Hi Everyone!
Well, here in Windy Meadow we received 17+ inches of snow in the big storm this past weekend! Yep, 17+ inches of snow. It was a dry fluffy kind of snow and was just beautiful!
I wish I could have shared with you the huge pile of snow that formed on top of our sun dial. It was fun to watch it grow all day and into the night on Saturday. Unfortunately, when the sun came up on Sunday it melted very quickly. :-(
We were dug out by Sunday afternoon. Our State Highway guys did a great job. We also were able to flag down one of the roving guys with a blade on the front of his truck to do a couple of passes on the driveway. Then DH and DS got busy with the snow blower and the shovel. DD and I were on Christmas decorating and hot coffee/hot chocolate/hot tea patrol. :-)
You ought to see all of the big piles of snow in the parking lots. To quote DS, "Epic"!
I don't have a picture to share with you as I kept forgetting to take one on Sunday. I'll try to take one tomorrow morning before going into work. And hopefully I'll have time to post tomorrow night.
I haven't done much stitching though I do have some pictures to share of what I've done over the last few weeks. And yes, I actually finished something! Wahooo.....
Yoyo, I'm sorry but I don't have a post for this month for the TUSAL. Almost no stitching has been done in December, 2009. :-(
Just returned from taking DD and her best friend out to dinner. DS decided to stay home (smart guy). I now need chocolate or a nice cold beverage!!! They are both great girls but can they talk! LOL!!!
DH is out goofing off for the night. Actually (this is for Anne of the Cape Stitcher), he's playing Bridge. LOL!!!
Back soon...
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Friday, December 18, 2009
Batten Down the Hatches!!!
Batten down the Hatches or in other words, A MAJOR SNOW STORM is HEADED OUR WAY!!!
Huh you say?
Beginning at about 11:00pm in our area until 6:00am Sunday morning, we will be getting at least 10 and up to 20+ inches of snow. Now I know that this might not sound like a lot to some of you but for this area, that's a lot of snow! :-)
Here in the Mid-Atlantic states when snow is predicted, everyone runs out and buys bread, milk and toilet paper. When they predict a lot of snow, which in this area is 2 to 6 inches of snow, everyone runs out and buys lots of bread, milk and toilet paper and lots of other groceries. When they predict the storm of the century (okay, I know it's only 2009 but that's what they are saying) they run out and buy EVERYTHING! LOL!!!
Usually we try to make sure that we have all of the neccessities several days before a storm is forecasted to arrive but not this week. After a full day of work, I then headed out tonight to the local grocery store with about 500 of my closest friends!
Yes, I didn't get to the grocery store until after 7:00pm and it was still crazy. Everyone was being very nice and friendly so what could have been a very frustrating experience actually wasn't. I also noticed that everyone was being very nice to all of the cashiers as they had been working hard all day!
What made this even more challenging for me was that we hadn't had a chance to do any grocery shopping this week so not only was I getting items for the snowed in weekend, I was picking up everything else that we had not been able to buy this week due to lot's of other activities. Including the afore mentioned bread, milk and toilet paper. Sigh...
We were also planning on putting up some more Christmas lights outside but we haven't been able to as each weekend when we weren't running around with family and school activities it was raining. And by raining I mean heavy, heavy rains! This was our last opportunity to finish up the outside decorating and obviously it isn't going to happen! LOL!!!
Hopefully our power will stay on so we can spend the weekend finishing up the inside cleaning and decorating and hopefully a little bit of baking.
Who will be that standing up at the head of our driveway on Sunday? That will be my husband flagging down one of the trucks with a plow on it's front who drive around volunteering to plow out your driveway for a fee. Or at least he'll be doing that in between using our snow blower to dig out our driveway. :-)
I've already seen several of the trucks with plows cruising around this evening while I was out as they were stocking up on coffee and other neccessities so they will be ready!
Tonight we are going to be playing the fun games of, finding the candles, finding the flashlights, checking the batteries, filling up a bathtube with water (we are on well and septic and if the power goes out, we can't flush as the pump stops pumping), and then putting two cars and a van in the garage.
I'm hoping to be able to stitch a little bit though I really need to dig out the dining room to get ready for next week! LOL!!!
I hope everyone in the path of the storm, stays safe, dry, warm and that you hopefully find some time to stitch!
Back soon!!!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Huh you say?
Beginning at about 11:00pm in our area until 6:00am Sunday morning, we will be getting at least 10 and up to 20+ inches of snow. Now I know that this might not sound like a lot to some of you but for this area, that's a lot of snow! :-)
Here in the Mid-Atlantic states when snow is predicted, everyone runs out and buys bread, milk and toilet paper. When they predict a lot of snow, which in this area is 2 to 6 inches of snow, everyone runs out and buys lots of bread, milk and toilet paper and lots of other groceries. When they predict the storm of the century (okay, I know it's only 2009 but that's what they are saying) they run out and buy EVERYTHING! LOL!!!
