self-destruct in 5 seconds.

Posted in Life in General | 4 Comments

Plans for the Week

Posted on November 14, 2005 by Jenna Magee

While I didn’t accomplish much stitching this weekend after my Christmas Hearts bellpull finish, I did manage to get my garden exchange gift onto a scroll frame and put in a few stitches. Sunday evening, while I was working through load after load of laundry, I started the Christmas Hearts ornament and finished all of the cross and back stitching. I also cut the fabric for the hardanger, so all that is left is the weaving and beading. I should have a happy dance and photo to post some time this week.

Ashleigh beat me to the punch, though, I have to admit. 🙂 Take a look at her beautiful, finished Christmas Hearts ornament.

This week I’ll be posting off my SBEBB Christmas Ornament Exchange gift to its recipient, plus a little surprise for someone else. As far as stitching goes, I’d like to make some progress on my Chatelaine Tiny Rose Mandala Garden. I know… I keep talking about it, and I actually managed to get it on my stand, but I’ve been avoiding it like the plague. I’m really not sure why, but I think (hope) that once I overcome my reticence and get some stitches into it, I’ll pick up some momentum. We’ll see, as the week is young!

By the way, I read Carol’s comment about my retail therapy realization (i.e. it doesn’t seem to work for me) and she couldn’t understand why I felt let down by such a lovely order. I thought about this for a while on Sunday and I think that the problem lies in the fact that I bought all of these goodies, but won’t let myself actually stitch any of them! So, perhaps I can limit my purchases to a time where I will allow myself to start a new project and then only purchase items relating to that project. In which case, my goals to be a stash only stitcher combined with the size of my stash should keep me from needing to purchase anything in order to start a new project, unless it’s fibers or fabric. 🙂

Posted in Stitching | 1 Comment