Tuesday, April 6, 2010

startitis strikes again!

Ah well, the title of this post says it all.  Sigh.  What's next, you ask?  Well, that's a good question!  Here's the first item I picked up. 

SDW Sampler from the Scarlet Letter
40ct mystery R&R fabric, vintagey
AVAS fibers

But I was having difficulty with this one.  The motifs are very huge.  And that double running area up at the top.  Hmmmmm.  Not happy with that.  

So I wandered off to the next item.

  Freelove Hazard from the Scarlet Letter
45ct Vintage Examplar
AVAS fibers

This one was going slowly, namely because my eyes have gotten progressively worse since the last time I stitched on 45ct fabric.  So I had to make a trip to get some new "reading" glasses, ie magnifiers.  (I wear them in front of my regular glasses, the ones with the bifocal type lenses in them.)  

 
I did make some progress eventually though.   But it's slow.  

I think startitis hits the worst when the boy child is on break at home from school.  It was his spring break last week.  Thus the startitis.  

Anyway, the boy child was back at school starting yesterday.  So of course, I started something else!


I have a million more of these strip sets to sew in order to make a million 9 patch blocks, which go into making 25 nine patches of 9 patch blocks, which go into making a quilt.  You can sort of see the pattern underneath the strip sets.  I'm looking forward to the setting blocks made out of this.


Ah such luscious, red gorgeousness!  I just hope I'm up to this quilt.  It's a big one!

I worked so long yesterday that I could feel my crotchety neck muscles seizing up.  So I have to take a break from the piecing today!  Don't want to end up in bed with a neck that doesn't work (which happened to me a couple of years ago.  Don't ask.).

Now for those of you who are lucky enough to have a sewing room to yourself, where you can spread out, leave your sewing machine and iron and all the pieces of your project all over the place without causing a mess to be tripped over by other family members, I have one thing to say.   Can you lend me your sewing room?   Pleeeeease???   I have my sewing machine on my ironing board (it's a Featherweight (the sewing machine is a Featherweight, not the ironing board)), along with the cutting board and ruler and rotary cutter, the iron, the strips to be sewn, the strip sets that have been sewn, etc etc.  The ironing board is tottering precariously at rest in front of the chest of drawers, in the hope that no one will need to get into said chest of drawers to get to their clothes.  Or if clothes are needed, the hope is that said ironing board will be moved safely aside to access the clothes and then moved safely back again.  Without dumping the Featherweight onto the floor.  See why I tend to not want to quilt?   Stitching is so much easier.  The project just stays on my table by my stitching chair.  I neeeed a sewing rooooom!!!!!!   Argh!!!!  

So I guess the family is going to be tripping over said tottering ironing board for a while.  This is a biiiig quilt.  lol!

On a different subject, a few days back, I was sitting minding my own business when all of a sudden there was this loud swishing noise followed by loud bumps of what sounded like a screen door.  I got freaked out -- who was trying to get into the house?  Or who HAD gotten into the house?!  Eeek!   I went to the back to investigate, but there was nothing and no one.  The noise continued though, so I followed my ears to the basement door.  How strange!  I looked down the stairs of the basement -- nothing, no one.  But then the noise happened again!  And there, in this strange space we have in our house opposite the basement door, was a bird.

Now I'm going to bore you all to death.  You see, our house used to be a summer house.  We live up the road from a lake, and all the houses around here used to be summer houses specifically built and geared toward that lake.  So our house has two back doors.  One of the back doors, the one with the strange space in it, has the back door, then a weird, very small enclosed porch area, then the screen/glass door.  The enclosed porch area was supposed to be used to knock off all the sand from the beach that is down at the lake.  Now you get the picture.  The poor bird had gotten trapped in this little enclosed space. 


As you can see, me being a meanie and wanting to save this experience for posterity (and for my blogging friends), I grabbed a picture before I did anything humane.  The pic was taken through the glass of the door, thus the quality.  Then I rushed outside (after putting some decent clothes on) and opened the screen/glass door and saw the poor thing fly away.  Whew!  He was just fine, no problem.  So my picture taking didn't do any harm.  

In other news, we had a nice, calm Easter.  No girl child since she had a conference to take care of at college/work.  No Easter egg dyeing for the first time since the kids were born.  But the boy child did get Easter candy, and there's some Easter candy waiting for the girl child when she makes her way home again.  The father type cooked a delicious meal as usual, and we were very content.  

Now it's back to school this week.  And the boy child is gearing up for his annual NYSSMA audition.  Ugh!   He's doing All State auditions for the first time this year (first year he's old enough).  And for the first time he has a piano accompaniment.  Which means trying to schedule rehearsals, etc etc etc.  Double ugh.  And NYSSMA is early this year by practically a month, which is not what is needed.   More time is needed, not less time!  Oh well.  

