Off to Arizona

Hello Friends,

Well, the boxes are almost packed and the moving truck will be here on Friday the 21st to load everything into the truck. The end of this part of the move is finally in sight. After moving the date forward three times we are finally going to be on our way.



Whew!!  Baring any unforeseen issues we will be on the road on Saturday the morning of the 22nd and will arrive at our new home on Sunday evening. 

We are excited and looking forward to getting settled into our new surroundings.  It will of course take awhile to get things in place, but we will get there eventually.  Plans for my new office are in the works and hopefully as soon as our house sells in Keller, we will be able to go ahead with those plans and a few other things we have in mind for the yard.

I will be off and running after we arrive as the sabbatical that Milady's Needle has taken this last year will be over the first of the new year.  I will be preparing for the Nashville Market and will need to be ready early as this will probably be the first time I will be flying instead of driving to market.  A few changes in the routine will have to be figured out, but I think it will all work out in the end.

The holidays are around the corner and stitching for Christmas will have to be squeezed in at some point.  I really love to give something stitched to friends.  As long as it's small, I think I may be able to pull it off.

For those of you who will be looking at the Online Needlework Show, visit the Milady's Needle Blog and find out what's happening for the October Show. 

Until next time...take time to stitch.

Gloria

Hello Friends,

I am currently on the road back from Arizona where we unloaded the second load of "things we don't want the mover to move".  :)  We arrived at the new house  on Monday this last week where the new carpet had been laid and the travertine tile had been stirpped and buffed to perfection.  The carpet is lovely...a bit darker than I remember, but then our interior designer had to make an executive decision about the color at the last minute.  We couldn't get the dye lot we wanted so he had to choose one that was a little darker than we originally chose.  I would have liked the lighter one a bit better, but "C'est la vie".  Of course the advantage of a little darker carpet is that we won't see the spills that we would with a lighter carpet.  We had a full week of reviewing and planning for some of the remodeling we will be doing, so we are tired and looking forward to being back in Keller.  We will be back tomorrow evening and will be working like mad to get everything packed for the move on October 14th. 

So...we are finally getting down to the wire.  It's a bit unnerving being between two homes.  We haven't sold our home yet, so we are beginning to get a bit concerned about that.  While we are able to carry two mortgages for awhile, we would like to get the house sold sooner rather than later.  With the economy looking as though it might tank again, we are hoping this will not set us back terribly on a sale of the house.  So, send us good thoughts for a buyer to come out of the woodwork and really love our home!

I have mixed feelings as we get closer to actually leaving our home of 12 years. I have made a lot of friends and enjoyed the Dallas/Fort Worth area, so I will miss Texas. However, I am looking forward to meeting new friends and living in an area where it doesn't get very cold in the winter. Texas surprised me with the cold winter wind and occasional snow storm. I thought the winters would be more warm. So now I will enjoy a warmer winter in Arizona. If I want snow I can go up to the Grand Canyon, which is my favorite natural wonder in the U.S. I am going to love living nearer to the Canyon. There is some excitement about moving to a new place and setting up housekeeping in a new area. I have already joined a book club and I have gone to stitch night at the Attic Needlework. I am looking forward to weekly jaunts to one of my favorite shops. 

I am currently in a hotel room waiting for my husband to drop off to sleep, so I thought I would post some pictures of gifts that I stitched this last year for friends.

Here we go...

This is a pin cushion that I made for my friend Debbie.  It was a kit from Homespun Elegance, but I changed the design.  The picture is a bit dark, but I think you get the idea.

  This pincushion was stitched for my friend Michelle (Cozy Egg).  I loved stitching this Blackbird Designs piece from a pattern entitled "Waiting for Harvest" and I believe she really liked the finished piece.








This pin cushions was stitched for my friend Ava.  The pattern is "Stitcher's Roll" from Shepherd's Bush. Do you begin to get that I really like pin cushions?










This piece was stitched for my great friend Kim.  She likes to knit so I replaced the word writing with knitting just for her.  The pattern is the Little House Needleworks "Schoolgirl Lessons".







I don't know about you, but I really enjoy creating hand made gifts for friends and family.  They will be the first to tell you that they enjoy receiving them when I finally get them finished.  There was a time that my family would receive stitched pieces on scroll rods some of which had only a few stitches on the linen.  What can I say...I get excited about stitching something and my estimate of the time it will take to stitch it is always way off.  :)

Well, that's all for this post.  My husband is fast asleep and I should be too.  Until another day...may your journey be full of unexpected surprises.

Gloria

Packing, Packing, Packing...The Needlework Stash

Hello Friends,

Well, here I am...preparing for a new life in a new state.  We closed on our new home on July 29th and our present home is currently on the market.  An open house this weekend, may start to bring buyers by to look.  In the meantime... packing is a huge job!!  I am often overwhelmed by the amount of stuff we have accumulated over the 12 years we have been in Texas.  Stuff...so much stuff!!  Some of the things will be easy to put in the box for Good Will or Half Price Books.  However, when it comes to stitching stuff...that's another story.