Usually we try to make sure that we have all of the neccessities several days before a storm is forecasted to arrive but not this week. After a full day of work, I then headed out tonight to the local grocery store with about 500 of my closest friends!
Yes, I didn't get to the grocery store until after 7:00pm and it was still crazy. Everyone was being very nice and friendly so what could have been a very frustrating experience actually wasn't. I also noticed that everyone was being very nice to all of the cashiers as they had been working hard all day!
What made this even more challenging for me was that we hadn't had a chance to do any grocery shopping this week so not only was I getting items for the snowed in weekend, I was picking up everything else that we had not been able to buy this week due to lot's of other activities. Including the afore mentioned bread, milk and toilet paper. Sigh...
We were also planning on putting up some more Christmas lights outside but we haven't been able to as each weekend when we weren't running around with family and school activities it was raining. And by raining I mean heavy, heavy rains! This was our last opportunity to finish up the outside decorating and obviously it isn't going to happen! LOL!!!
Hopefully our power will stay on so we can spend the weekend finishing up the inside cleaning and decorating and hopefully a little bit of baking.
Who will be that standing up at the head of our driveway on Sunday? That will be my husband flagging down one of the trucks with a plow on it's front who drive around volunteering to plow out your driveway for a fee. Or at least he'll be doing that in between using our snow blower to dig out our driveway. :-)
I've already seen several of the trucks with plows cruising around this evening while I was out as they were stocking up on coffee and other neccessities so they will be ready!
Tonight we are going to be playing the fun games of, finding the candles, finding the flashlights, checking the batteries, filling up a bathtube with water (we are on well and septic and if the power goes out, we can't flush as the pump stops pumping), and then putting two cars and a van in the garage.
I'm hoping to be able to stitch a little bit though I really need to dig out the dining room to get ready for next week! LOL!!!
I hope everyone in the path of the storm, stays safe, dry, warm and that you hopefully find some time to stitch!
Back soon!!!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Saturday, December 12, 2009
Cross Stitch 101
One of the things that I enjoy doing is teaching, especially children and teens, how to do needlepoint, embroidery, cross stitch, etc.
I've been doing this informally to anyone (friends, family, scouts, etc) who would sit still long enough to hold a needle. I've also been teaching more formally at two different events during the year.
The first event is a mall lock-in which is held every year in early Spring. I updated and now maintain the needlepoint and cross stitch kits. We estimate that these two stations are visited by apx. 225 to 350 girls, teenagers, and adults each year. I've "talked" about this event in earlier posts. If you are interested in reading the earlier posts go down to the labels and click on teaching_children.
The second event is an older girl weekend event which is held in August every year. I coordinate the needlework area where we offer knitting, crochet, hardanger, huck weaving, cross stitch and embroidery. For each session the girls pick which needlework technique that they want to learn. Many times we also have adults who are not busy for that session participate or they stop by to see what we are doing and talk about their needlework hobbies. We've even had the girls sign up for two sessions so they can learn two different needlework techniques. We've also had a girl or two over the years who was having so much fun learning that they did not want to go to their next sessions activities!
We not only give them instruction, but we also give them the materials/tools so that they can continue with their new hobby. This includes additional cross stitch kits, knitting needles, crochet hooks, needles, and sometimes scissors. As volunteers we are always using our craft store coupons to pick up items. Yes, we can receive a set dollar amount for this station but this is one of our "gifts" to the program. Our time and our donation of the materials.
For the first few years, I was able to purchase a beginning cross stitch kit of an owl by "Designs by Gloria and Pat" at my LNS. This kit worked out really well for several reasons. The first was it was a well done kit and included the Aida cloth, needle, and floss. The second reason I used this kit was it only cost $1.00. Okay, this was a real bargain especially since the instructions were so well done. The third reason I liked this kit, is it taught how to cross stitch, back stitch, and how to make a french knot. Three of the most basic stitches for cross stitch designs. The fourth reason is that the wise owl has special meaning to our program.
Unfortunately, the kit was discontinued so for several years I've been teaching each girl using a cross stitch kit that they picked out from all of our donated kits. Of course, this made the teaching adventure a bit more interesting and more challenging for me. :-)
After several years of trying to teach more than one girl using very different kits, I decided enough was enough. So earlier this year I started searching online to find a beginner project that was a free pattern that could be used for the class. If I didn't find one, I was going to make up my own!
