Summertime stitching and a quick visit to Rome

Thank you! Thank you! I was so touched by the kind comments on my previous post about my youngest son's wedding. I never, ever want to come off as though I'm bragging--I'm just not that type of person... So, I hesitated to even post my photos and descriptions of that magical day. On the other hand, this blog is like my (not too personal) diary so I just had to include memories from that special family occasion. I appreciate each of your thoughts--stitchers are absolutely the nicest people! Thank you again!

So, July is nearing its end and what a summer it's been so far: extreme temperatures worldwide, tornado activity in spots where it's not common, and tropical storms. And let's not forget the horrible air quality (our Air Quality Index was at 368--in the hazardous category--last week) we've experienced due to the wildfire smoke drifting both down from Canada and up to Canada due to our wildfires here in the U.S.  It's so different than the summers I remember while growing up in the 50s and 60s in upstate New York. Yes, there were occasional uncomfortably hot days, but my summer was filled with playing outdoors with all the neighborhood kids from dawn to dusk: pick-up baseball games in the nearby park, roller skating and riding our bikes up and down the street, lazily reading book after book on my shady front porch, and playing kick-the-can until the street lights flickered on and it was time to head home. I wonder how many kids are able to enjoy these things on a daily basis with the climate changing the way it is? 

Summer stitching has been calling my name as I have very few purely summer related pieces to put out once I take my patriotic decor down. Oh, I have my bee and sunflower stitching, but I want more things that are pure summer. After many, many years, I finally finished the fourth and final chart from Prairie Schooler's "Country Seasons" (book no. 123): Summer. I had stitched the other three back in 2006 (Winter), 2007 (Spring), and 2008 (Fall) even before I began blogging in 2009! For some reason, the summer design just didn't catch my interest the way the other three had, so I kept putting off stitching it. But, it ended up being pretty cute, don't you think?

The fourth season, Summer, is finally stitched!

This one turned out smaller than the previous three because I stitched it on 40 ct. platinum Newcastle. I believe the others were stitched on 16 ct. aida and 32 ct. jobelan, but I'm not positive since I wasn't recording my finishes way back then. I've used the same frame to display each of the other three when I change them out for the season, but I'm afraid this frame is just too large for the smaller Summer finish. I'll have to figure something else out. Below I'm sharing all of the seasons--which one is your favorite? I especially love Autumn because the colors are so bright and vibrant!

All the seasons from PS. Book No. 123: "Country Seasons"

You may remember this charming Madame Chantilly piece called "Celebrate Summer" which I shared three years ago in this post. Well, I finally got around to framing it with a rustic, weathered looking frame which I purchased online from Franken Frames. Why, oh why do I procrastinate so long when it comes to framing? This was a particularly easy piece to frame as there were no straight borders to deal with on the stitching itself. As always, I use the framing method in this tutorial by Brenda Gervais. If you are on the fence about attempting to frame things yourself, give this method a try--it really isn't difficult!

My largest summer finish--finally framed!

 

It will be so nice to have this larger summer piece framed and on display for the next couple of months. That grinning whale and little girl in her vintage bathing costume always make me smile. 

I think I'll be stitching the "Celebrate Fall" chart from this series next and I plan on using the same frame.

Even though the Fourth of July has passed, I want to share my red, white, and blue stitching and decorating with you! Also, having photos to refer to, makes it extremely easy for me to decorate from one year to the next :) 

The sideboard in my kitchen all done up in red/white/and blue for July

How about some close-ups? If you have questions on any of these, just email me and I'll try to help!

 

 

This little patriotic display is the centerpiece on our kitchen table for the month.

 

And, last, but not least--the kitchen corner cupboard all dressed up for the Fourth, too.

Garden update... In spite of the sweltering heat and lack of rain, our garden has fared quite well due to the irrigation system my husband installed a few years ago...

We're growing corn this year for the first time, although these may turn out to be the smallest ears on record :) 

 

We picked a good amount of blueberries in spite of a nasty raccoon breaking into our fenced-in garden (he crawled right over!) and eating at least half of the berries.

 

Our blueberry haul so far--there are more to be picked!

