TUSAL: February 2011

Greetings. Here we are Groundhog's Day as well as another new moon, which means it's time for another picture for the TUSAL hosted by It'sDaffycat. There is a lot more to show this time than last.



During the last month, I made nine scissor fobs, took a needle work class in Florida and worked on several smalls for a project that's still in the works. In addition to orts from stitching, there's also the label and empty spool from a ball of #12 black perle cotton, an empty spool of Krienik #4 very fine braid, scraps of handmade cording and various and sundry scraps of linens and felts and velvets from finishing projects. Yes, it's been a busy month!



The needlework class I attended is an annual event taught by Susan Greening Davis. The attendees lovingly refer to it as Pirate Camp since it is held in the St. Augustine area - and they've had more than their fair share of pirates in the day. The beaches are beautiful in this area.



I like to make favors for my table-mates and hosts of the class and, this year, decided to make scissor fobs.



A little piece of needle work from JE's late mother inspired the black-on-black stitching on the front. The fabric is 22 count Hardanger stitched with #12 perle cotton.



In keeping with the pirate theme, I found a cute Jolly Roger rubber stamp and used it to make emblossed velvet for the back of the fob.



Joining the two pieces was a bit of a challenge. The velvet was crawly and evil and didn't want to stay put to be sewn together with the stitched piece. There was a lot of cussing involved. I made the tassels from #12 perle cotton, and the cording was made with #5 perle cotton and red #4 Krienik braid.

I'd been to St. Augustine several times but had never visited the lighthouse. Right before taking our afternoon break, one of the ladies at the class asked who was going to be climbing to the top of the lighthouse. At the time I thought to myself, "Not me!" But a while latter, driving down A1A, there was the lighthouse.



I turned off the main road to get some pictures of it and one thing lead to another. Oh, did I mention my mom was with me? Yuppers, she'd come to the stitching class and here we were at the lighthouse.



Now, understand, I'm afraid of heights and Mama had a total hip replacement a year ago last Christmas. Neither of us were great candidates for doing this, but I knew we could. All 219 stairs up to the top.



I kept my eyes on the wall when going up the stairs; the holes made into the stairs offered too much of a view to look down. Mama, on the other hand, was watching the stairs to make sure she didn't make a misstep. We'd rest on the landings, and Mama wanted to quit a few times, but I kept egging her on.



And we made it to the top! It was a glorious view and I wish I'd been able to step away from the safety of the brick wall to look around more, but I was terrified. Going down was a lot faster than going up for Mama. It took me a bit longer because I had a death-grip on wall mounted handrail (with both hands) and had to hand-over-hand my way down - looking at the wall not the steps. I was very happy to reach the bottom but could now brag I'd actually made it to the top. Three cheers for me and Mama!

Pookie had also made the trip, but we left him in Jacksonville with our friends B and TM and their bird, Gus.



Here's a book safe I made for B for her hospitality:



It's the best book safe I've made to date and she appeared to be please by it.



While there, I saw the scissor fob I'd made for her last year. It's a Lori Birmingham design. Don't you love them? They're all so delicate and beautifully feminine



I'll leave you with a shot of the good ship Bob sailing along the carpet.

Fiftieth post

Just returned from a needlework class/retreat in St. Augustine, Florida. Have I mentioned that's one of the places I want to live when I win the lottery? The class was a lot of fun and we worked on some fun projects. The camera didn't make the trip with me, so no photos. Too bad. The surf, rolling in from the Atlantic, was rather awesome. Pookie went with me. He spent most of the time palling around with B & T and had a great time while I was in class.

On Saturday afternoon a handful of us when to the Lightner Museum, close to the Bride of Lions in St. Augustine. Otto Lightner was a tycoon from Chicago that made money during the Depression. He published a magazine titled Hobbies and it seems one of his was collecting. For his health, his doctor thought getting out of Chicato would be a good thing. While in St. Augustine, he noticed that there was a larger, empty hotel across from the hotel where he was staying. He thought it would be a perfect place to store/hold/show his many and varied collections. So, he bought it around 1948. Unfortunately, he died in 1950, but he left his collections and the building to the city of St. Augustine. What we went specifically to see were some beautiful antique needlework pieces, a fabulous button collection, and lovely antique laces. There was also a wealth of antique furniture and stunning glass and mineral displays. There was a LOT of stuff we didn't get around to seeing. I tried to talk Pookie into going back to day to do more looking, but he was having none of that.

Hmmm. Just notice this is the 50th post of the blog. Ay, ay, ay. They grow up so fast. That's at least 40 posts more than I ever thought would be in here. Big hug to Yoyo and all the TUSAL folks for getting me back to blogging.

Enjoy your week and keep warm and dry.

Back in the Real World

Pookie and I had a marvelous mid-November vacation in Florida. First stop was a weekend at Treasure Island. We watched a beautiful sunset on the Gulf of Mexico...



...crashed a wedding on the beach (along with a few other beach bums)...



...and I had a great time at a needlework class taught by Susan Greening Davis while Pookie relaxed.












Then we went to the Atlantic coast and watched the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis from the Kennedy Space Flight Visitor Center. It was so much brighter than it appears on TV. The only thing I could compare it to would be burning magnesium. It was a bit disappointing that it wasn't louder, but we were 7 miles from the launch pad so it's understandable.



Next, we spent a few days in Orlando, mostly at Seaworld. I'd been to the one in San Antonio, but this was a first for Pookie. We saw all the shows (some twice), fed shrimp to some rays and generally had a good time. One unexpected and fun show featured dogs and cats adopted from shelters and rescue operations. They were very highly trained and their show was like watching a living Rube Goldberg machine in action.



Heading south, we visited with some of Pookie's relative and overnighted in Ft. Lauderdale. The next morning, with a kiss and a wave good-bye, I put Pookie on a plane and sent him home. BFF CD was driving down for the races and picked me up the airport (probably before Pookie was even through the security check point) and we headed for the NASCAR season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Jimmie Johnson (CD's guy) won the championship for a unprecedented fourth time. She was happy about that but would have prefered the champion had been Mark Martin. One of my guys, Denny Hamlin, won the Cup race for the weekend and I was happy about that. So we both got to have a happy.



CD then put me on a plane to return to the real world and the job that goes with it. sigh I really, really need to win that lottery so it can be vacation time all the time!

In the air and on the road

The new and improved mobile version of Pookie and I are traveling again as of tomorrow. This time we're headed in the opposite direction - Florida! I'll be learning great new stitching techniques from Susan Greening Davis while Pookie amuses himself in (or at least near) the Gulf of Mexico. We're planning on watching the launch of STS-129 (it's Atlantis this time)at the Kennedy Space Center on the 16th and after that we're foot loose and fancy free. Don't know what we'll do or where we'll end up but we'll be having fun in the sun!

On the Road, er Sea, Again

The Wonderful Mr. Fidget, aka Pookie, is taking me on an Alaskan cruise for our bazillionth anniversary. I'm taking several stitching projects with me for working on while flying across this great land and while sitting on our balcony cruising up the Inside Passage. The TUSAL bottle can't/shouldn't go with me so I'm taking a backup travel TUSAL container: a lowly plastic zippy bag. The accumulated orts can be documented and then poked into the official TUSAL bottle.

My new baby netbook is travelling with me so perhaps a post or two may happen while I'm visiting the 49th state. We'll see.