Sorry for all the wordiness.  Thanks for stopping by and saying hi.  I so enjoy being a part of the blogging, stitching community.  Sorry to have kept you all in suspense about what was next for me stitchingwise.  In case you're wondering, I think I'm going to concentrate on Freelove for a while.  :D

51 comments:

Giovanna said...

I love to see the results of your startitis :-) That bird in Freelove Hazard is so sweet. Can't wait to see more.

corinna said...

great starts
you are a fast stitcher

good luck to your son

smiles
c

Suburban Stitcher said...

I don't have a sewing room either! One day... All of my sewing takes place on my dining room table!

Carol said...

Great starts, Margaret--I especially like Freelove! Will be watching to see your progress...

No sewing room here, either, but I did manage to at least set up my sewing machine on one of my sons' old desks now that they are all out of the home. I would love to turn it into a proper sewing room, but first I have to get that old checked wallpaper off!

Hope your son's audition is successful--keep us posted :)

Cari said...

Margaret...I so love reading your blog and watching the progress on ALL of your pieces! Beautiful, both of them, just beautiful. And your quilt....what stunning colors. I too love RED! If the weather gets nice why don't you set up your quilt/sewing room where the bird was...would that be an option? I love sewing or stitching outside. Hugs !!

Faye said...

love the starts!! AND, the bird story!

Laurie in Iowa said...

I think it must be springtime that causes us to come down with bad cases of 'startitis'... lol
Oh my... those fabrics you've chosen for your huge quilt top are gorgeous. I'm so looking forward to seeing what you create. Girlfriend... you need a sewing room or dedicated sewing corner. You are always welcome to come to Iowa and use my sewing room... just as long as you don't mind sharing with two Corgi. :-)

Amy said...

I have startitis myself. This darn internet and the many freebies!!

I hope you have a great day.

Glenna said...

I love Freelove (the blue around the bird breaks my heart with its beauty), and am going to trot over to Scarlet Letter to check it out. Your son will move out when he graduates, and you can do what my parents did: my bed was hardly cold before they transformed my room into a sewing room for my mom, and my sister's room into a den for my dad. LOL--I'm guessing they figured correctly that we wouldn't be moving back in. Or that a hammock in the yard would be enough.

Glenna said...

Oh, and don't apologize for the wordiness--I love reading what you write!

And I also notice you count down ten and cross just that stitch on your left-hand border. How interesting! Does it help you orient bigger stuff being stitched on the right?

Sherry said...

Oh I love to see your startistis projects! These look very interesting! I don't have a sewing room either and it drives me nuts! That is why I don't quilt anymore either. Big sigh! I can't wait to see your quilt and WIPs.

Glad the bird got out ok.

KarenV said...

Hee hee! Love the startitis starts - I've had a few of those myself lately ;) Looking forward to your progress on Freelove and glad that your unexpected visitor was OK :)

Isabelle said...

Hi Margaret , I love your new starts : the horse and the birdie are just nice :-) I don't know these samplers so I can't wait to see pour new pics :-)
Oh ! Oh !! you are going to start on a red quilt : in my opinion, the red is a fabulous bright and warm color ...so happy quilting :-)
I hope your son will be successful .
Hugs,

Sharon said...

Great post. I love your startitis. Everything is so pretty, love that horse. I love that red fabric too, so pretty. I sympathize with your need for a sewing/craft room. I have had them but everytime I got one some child of mine returned home. I finally decided I would use the small garage area we made for guests, and that lasted a little while but my son returned home now and he took that over. I have given up on my dream of a nice sewing room. Everyone will just have to get use to my stuff all over the place.
I love that birdie picture, I am sure he didn't mind. So cute. I had a cardinal here yesterday for the first time in so long and I tried to get a picture but he took off. Darn it.
oh good luck to your son in NYSSMA, my children were all members of NYSSMA too.
xoxoxox

Sweet Sue said...

You paint a vivid picture of your ironing board-lol! Sweet bird you rescued, you're a hero:) Sweet Stitchin...

Cathy Lloyd said...

Loved your bird story...love the fact that you started a couple of things, all gorgeous BTW.... Enjoy your quilting time as well! I wanna featherweight! Come dear...bring your quilting to my house and we'll have a retreat...piecing and then stitching! `

Brigitte said...

Such great starts ... and a smoking needle, lol. I love startitis. Looking forward to seeing your quilt grow.

Lois said...

Well your startitis meant that I got to see some great projects you've got on the go!!! I so admire anyone stitching on 45ct, that is above and beyond anything I would even contemplate trying!!

I'm afraid I don't have a stitching room that I can share with you. I dabbled in quilting until my children were born and then that was it, no room to spread things out and little fingers that were too inquisitive got me looking for something else - that turned out to be cross stitching and I never went back.

