The contractors are making excellent progress on our basement project!
Earlier I wrote that they had completed the framing and the initial electrical and plumbing.
The new windows have been installed and the dry wall started going up two weeks ago. They’ve made excellent progress! If you’ve never experienced this process, it’s a messy job! They put up the dry wall with screws and then they come back and tape and mud all of the joints. Then they sand to make it even and if necessary put on more mud. What a mess! When we go down to look around we make sure that we take off our shoes so we don’t track the mud and the dust through the house!
Now that the dry wall is done, they started putting up the baseboards and the doors this past week. It’s really starting to look like a real house! The plan is to finish the doors at the beginning of next week and then they will pain. You can really start to see how it’s going to look when it’s done. We can’t wait!
But we have a lot more planning to do! We finally picked out a bathroom mirror and two sconces. The next item is the flooring. Do we put down carpet, tile, or an engineered wood floor or a combination of all three? Hmmmmm, time to go down there with some painters tape and start marking off the floor. Then we have to pick out the snack bar and the display cabinet’s counter tops. What should we do for a backspash? We need to keep in mind that adults will be using this space but we are also planning that it will be heavily used by teenagers and pre-teens. Our son can’t wait to have his Birthday sleepover down there! We’ve had a wonderful time running around to our different large home improvement stores but it’s overwhelming. There are tooooooooo many choices!
I’ll keep you all posted!!!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Originally Posted: April 28, 2006
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Warm & Cozy Star - 2nd ANG Project -- April 21, 2006
The second project that I volunteered to stitch for the 2002 ANG Auction was the Warm and Cozy Star. Unfortunately, in the spring of 2002 my father was diagnosed with cancer and he passed away in June, 2002. Because of all of my family commitments I just wasn’t able to complete the Warm and Cozy Star. I hated to back out of my commitment but I thought it was better to back out then to possibly not be able to complete the project by the due date. I was able to complete stitching the ANG Log Trinket Box which is shown in an earlier blog entry. I contacted the Auction Coordinators to explain my situation. They asked me to send back the canvas and they would find someone else who could finish the project.
I had already planned out what stitches and fibers I was going to use so I wrote up a rough stitch guide and I mailed back the canvas with the stitch guide, the fibers and the canvas.
I’ve placed the picture of the completed project here so you can see what it finally looked like. I was only able to stitch a small portion of the canvas. I think the other stitcher did a wonderful job, don’t you?
I’m not sure who completed the Warm and Cozy Star (if I was told/e-mailed I don’t remember) but I’ve always wanted to thank them for helping.
Thank You mystery stitcher for completing the Warm and Cozy Star!!!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Originally Posted: April 21, 2006
Needlepoint_etc Discussion Group
I am also a member of a Yahoo discussion group, needlepoint_etc. If you are interested in needlepoint you might want to check us out! You can find us at;
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/needlepoint_etc/
If you decide to join, you’ll have to wait for one of the moderators to approve your request, and then you’re in!
We are a very relaxed group and we do occasionally wander off topic but we always eventually return to needlepoint.
The group moderator is sponsoring a Secret Pal exchange. Everyone is assigned a Secret Pal and we receive information regarding our Secret Pal such as their favorite Holiday’s, interests, activities, colors, music, hobbies, and where they live. We then shop for items that we think might interest our Secret Pal throughout the year. The items might be needlepoint or stitching related. They might also be items that are for a particular Holiday season or for a particular region of the country or the world. Yes, we do have International members! There is no money guidelines except we should collect items that we would want to receive ourselves. The rough guidelines are that the items should be small enough to fit into a shoe box.
I participated in the Secret Pal exchange last year and I loved the items that my Secret Pal sent me! Thanks Kelly! Kelly has become a friend and I’m very glad that I have had a chance to get to know her!
I also enjoyed shopping for my Secret Pal. It’s a lot of fun and a challenge to shop for someone that you don’t know and to try and guess what they would like. Except for a little mishap where my Secret Pal’s local Post Office forgot to deliver the package after they returned from vacation (two weeks + of worrying where on Earth was that package and would I have to replace it???!!! ), I had a lot of fun with this year long event!
Everyone wants pictures but I don’t have any for this topic. I can’t take a picture of what I’ve bought for my Secret Pal as it would give it away! Hmmmm, I’ll have to think about this one.
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Originally Posted: April 17, 2006
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/needlepoint_etc/
If you decide to join, you’ll have to wait for one of the moderators to approve your request, and then you’re in!
We are a very relaxed group and we do occasionally wander off topic but we always eventually return to needlepoint.