 

I love looking out the kitchen window and seeing these happy sunflowers nodding in the breeze in our garden.

Books... I seem to be listening to more and more books rather than reading them. I love hearing the different voices and the way I can picture the characters in my mind so much clearer than when I read the words on a page. Two exceptional, although very different, books that I've enjoyed this month are "The Calamity Club" by Kathryn Stockett (the author of that wonderful book from 2009 "The Help") and "I See You've Called in Dead" by John Kenney. "The Calamity Club" is a b-i-g book at almost 29 listening hours/and over 600 pages! I hesitated to begin it for that very reason, but, honestly--I could barely stop listening it was so well done. I'm sure it's wonderful to read, too, but do yourself a favor and listen to it! "I See You've Called in Dead" was not a title that called to me, but I read the excellent reviews and I'm so glad I took a chance on it. It's a much shorter book (at just 7.5 listening hours/300 pages) and I listened to it over the course of two days while stitching, cooking, and cleaning. To read a bit more about each book, just click here for "The Calamity Club" and here for "I See You've Called in Dead."  Who else loves listening to books?

Two of my favorite audiobooks of all-time! Give them a listen! 

Travels...  As I promised in my post about the wedding, I'll be sharing some photos from our travels while we were in Italy. This first batch is from Rome where we spent just one full day before we drove up to the wedding venue which was almost three hours northeast. We rented an apartment for two nights to get an authentic Rome feel and to be able to walk to the main historical section. Rome itself did not appeal to me--let's say I'm so not a city girl! I found it hot, crowded, noisy, filled with graffiti, and cigarette smoke. The traffic was insane and I'm so glad my husband had hired a car to take us from the Rome airport (which was just rated the third-highest anxiety inducing airport in the world--you can read about the top ten here) to our rental apartment. That being said, I truly enjoyed a brief walk around the historic part of the city to witness those iconic sites in person. The sheer age of the remains of the ancient Roman empire just makes my head spin...

This was the view from our apartment rental in Rome's Ludovisi neighborhood. Simply lovely!

 

Since we arrived very late in the afternoon, the only "touristy" thing we did that evening after dinner (pizza, of course, and, oh, was it tasty!) was walk to the Trevi Fountain. Although beautiful, it was absolutely mobbed with visitors. Rome has now instituted a two euro ticket for any non-resident wishing to go down to the water to toss their three coins. They are hoping this approach will help with crowd management. It's estimated the paid tickets will also bring in €6,000,000 a year in revenue. 

The following day, even though jet-lag was hitting hard, we wanted to do a quick walk past some of the ancient sites. They didn't disappoint!

What's a trip to Rome without at least a glimpse of The Colosseum--the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built. It could hold from 50,000-80,000 spectators depending on the time in history. We would have loved to do a proper tour, but there was simply no time.

 

The Temple of Venus and Roma is thought to be the largest temple constructed in ancient Rome beginning in 121 AD.

Remains of the ancient Roman Forum which, for centuries, was the center of daily life. Elections, triumphal processions, trials, speeches, and gladiator matches all occurred here. Just imagine all the history this site has witnessed over the years.

 

The Forum of Caesar was built around 54 BC to extend the historic Roman Forum and create more room for public meetings, processions, etc. 

The remains of the Temple of Venus Genetrix in the Forum of Caesar date back to 46BC.

The massive Victor Emmanuel II National Monument (also known as the Vittoriano) was built in the 19th century to honor Victor Emmanuel II, the first king of a unified Italy. 

After seeing a tiny portion of the ancient sites, we headed back to our apartment to cool off a bit. A beautiful park was located nearby so, after we rested for a while, we headed over and thoroughly enjoyed walking the paths of Villa Borghese. With almost 200 acres, the tree-filled park with many meandering paths felt a world away from the hustle and bustle of Rome's city center. 

So, there you have it--an extremely brief visit to one of the world's most historic cities. Would I go back? No... Rome was simply not my cup of tea, so to speak. I hated having to constantly worry about pickpockets and being harassed by people trying to sell me trinkets and such. But, I'm sure some of you have visited at less crowded times and loved it. In future posts, I'll be sharing more of Tuscany--a region that I definitely would go back to if given the chance! 