Glad your visitor was able to fly away. Good luck to your son!

Ranae said...

Awesome new starts, don't cha just love new starts??!! I do!! lol
Prety fabric!
What kind of bird is that? we don't have anything like that around here.

Ranae said...

Awesome new starts, don't cha just love new starts??!! I do!! lol
Prety fabric!
What kind of bird is that? we don't have anything like that around here.

Alice said...

Its two lovely projects you have started Margaret. Freelove Hazard looks like it eats your eyesight. I use a lamp and magnifyer in one and cannot stitch without it anymore. Your quilt is going to be gorgeous and so vibrant. I get the picture of how difficult it is for you without some personal space to craft. I have a craft room in the attic but I never have time to actually use it. Its also too cold up there in winter so its more in summer that I can enjoy it. That bird must have given you quite a scare! I hope all goes well with your son's audition.
Alice

Siobhán said...

Love the starts, Margaret! Hey, you could say the bird in Freelove was to commemorate your unexpected visitor. ;

Loraine said...

Love that you have startitis too! Your samplers are wonderful!
I love the quilt you are working on. I used those same fabrics in a quilt a couple of years ago. I love the colors! I hope you get it pieced together without harm to your featherweight. I wish I had one of those lovely machines! I remember the days of working on the dining room table. No one had a place to eat for months. When we built our house, the only room I really cared about having was a sewing room. I'm feeling your pain!
Funny about the bird. I hope it made it back outside safely.
Have a wonderful week. Hugs.

Marjorie said...

I saw "45 count..." and thought wow, I would get about 2 stitches into that before I threw it in the trash bin. I can do 40 count, slowly (I refuse to use readers yet). And don't feel too put upon not having a sewing room, my sewing space consists of the kitchen table when not otherwise in use. I used to have a sewing room b/f kids were born & took it over, grumble.

Sylvia said...

Both samplers are beautiful. You are quite ambitious with that 45 count there. I know what you are saying about the magnifiers... now what was I thinking, because I discovered that all mine went to storage along with all my scroll rods & Q snaps... geeze, where was my brain....

I am glad the bird got away unharmed - I would have done the same thing... that is taken a pic before releasing it.

I do have a a "craft room", but it is in the basement without a heater, so its currently waaaay to cold to do anything. That story of the iron cracked me up, because mine is looking the same way, except it is next to the front window in the dining area - classy!!

woolwoman said...

love reading your blog Margaret - so don't apologize - just keep writing and showing your neat WIP's - I have never heard of either of these SL samplers - 45ct - WHEW - I have 2 WIP's on 40ct and I'd like to ditch them because it's just too much of a struggle for me even with my prescription needlework glasses. However I always dream of stitching on the higher counts. I am lucky enough to have my own play room AKA the wool room but every time I try to go in there to hook - it's not but about 30 min before Jody is calling "what are you doing in there" WHAAAAAAA - so you might as well just enjoy your space in the middle of the heart of the home! Mel

Liz said...

I love your 'wordiness', that's what I love about blogging - words! You can come use my sewing room anytime :o) There are some advantages to the empty nest syndrome...!!!
Lizzie
xxx

mainely stitching said...

Startitis - it's a spring thing, isn't it? All that growing going on outside; we just want to carry it over to our hobbies. ;)

Melissa said...

Wow, I will have to check out these great samplers on the SC website next. You are showing such lovely stitching so far on them!

Ahh, the ole eyes! I can empathize completely. We need super-woman vision!

You need a sewing room! I agree heartily. Now if only your DH would too! It makes such a difference! Good luck with that!

Jackie's Stitches said...

I can't imagine 45 count! Wow! Beautiful!

I didn't have a sewing room until recently. The worst part of using the dining room was the continual mess because I didn't have any storage. Just having my things organized makes the world of difference!

Loretta a/k/a Mrs. Pom said...

Uh, question:I seem to recall quite a large gorgeous back room that had a huge table in it. Haven't you appropriated this by now as your sewing room??

Deb said...

I like when you get startitis Margaret because then I see samplers that I might have passed up in the past and now think that I have to do! I do hope that you keep going on Freelove!!!

You can come over and use my craft room any time you like!!!! Although I still don't have it set up for maximum efficiency (working on that). I know what you're going through. In our other house I would either sew in the living room or the dining room. And it always was a mess. Kind of strange when people would come over, walk in the front door, and see an assembly line of fabric across the living room floor. But come over anytime - the door's always open!!

Anonymous said...

WOW what a weekend! I absolutely love the Freelove. Guess I should count my lucky stars that I do have a sewing room...makes me feel guilty now. Need to appreciate more. What a crazy bird thing. It would have scared me to death. Thanks for sharing. Hmmm "startitis"...I'll have to remember that...like the way it sounds.