The group moderator is sponsoring a Secret Pal exchange. Everyone is assigned a Secret Pal and we receive information regarding our Secret Pal such as their favorite Holiday’s, interests, activities, colors, music, hobbies, and where they live. We then shop for items that we think might interest our Secret Pal throughout the year. The items might be needlepoint or stitching related. They might also be items that are for a particular Holiday season or for a particular region of the country or the world. Yes, we do have International members! There is no money guidelines except we should collect items that we would want to receive ourselves. The rough guidelines are that the items should be small enough to fit into a shoe box.
I participated in the Secret Pal exchange last year and I loved the items that my Secret Pal sent me! Thanks Kelly! Kelly has become a friend and I’m very glad that I have had a chance to get to know her!
I also enjoyed shopping for my Secret Pal. It’s a lot of fun and a challenge to shop for someone that you don’t know and to try and guess what they would like. Except for a little mishap where my Secret Pal’s local Post Office forgot to deliver the package after they returned from vacation (two weeks + of worrying where on Earth was that package and would I have to replace it???!!! ), I had a lot of fun with this year long event!
Everyone wants pictures but I don’t have any for this topic. I can’t take a picture of what I’ve bought for my Secret Pal as it would give it away! Hmmmm, I’ll have to think about this one.
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Originally Posted: April 17, 2006
Entry for April 15, 2006
I promised pictures and I thought I would start with what I have stitched in past years for the American Needlepoint Guild Auction. In 2002 I volunteered to stitch the ANG Logo Trinket box. Unfortunately, right after volunteering and receiving the canvas, my father was diagnosed with cancer. Dad was diagnosed in April of 2002 and he passed away at the end of June. Most of the stitching that was done for this project was stitched sitting with my father and my mother in waiting rooms and in the hospital.
It’s amazing sometimes how your memories of an event are linked to what you were stitching at that time. This project helped me make it through some very difficult days and nights.
I kept the materials simple. I actually used DMC floss as I couldn’t find a silk that had quite the right shade of purple at my LNS. I did use silk on the angel. I then used Mill Hill beads for the gold stars. Since things were so hectic at that time I didn’t keep records of what stitches I used.
I thought I had done a very nice job on the stitching but I was absolutely amazed how it looked once it was professionally finished! Absolutely Fabulous! I am now convinced that a well stitched project can be made or ruined by the finishing and I think this box is an excellent example of a project that was elevated by a fantastic professional finisher. Believe me when I say that it didn’t look that good when I had just finished stitching the canvas!
It was hard sending this piece off to the Auction as I had invested so much time and emotion in its working. I hope that it found a wonderful home and I hope that you enjoy seeing the completed ANG Logo Trinket Box!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Originally Posted: April 15, 2006
It’s amazing sometimes how your memories of an event are linked to what you were stitching at that time. This project helped me make it through some very difficult days and nights.
I kept the materials simple. I actually used DMC floss as I couldn’t find a silk that had quite the right shade of purple at my LNS. I did use silk on the angel. I then used Mill Hill beads for the gold stars. Since things were so hectic at that time I didn’t keep records of what stitches I used.
I thought I had done a very nice job on the stitching but I was absolutely amazed how it looked once it was professionally finished! Absolutely Fabulous! I am now convinced that a well stitched project can be made or ruined by the finishing and I think this box is an excellent example of a project that was elevated by a fantastic professional finisher. Believe me when I say that it didn’t look that good when I had just finished stitching the canvas!
It was hard sending this piece off to the Auction as I had invested so much time and emotion in its working. I hope that it found a wonderful home and I hope that you enjoy seeing the completed ANG Logo Trinket Box!
Cynthia
Windy Meadow
Originally Posted: April 15, 2006
Entry for April 13, 2006
The other kit that I maintain for the mall sleep-in is a Cross Stitch kit. When I took over the Cross Stitch kit it was in a bit of a shambles. There were different copies of stitching projects that weren’t related. The kit also contained tangled up fibers and 18 count Aida. Now I don’t know about you but I definitely can not stitch on 18 count Aida at 3:00 in the morning!
It took about three years for most of the original contents of the kit to be used up. I changed the tangled up floss for DMC which had been wound on cardboard bobbins for the 2005 mall sleep-In. I was also able to replace last year the needles, scissors, and the needle threaders.
This year I was able to complete the Cross Stitch kit. My goal was to create a more user friendly kit for the volunteers. I also wanted to be able to replenish the kit each year in less than 30 minutes. I also wanted to create a new Cross Stitch handout for the kit as I had done for the Needlepoint kit. I also wanted to give the girls several simple charts that they could select from to stitch a small Cross Stitch design.
Please note that our intent is to give the scouts an introduction to Cross Stitch, not to make them experts!
For the simple Cross Stitch charts, I was able to reuse the Ladybug chart (mall sleep-in mascot) from the Needlepoint handout. I then created a nesting heart design and a design that is meaningful for Girl Scouts.