Today marks a very special moment in my life--on July 23, 1977 my husband and I walked down the aisle at the small Presbyterian church in my hometown and said our "I dos." Yes--49 years ago... We were two newly graduated 22 years olds--very young by today's standards, but completely normal back then. We have no regrets about getting married so young and are truly looking forward to celebrating our big 50th next year with a family trip.  Happy 49th to my dear husband--here's to many more years of love and laughter, fun family times, and further adventures!

Thank you all for stopping in today--it's always fun to read your comments and emails and I appreciate each and every one. I'll try to get back to posting twice a month in August. July just kind of got away from me! Take care now--and happy stitching! Bye for now...  

Santas and Spring

Greetings on what has been a glorious spring day! The temperature reached the mid-80s today and I loved every minute! Isn't it wonderful to have the windows open after a long winter and hear the birds chirping, the bees humming, and the lawnmowers droning on and on (okay--well, maybe not that last one so much!). Amazing how a nice, sunny day can lift one's mood...

It's been a quiet couple of weeks since I last posted and I've managed to stitch and finish both my ornament for April and another for May. It always feels good to be a bit ahead of the game! On Instagram, the #12in24ornamentstitchalong that I host is going swimmingly. It's wonderful to see so many international stitchers participating this year, too. It's a lot of fun getting to know stitchers from so many countries!

For April, I stitched a Homespun Elegance chart that was so generously passed on to me by Catherine over at "I Love to Stitch." (And, as always, I like to keep the kindness going with charts that have been passed on to me so I'm having a giveaway for this particular chart below). Isn't this guy the most whimsical Santa? There he is, just relaxing on his bike as he pedals through the falling snow. "Avery's Cycling Santa" is stitched on 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle with a mix of DMC and Weeks Dye Works threads. I added burgundy colored beads to the Christmas tree in his sack and a small bell to the end of the stick that he is carrying. 

A Homespun Elegance finish for April

To finish it off, I sewed on two pieces of Woolies flannel with a bit of ecru rick-rack peeking out, topped by a polka dot bow. My husband is a big bicyclist (in fact he's away on a bike trip right now so you know what I'm going to be doing this week--stitching each and every day away!) so he thought this one was pretty cute (even though Santa is not dressed quite properly for biking!). I ended up switching out the silver bell that is shown in the above photo for a tinier gold one--just thought the scale was better.

Doesn't he just make you smile?

 

And for my May ornament, I stitched the 2024 annual Prairie Schooler Santa. Isn't he a handsome fellow? Once again, I used 40 ct. vintage country mocha Newcastle with most of the suggested DMC threads. I did change the belt buckle to gold (used Gentle Arts toffee) and changed all the green to DMC 520. Don't ask me why, but I have  always used 520 on all of the PS Santas along with that signature Prairie Schooler red: DMC 221. I accidentally made his pants one stitch too long so all of the lower tree trunks are a bit elongated as a result. No problem, though--I bet you wouldn't even have noticed if I hadn't pointed it out!

2024 Prairie Schooler Santa finish

I finished the 2024 Santa in the same way that I've finished other PS Santas over the years with a simple cording in DMC 221 and a gingham checked bow. Easy and classic... I really love the back stitching on this one--it's very different and those trees were a lot of fun to stitch! This one is definitely one of my favorite of the PS annual Santas.

My May 2024 ornament

 

Two more for my tree!

Giveaway time... It's been a while since I've offered a giveaway and I thought the "Cycling Santa" chart might be perfect for this time of year when everyone is getting outside and, perhaps--riding a bike. Would any of you like to enter this giveaway? If so, please follow the guidelines below and I'll announce the winner in my next post.

I'm having a giveaway for this chart. Please follow the guidelines below if you want to be included.

To be included in the drawing for the Homespun Elegance chart shown above, please...

1) Specifically mention that you would like to win it in your comment 

2) Be a follower of Stitching Dreams (in my blog's sidebar on the right)

3) Make sure to leave your email address in your comment if I don't already have it

4) Answer the "Getting to Know You" question below.