After searching for a while, I found the "Designs by Gloria and Pat" site. I started looking at all of their free designs when on one of the later pages I saw that they had posted for anyone's use the Owl chart. Wahoo! I had my chart back!!!
Of course this was a duh-uh moment as I should have started with their site first but oh well I got there eventually. :-)
You can find the online picture of the owl here;
http://www.gloria-pat.com/webpages/free_charts_toc2.html
And the chart and instructions here;
http://www.gloria-pat.com/Images/Owl.pdf
I thought you might like to see a picture of the owl that I stitched that I use in the class.
Thank you for visiting and I love reading everyones comments!
I'm hoping that you are finding time to stitch or to do your favorite needlework activity at this very busy time of the year. :-)
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
I've been doing this informally to anyone (friends, family, scouts, etc) who would sit still long enough to hold a needle. I've also been teaching more formally at two different events during the year.
The first event is a mall lock-in which is held every year in early Spring. I updated and now maintain the needlepoint and cross stitch kits. We estimate that these two stations are visited by apx. 225 to 350 girls, teenagers, and adults each year. I've "talked" about this event in earlier posts. If you are interested in reading the earlier posts go down to the labels and click on teaching_children.
The second event is an older girl weekend event which is held in August every year. I coordinate the needlework area where we offer knitting, crochet, hardanger, huck weaving, cross stitch and embroidery. For each session the girls pick which needlework technique that they want to learn. Many times we also have adults who are not busy for that session participate or they stop by to see what we are doing and talk about their needlework hobbies. We've even had the girls sign up for two sessions so they can learn two different needlework techniques. We've also had a girl or two over the years who was having so much fun learning that they did not want to go to their next sessions activities!
We not only give them instruction, but we also give them the materials/tools so that they can continue with their new hobby. This includes additional cross stitch kits, knitting needles, crochet hooks, needles, and sometimes scissors. As volunteers we are always using our craft store coupons to pick up items. Yes, we can receive a set dollar amount for this station but this is one of our "gifts" to the program. Our time and our donation of the materials.
For the first few years, I was able to purchase a beginning cross stitch kit of an owl by "Designs by Gloria and Pat" at my LNS. This kit worked out really well for several reasons. The first was it was a well done kit and included the Aida cloth, needle, and floss. The second reason I used this kit was it only cost $1.00. Okay, this was a real bargain especially since the instructions were so well done. The third reason I liked this kit, is it taught how to cross stitch, back stitch, and how to make a french knot. Three of the most basic stitches for cross stitch designs. The fourth reason is that the wise owl has special meaning to our program.
Unfortunately, the kit was discontinued so for several years I've been teaching each girl using a cross stitch kit that they picked out from all of our donated kits. Of course, this made the teaching adventure a bit more interesting and more challenging for me. :-)
After several years of trying to teach more than one girl using very different kits, I decided enough was enough. So earlier this year I started searching online to find a beginner project that was a free pattern that could be used for the class. If I didn't find one, I was going to make up my own!
After searching for a while, I found the "Designs by Gloria and Pat" site. I started looking at all of their free designs when on one of the later pages I saw that they had posted for anyone's use the Owl chart. Wahoo! I had my chart back!!!
Of course this was a duh-uh moment as I should have started with their site first but oh well I got there eventually. :-)
You can find the online picture of the owl here;
http://www.gloria-pat.com/webpages/free_charts_toc2.html
And the chart and instructions here;
http://www.gloria-pat.com/Images/Owl.pdf
I thought you might like to see a picture of the owl that I stitched that I use in the class.
Thank you for visiting and I love reading everyones comments!
I'm hoping that you are finding time to stitch or to do your favorite needlework activity at this very busy time of the year. :-)
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Questions and Answers -- December 8, 2009
Hello!
It's been a while since I've done this so I thought I would take a moment and answer some of the questions that I've received via comments and email.
If you've sent me an email please don't be offended if I haven't answered your email yet. I got a tad (okay a lot) behind and I'm slowly catching up!
Helen,
Yes, Lee of Lee's Needle Arts has retired. Though I've heard that someone(s) may be buying her line and that they may be offered to us again soon. If I hear anything definite, I'll post the information on my blog. Has anyone out there heard if the line has been bought and if so, how soon will it be offered again?
As far as I know, Lee's Needle Arts designed painted canvases and did not offer charts of her designs. Helen you also asked if I knew of any shop in the UK who carries her designs. Unfortunately, I don't but you can ask any needlework shop in the US of A if they have the designs that you are looking for as I know that many will ship internationally. If you would like to know who I have ordered from in the past, please leave an email where I can reach you on a comment and I'll respond as soon as I can. :-)
Ort Containers
I've loved reading everyones comments on my ort containers and that you have shared with us what you have named your ort containers.