Juels said...

SDW? I have looked at that sampler for a while now. I don't mind large motifs, although I do understand the feeling of wanting to move on to the next part when stitching. Anyway, Margaret, when you decide to pick it back up, I will be drooling as I watch your progress. Ok, that was not a good visualization.
Your quilt colors are gorgeous. You can use my sewing room, such as it is. I warn you though, it is piled high, is really only a corner of a room, and I trip over everything all the time.

Bertie said...

Oh Margaret I wish I could inherit some of your startitis LOL, the samplers look wonderful so far!

That poor starling, glad it flew out by itself, my pheasant tries to get in the house but is so big I have to throw a sheet over it to catch it, but has made quite a mess by then.

Hope you get your sewing room soon!! and don't let that featherweight fall of your ironing board....

antique quilter said...

looking forward to watching your quilt grow...
oh yes auditions and practices and our time driving all over the state, sounds familiar!!!!
Good luck to your son, luckily we have hand work to keep us busy when we have to sit and wait!
Kathie

The French Bear said...

You are amazing, I think I would blind from trying to see 45 count!!! I have a small sewing room but if you want, come on over and I'll sew for you and you can start some projects for me!!! He he, I have the same startitis!!!! Love the colors of the fabrics, that is going to be beautiful!!!
Good luck to your boy child, how wonderful....I miss having the kids at home...well somedays!
Thank you for your kind words and making me feel so much better!!
Hugs,
Margaret B

Sherry :o) said...

don't you just love when a new project is started...truly an addicting thing! I love your finish on Catherine M. I love the border. It is definately on my "check out list" when I make the next trip to my LNS. I didn't dye eggs first time last Easter, my then 15.5 son didn't want to do it, neither did the dh...sad, but I can wait several (and I mean several) years and dye eggs with grandchildren! Love the red fabric too - is it something new? What line/designer? May have to add that to my list for the LQS..have a great week! Sherry

Michelle said...

Freelove is fabulous! And I am in love with that red fabric. The quilt will be amazing. Can't wait to see more!

Karoline said...

Great new starts, they look lovely

Stitch By Stitch said...

What great starts! I love the go for it attitude on the 45ct. I have jsut discovered your blog! I will be sure to check in from now on. Love the red for your quilt too!

Patricia Lessell said...

Oh Margaret I live your startitis! Love both projects they are going to be spectacular. Now talking about Sewing rooms I would share mine with you but it never happened. Yes we have a very small third bedroom and u got rid of the bed in there, bought a futon for the grandchildren to sleep on, and when not being slept in for me to sit and stitch and bought a table from Costco all ready for my seeing machine and serger. So has the room become my sewing/quilting room? Nope it had not - it's become general dumping ground and clothes drying room!!!

Good luck to your boy child with his audition.

Love
patti xxx

Catherine said...

I don't find startitis all that bad anymore!

The Scarlett House said...

Well, your post has so much in it, I don't know what to comment on first. I hope to stitch Freelove soon so it's nice to see your start.
That red fabric is to die for. I can't wait to see what it becomes. I wish you had a room of your own, too. I used to sew like that (not exactly) though, and it was such a mess. I do have a room, but it's full of paint and other crafty goodies.

Roberta said...

I love starteritis and you have done good!!

Your quilt will look great, love the fabrics.

Glad the bird was able to fly away and get back to the wide open spaces.

Best of luck to your son - having gone through auditions myself, it can be worrisome.

Bonnie in Iowa said...

I had to laugh when I saw your SDW. I am working on her too. I put 1 or 2 threads into the top row and since I detest the double running stitch, I opted to move on. I promised myself I would go back periodically and put in a few more threads of double running. Well, I just finished the peacock and duck area and I have about as much of the double running as you do. I think she will be quite dramatic when finished but maybe just as beautiful without that row at the top. I will enjoy watchimg your progress on her.

marylin & poussy said...

What a magnificent work, photos are magnificent! The bird is too beautiful thank you for these beautiful images
Best regards

Littlebit said...

Loved your lengthy post! And I thought my own sewing room was small..I shall think of you when I have to move the ironing board to get to the jelly chest because I'm too lazy to put it away. :-) I admire you doing such a large quilt in such a small space. Beautiful stitching, Margaret, as always. I was mesmerized with your story leading up to the bird. I would have freaked out. LOL!

Conny said...

Wow, another beautiful sampler! Can wait to see the whole sampler.

Jan said...

Margaret Dear, I am loving that freelove hazard, the colors are just beautiful and can't wait to see more progress on that one, especially. But of course on the other one too, you are such an enabler with your beautiful choices and your speedy needle!

Have a great weekend!

Melanie said...

Startitis is particularly catching in the spring, I think. lol