 

Getting to Know You... For today's getting to know you question, I'd love to know what favorite book(s) you've read recently that you would recommend. I've been doing a lot of reading (well, even more listening to audiobooks) this year. I tend to listen more and more while I stitch as there is just nothing on television these days. That way I can enjoy two of my favorite hobbies at once! Win-win! 

 

Two of my favorite reads so far this year.

Two favorite books that I've read recently just happen to be by the same author, Tracy Chevalier. I so enjoy historical fiction and these both fit the bill. The Last Runaway, (published in 2013) centers around a young Quaker woman who, in 1850, moves to Ohio from England. It portrays her trials and tribulations as she adjusts to a very different culture and way of living. She soon finds herself caught up in helping runaway slaves escape North through the Underground Railroad. The story line and characters are so well done and the scenes centering around the importance of quilts and quilting are especially endearing.

A Single Thread (published in 2019) is set in the early 1930's in Winchester, England. Violet Speedwell is one of the "surplus women"--those women who lost husbands or  fiancés in WWI and are considered "old maids." She moves to Winchester and soon becomes involved with a society of broderers who embroider kneelers for Winchester Cathedral even though she's had no experience with stitching. Both books invoke the feeling of  peace and satisfaction that comes from doing handwork of any kind which is one reason I think I enjoyed reading them so much.

So, now it's your turn... what is a favorite book that you'd like others to know about? I'd love to add some new titles to my "must read" list.

Signs of spring continue to abound now  that it's finally warmed up...

Such brilliant color in front of our home.

This beautiful crabapple tree (hybridized by my husband's grandfather) is something we look forward to each Spring. I only wish the blooms lasted a bit longer!

This little fox was photographed by my oldest son after chasing a squirrel up a tree in my son's yard. The squirrel escaped, but that sly fox appears to still be looking for him!

How can the year be one-third over already? I saw this very relatable Snoopy cartoon (always my dad's favorite Peanuts character) the other day and it is so very true. How I wish time would slow down... 

Can anyone relate?

On to May! It is a month filled with doctor's appointments for me and I'm not looking forward to it at all. (Does anyone ever truly enjoy going to the doctor)? I have my annual physical, dentist, endocrinologist, colonoscopy, and mammogram appointments scattered throughout my May calendar. UGH! I'll sure be glad when they are over. How about you? I hope you have something fun waiting for you in May?  Thank you so much for popping in today and leaving such nice comments. I really look forward to hearing from you... Hope everyone has a wonderful week ahead! Bye for now...

Thanksgiving Thoughts

Are you shocked? A blog post from me both last week and this week? That may be a new record! I knew I wouldn't have time to post again until after Thanksgiving so I wanted to share my latest finishes with you today. I also want to thank you all for your sweet comments on my last post. I know what a truly busy time of year this is, so it's especially nice to read your kind comments.

I so enjoyed stitching "Be Ye Thankful!" It is an older Cricket Collection chart from 1997, but I think the design has stood the test of time very well.  The autumn colored leaves and tiny motifs scattered across the giant black letters lend a playful look, don't you think? Can you spot the acorn, the eggplant, the basket, the apple, and the ear of corn? The brick house is so pretty, too, with the wee leaves falling softly all around it.

"Be Ye Thankful"

I had to make a few color changes to accommodate my fabric (40 ct. Burch Newcastle), but most of the suggested colors were used--a mix of DMC and overdyeds. I'm picturing this in a black frame; what do you think?

And this next fall finish is on its way to a special friend for her birthday. Yes, you've seen this one before! I stitched it way back in November 2012 (you can see it in this post). This is a freebie from Beth Twist at My Heartstring blog which you can find right here. I loved my first finish of this so much that I ended up using the same thread colors and stitched it "over one" on 28 ct. black Monaco. If you're interested, the colors I used are Sampler Threads: Cidermill Brown, Wheat Fields, Nutmeg; Weeks Dye Works: Cocoa; Needle Necessities: 142; and Classic Colorworks: Used Brick. The leafy print in the background is what I used on the back of the little 2" X 4.75" pillow.  How do you feel about stitching the same design twice? I can only stitch things twice if enough time has passed between stitchings. Anyway, I hope the birthday girl is pleased with her (rather late!) gift!  