Pam, I love the idea of a glass rolling pin which you have named the Ort Port! LOL!!! I was also grinning when I read that if you have some sparkly threads, you'll redistribute your orts in the Ort Port so that the sparklies are spread throughout the rolling pin. I was also glad to hear that you also carefully saves your orts until you have successfully completed a project before adding them to your ort container, The Ort Port, just like Moi (yes we heard the Muppets and John Denver 12 Days of Christmas. Love that one!). Nope, I don't think that's a bit obsessive Pam! LOL!!! Especially since I am also one who carefully saves all of her orts, and nothing else, for each project until it has been successfully completed and then carefully puts my orts into Ortessa! :-)
Beth, glad to hear that you like the idea of saving all of the orts for one project in case you need a little bit at the end. Glad to help out and hopefully share some helpful hints so someone else doesn't need to learn this the ahem... hard way as we (the royal we) did! Sigh...
Yoyo, yes our daughter does have her own ort container or rather she acquired one of mine! :-)
Right now she isn't stitching as she's back in school but she is EAGERLY looking forward to finishing exams and coming home for a few weeks and plans on doing some stitching then. That is after she has slept in late for, oh a bunch of days, visited with everyone, caught up on all of the news with her friends, and eaten a lot of different foods that she can't get at school! LOL!
Oh, I should add that the food at school is really, really, good (her words) but they don't make a pot roast as well as she does and she can't get a good grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup at school. What do I make for her? Reservations! Hee, hee, hee... :-)
Yoyo, I should add that our daughter may not be "officially" participating in the Christmas SAL on a monthly basis but she will have lot's of monthly projects to stitch as she has last years canvas/ornament of the month club from our LNS in her stash and I'll be buying next year's (2010) for her also. I'll post about this soon so everyone will know what Yoyo and I are talking about. Or go visit Yoyo's blog now to read about the Christmas SAL.
Beth,
No I haven't started on Heart of the Cabin (she mutters...). I have the canvas and some of the threads but not all. Yes, I am doing it in the original colors. That is unless I change my mind between now and when I start. ;-)
I'm hoping, really hoping that I will be able to start/continue on one or more large projects after the Holidays. Just too much going on now and not enough stitching time. Smaller projects are working for me right now. Hopefully after the first of the year I should have more time. Especially if we get the snowy/icy winter that everyone, including the woolly bear caterpillars and the almanacs, say we should get this year! Though I'm not sure if that is a good or not so good thing! LOL!!!
I am very thankful that you stop by and read about my stitching adventures!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Windy Meadow's First Snow Storm!
This past Saturday a winter storm went up the east coast and shared it's snow with Windy Meadow. It was supposed to start as rain and then convert to snow but it changed it's mind and decided to start and stay as a snow storm! Soooo I had to change what I was planning for the day as I didn't want to drive an hour away to go shopping in this mess! LOL!!!
Usually we don't have snow this early in the year and many years we don't have snow at all or just a few snow showers. Our daughter was very frustrated as the rain that they were having didn't convert over to snow until late in the storm. So sweetie, this post and these pictures are for you!
The first picture is about mid-morning when the storm was really getting strong.
The second picture was taken on Sunday morning before the snow started melting. It's quickly disappearing though we still have some on the ground today.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having some nice warm weather where you live! Or at least I hope that the snow come quickly, looks beautiful, and then leaves as quickly. :-)
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Usually we don't have snow this early in the year and many years we don't have snow at all or just a few snow showers. Our daughter was very frustrated as the rain that they were having didn't convert over to snow until late in the storm. So sweetie, this post and these pictures are for you!
The first picture is about mid-morning when the storm was really getting strong.
The second picture was taken on Sunday morning before the snow started melting. It's quickly disappearing though we still have some on the ground today.
Thank you for stopping by and I hope you are having some nice warm weather where you live! Or at least I hope that the snow come quickly, looks beautiful, and then leaves as quickly. :-)
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Friday, December 4, 2009
Lee Kimono
I don't think I've shared this with you all before???
It's another Lee Kimono that our daughter stitched.
I think she did an absolutely loverly job! But then again, I'm a bit biased in her favor! :-)
We are planning to send this off for finishing soon. We'll share it again when it's been turned into a Kimono ornament.
Thanks for stopping by!
I'm just amazed sometimes that I have visitors. LOL!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
It's another Lee Kimono that our daughter stitched.
I think she did an absolutely loverly job! But then again, I'm a bit biased in her favor! :-)
We are planning to send this off for finishing soon. We'll share it again when it's been turned into a Kimono ornament.
Thanks for stopping by!
I'm just amazed sometimes that I have visitors. LOL!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
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