Needlework designer Linda Reinmiller, http://www.lkreinmiller.com/ was gracious enough to help us with the charts. Thank you Linda!!!!
Now that I had quality charts I was able to finish the development of a Cross Stitch handout that the girls could take with them at the end of the activity. The handout gives a brief explanation of what materials are used, how to do Cross Stitch, and the designs. I also included general information as to where they could learn more about Cross Stitch.
This year I was also able to replace the 18 count Aida with 14 and 11 count Aida. I included a questionnaire for the adult volunteers asking them which was easier to use. The overwhelming response, 11 count Aida! Once the 14 count Aida is used up, the kit will be replenished with 11 count Aida for future years. The 11 count Aida will be easier on the eyes in the middle of the night and with the dim lighting in the mall.
Now that the Cross Stitch kit has been redone, I estimate that it will only take me about 15 - 30 minutes to refresh the kit every year. Now, that’s an improvement!
I wish I had pictures to share with everyone but we can't publish pictures of the scouts without their parent’s permission. But there is usually a cluster of 5 - 8 scouts around the Cross Stitch and the Needlepoint booths throughout the night.
I'm also pleasantly surprised to talk to the girls and to hear how many have already done Cross Stitch. I'm also even more amazed at how many know what needlepoint is and have already been exposed to needlepoint either through friends or family or through school.
Many of the public schools in this area, through the Art classes, introduce all (boys and girls) fourth graders to embroidery. It's amazing what the kids can do at that young age!
Especially when they are allowed to pick an object to stitch that they are comfortable with. Such as our state symbols, flag, animals, reptile, and we even have a state dinosaur! What fourth grade boy wouldn't want to stitch a turtle or a dinosaur! Many of the schools then have art shows in the local malls that showcase examples of the different techniques. The embroidered projects are included in addition to the more conventional and expected art pieces.
If you get a chance to see one of these public displays, please take the opportunity. It's amazing what these children can do!
Originally Posted: April 13, 2006
It took about three years for most of the original contents of the kit to be used up. I changed the tangled up floss for DMC which had been wound on cardboard bobbins for the 2005 mall sleep-In. I was also able to replace last year the needles, scissors, and the needle threaders.
This year I was able to complete the Cross Stitch kit. My goal was to create a more user friendly kit for the volunteers. I also wanted to be able to replenish the kit each year in less than 30 minutes. I also wanted to create a new Cross Stitch handout for the kit as I had done for the Needlepoint kit. I also wanted to give the girls several simple charts that they could select from to stitch a small Cross Stitch design.
Please note that our intent is to give the scouts an introduction to Cross Stitch, not to make them experts!
For the simple Cross Stitch charts, I was able to reuse the Ladybug chart (mall sleep-in mascot) from the Needlepoint handout. I then created a nesting heart design and a design that is meaningful for Girl Scouts.
Needlework designer Linda Reinmiller, http://www.lkreinmiller.com/ was gracious enough to help us with the charts. Thank you Linda!!!!
Now that I had quality charts I was able to finish the development of a Cross Stitch handout that the girls could take with them at the end of the activity. The handout gives a brief explanation of what materials are used, how to do Cross Stitch, and the designs. I also included general information as to where they could learn more about Cross Stitch.
This year I was also able to replace the 18 count Aida with 14 and 11 count Aida. I included a questionnaire for the adult volunteers asking them which was easier to use. The overwhelming response, 11 count Aida! Once the 14 count Aida is used up, the kit will be replenished with 11 count Aida for future years. The 11 count Aida will be easier on the eyes in the middle of the night and with the dim lighting in the mall.
Now that the Cross Stitch kit has been redone, I estimate that it will only take me about 15 - 30 minutes to refresh the kit every year. Now, that’s an improvement!
I wish I had pictures to share with everyone but we can't publish pictures of the scouts without their parent’s permission. But there is usually a cluster of 5 - 8 scouts around the Cross Stitch and the Needlepoint booths throughout the night.
I'm also pleasantly surprised to talk to the girls and to hear how many have already done Cross Stitch. I'm also even more amazed at how many know what needlepoint is and have already been exposed to needlepoint either through friends or family or through school.
Many of the public schools in this area, through the Art classes, introduce all (boys and girls) fourth graders to embroidery. It's amazing what the kids can do at that young age!
Especially when they are allowed to pick an object to stitch that they are comfortable with. Such as our state symbols, flag, animals, reptile, and we even have a state dinosaur! What fourth grade boy wouldn't want to stitch a turtle or a dinosaur! Many of the schools then have art shows in the local malls that showcase examples of the different techniques. The embroidered projects are included in addition to the more conventional and expected art pieces.
If you get a chance to see one of these public displays, please take the opportunity. It's amazing what these children can do!
Originally Posted: April 13, 2006
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