Another Prairie Schooler Santa has been added to my collection! This is the 1998 annual Santa featuring the jolly fellow carrying an ark with two pretty white doves nesting in his backpack. If you are familiar with this pattern, you'll notice that I did change one thing: I left out a giraffe that was hanging under the tree. To me--it looked like the poor thing had a broken neck! And since the animals on the ark arrived in pairs, I thought the pair of rabbits was perfect. This one is stitched on 25 ct. mushroom lugana with most of the suggested DMC threads. I did change the ecru to white, the green to DMC 520 and the colors of the ark and reindeer to 612 so they would show up better. I'm so going to miss these annual Santas now that Prairie Schooler is going out of business, but, thankfully, I have many in my stash to keep me happy for quite a while!

Why do you stitch?  As  most of you know, I'm a librarian in a very busy suburban public library. One of my duties as a reference librarian (in addition to finding the answers to all sorts of crazy and interesting questions--and some not so interesting ones such as "What day of the week is it?"), is selecting books to add to the collection. My fellow librarians and I have various subject categories to read reviews on and decide whether or not to purchase the books. I'm lucky enough to choose books in the  Dewey Decimal 740s section which includes the home decorating books, drawing, antiques, crafts, and needlework. Because I get to see each and every book as it is added to the collection, I run across some beautiful and inspiring titles. Even though I don't knit or quilt, I often spend time perusing the newly acquired books and sighing "some day!"

Anyway, last week when I was reading reviews on new needlework books, I came across one titled "Knitting Pearls: Writers Writing about Knitting" by Ann Hood. This book contains two dozen stories from writers about how knitting has changed and added to their lives. Now, I think the same thing can be said for cross stitching, don't you? Many of us stitch because it truly is our "therapy." By its very nature, making all those little x's in our fabrics causes us to simply sit, breath, and relax.

One quote in the knitting book, though, truly touched me because of the horrific events in France last week. And even though it is about knitting, the same can certainly be said for cross stitching: 

“With its calm, methodical progress, 

it’s a promise, 

in the midst of war and chaos and loss, 

that, somewhere, an orderly world still exists."

                                       --Stewart O'Nan

As the world seems to have gone completely mad lately with new reports of terrorism and tragedy on a daily basis, I find my stitching to be a source of refuge more than ever, don't you? 

I'll leave you with the following which I can only think of as a photograph of hope. My youngest son has met so many wonderful young people in his study abroad semester in Argentina this fall; not only from South America, but from all over the world. This was taken when he and five of his classmates traveled to the Mendoza region for a weekend of horse-back riding, wine-tasting, and sledding with the breathtaking Andes Mountains as their backdrop. In the photo you see three nationalities represented: The United States, Germany, and Hungary. Each of these young people is hoping that their studies in International Relations and related fields will, somehow, make a difference in the future of the world. Of all the photos my son (who is in the orange jacket) has sent me, this is the one that I love the most... I wonder what each of them was thinking as they gazed out, arms entwined, at this breathtaking view of the Andes?

Hope

I want to wish each of my fellow United States stitchers all the blessings of this season as Thanksgiving approaches. I hope your time spent with family and friends is filled with love and laughter--and lots of good eating. Safe travels and I hope you know how truly thankful I am for my blogging friends--you are the best! Bye for now...

2012: The Year of the Bowl

Hello, my friends! And how is the New Year treating you so far? We've already had a few ups and downs in our family this year, but, hopefully, when 2013 ends, it will be with more of the positive than the negative. I'm not one for making resolutions, are you? I've found that I rarely keep them more than a couple of weeks, so I just try to live my life with kindness and treat others the way I would like to be treated. And you know what... it works quite well!

I thought you might enjoy a photo of all of my "bowl" finishes... Yes--here they are...all 68 (if I counted correctly!) of them. Of these, all but 11 were stitched this year, and all were finished this year. I made many more little creations, too, in the form of monthly ornaments and birthday and Christmas gifts for friends, so I think the total for 2012 is somewhere close to 100 smalls. I know 2013 will not be nearly as productive a year in terms of stitching, but I do hope you'll continue to visit my blog...

2012 Monthly Bowl Finishes

Since some of you just started following Stitching Dreams mid-year, you mentioned you hadn't seen the early months so I thought you might like a little refresher... Here is the 2012 parade of bowls!

January's Snowmen

February's Hearts

March's St. Patrick's Day

April's Bunnies

May's Blooms

June's Strawberries

July's Patriotics

August's Sunflowers

September's Squirrels

October's Black Cats

November's Thanksgiving

December's Prairie Schooler Santas

Who has a favorite? I would have to vote for August or July, myself. When I see everything all grouped together in that first photo, I'm amazed that I did all of that stitching and finishing in 2012... I've had a lot of people asking if I'll be continuing the bowl theme this year, and the answer is..."no." You may see a new bowl full of smalls now and then in 2013, but definitely not on a monthly basis.  I hope to stitch a few mid-sized projects and, of course, keep stitching my monthly ornaments, but other than that, I have no concrete plans for my stitching this year--just plan to stitch whatever "calls the loudest" to me!

Final thoughts on the "Year of the Bowl..." This was a surprisingly inexpensive stitching year for me! To select the charts for each month, I looked through my stash and files of freebies and tried to choose things I already owned.  In fact, just glancing through the photos above, I believe I only bought four or five new charts! It really was a wonderful way to finally stitch things that have been waiting for attention for so long.  Many of you have said you'd like to make a few of your own bowls and I heartily encourage you to do so. It is going to be such fun to pull out a grouping of different smalls each month to decorate with for years to come. And I will always remember 2012 and my journey to stitch a bowlful of smalls each month. I am truly thankful for all of you who encouraged and supported me along the way! Thank you so much for your kind words throughout the year...

Do you remember last week when I asked you about storing the monthly stitchings? I told you I had them in shoeboxes underneath a bed... Well, that storage system quickly changed when I went to pull them out and the January box held an uninvited guest trying to cozy up with those sweet little snowmen... Yes, this horrid stink bug had found my little pillows and was trying to keep warm!

 

Horrid creature alert!!

Eek--double eek!! I had to hurry and find a new storage spot for my little pillows--immediately!! So, for now, I've found a temporary home for them in two drawers in a dresser in my guest room. Hopefully, the little critters haven't figured out a way to get into closed wooden drawers yet! Do any of you have stink bug problems? Well, if you live in the U.S., you probably will at some point if you don't already. They made their way into this country in the late '90s and have been spreading north, south, and west from the mid-Atlantic states ever since. Our population of them has lessened from two years ago, but you still find the slow-moving creatures every now and then--and they seem to love cardboard boxes for some reason. They don't hurt or bite or sting--they just release a terrible odor if they're squished. Thus, the name stink bug. So, here is my temporary new storage system:

 An old dresser now houses my monthly pillows.

January through June pillows

July through December pillows

Very little new stitching has been going on this month... Between work, trying to put away Christmas stuff, and cleaning up after my sons finally departed after the holidays, I've had little free time. And today I'm driving up to New York to spend some time with my parents... I'm excited for the five-hour drive, though, because that means I can spend an extended visit with my current favorite literary character: Flavia de Luce. The narrator of the series audiobooks, Jayne Entwistle, does the most amazing job of capturing the voice of the 11-year-old heroine. For those of you who haven't discovered Flavia yet, she is just delightful--a precocious amateur sleuth with a passion for chemistry (poisons, in particular!) who resides in a rambling English country estate with her quirky family members and an always intriguing crime to solve. I've listened to the first three books and will begin "I Am Half-Sick of Shadows" on my trip today...

The first three Flavia de Luce mysteries

Well, that's about it for now!  Next time, I'll show you the Christmas ornaments that I made for friends around the world (now that they've finally all been delivered).  I want to welcome each of  my new followers and hope you'll visit often this year. I'm so glad you've found my blog and I look forward to visiting each of yours, as well. Your comments and emails are so very much appreciated--as I've said many times before: stitching friends are the best!  Bye for now...