I have spent over a week going through my stash closet and packed about half of my needlework related stuff.  Since I am also a designer I have a lot of fibers, fabric and frames for designing and that's a lot of stuff!!  Packing this has been a breeze compared to sorting through my personal needlework items.

It is so hard to move that special chart, fabric, floss or frame to the pile designated for letting go!  Our guild always has a September Stash Sale for our program that month, so I usually can find quite a few things to put away for that sale.  But, it's always hard to say goodbye to the plans I made to stitch that special sampler that I just knew I would get to soon.  Of course I have far more charts than I can ever do, but I love to take out the charts and look through them to see what lovely things I might just start tomorrow.  This time, I am trying to be a bit more aggressive as I sort through my stash.  I mean... do I really need a chart stash the size of a needlework shop?  I did an initial pass through and did clean out quite a few charts, but I should probably go through them all again and do another purge. 

Gosh, what was I thinking buying all this needlework?  I was thinking how I love to stitch.  I was enjoying the process of choosing fabric and fibers for a new piece.  I was chatting with other stitchers at my local needlework store and I was feeding my creative soul.  I don't know about you, but when I stitch I often find myself in a state of wonder and awe as the silk glides through the linen and the colors begin to paint a picture of beauty that can only be created with textiles.  With every stitch I take my soul feels the peace that comes with creating from within.  It's such a great pleasure to create with needle and thread.

So, with that thought I will return to sorting through the needlework treasures I now part with so others might find a treasure for their own stash.

Til Next Time,

Gloria

Moving To Arizona

Hello Friends,

Well, we just returned from our second house hunting trip in Arizona and we have found a home!!  We hope to close on this home in July and be in our new home by September.




Things have been so crazy busy with our house hunting and getting our current home ready to sell that I just haven't have time to update either blog lately.  In fact things may get more crazy in the near future, so just keep coming back and I will be here when I can.

A friend reminded me that I had not posted the new reproduction sampler that I am working on, which I prominsed to do in my last post.  So I just finished posting a sneak peak of Anne Blockley on the Milady's Needle Blog at miladysneedle.blogspot.com.  Take a look and see what you think.  I am enjoying working on this sampler when I can find a few moments between a number of activities that surround moving.  The colors are stunning and I am happy with how the sampler looks so far.

Although I don't have much time to read these days, I did just finish a book called "The Runaway" by Terry Kay and enjoyed it emensely.  The book is about the relationship between two young boys (one black and one white) in the deep south during the time just following WWII.  The story is wonderfully written and I felt as though I was there with the characters as the plot unfolded.  There is a mystery to solve and a surprise ending, so the story keeps you invested right through to the end.  An interesting and thought provoking read overall.  I couldn't find a good picture of the cover, so you will have to check it out at your local bookstore. 

I am off to continue with getting the house ready to put on the market. 

Until Next Time,

Gloria

Heading Home

Hello Friends,

We are heading home to Texas.  We found two lovely homes in Arizona, but haven't made the final decision about either as we plan to look at a home in Granbury, Texas too.  One of the homes was so lovely!!  Everything we could want at a fair price.  It didn't hurt that the man of the home already had a wood working shop set up and the woman of the home had a quilting room and painters studio already set up.  It was eerie going into a home where the occupants were doing the same or similar hobbies as Rick and I are doing.  We thought it might be Kismet.  It is actually very south of Phoenix in Queen's Creek.  The home is located right on the golf course and Rick said he could take up golf again.  It has a pool, so we might even get some exercise in!!  Anyway, we are excited and will try to make a decision sometime next week.  We would have a lot to do if we finally make the move.  It's overwhelming to think about it, but...guess we will wait and see before I get too anxious.  :)


I am reading the book The Heretics Daughter by Kathleen Kent and enjoying it tremendously.  It really gives you a feel for the time period in Salem Village during the witchcraft trials.  Worth a look if you are interested in some history of that time period and of the witch craze.  I have always been fascinated by the events in Salem.  I was curious about how a few young girls could have so much power in a community that they were able to sway their elders to make the decisions that caused so many deaths.  I have read several historical books about this phonomenon and there are several interesting theories about how this came about.  From a purely historical standpoint, the book Delusions of Satan by Frances Hill is the most interesting book on the subject that I have read.  Next up on my reading list is Loving Frank by Nancy Horan.

I have charted a new sampler and I am now beginning to stitch it.  If you go to my business blog, I will have a post on it later this week with a sneak peak of the original sampler.  It's done on 45 count with AVAS 100/3 silks.  However, you can do it on whatever count you wish.  I just wanted to make the reproduction as true to size as possible.  I am excited about this new one and hope to have it done for the Baltimore Needlework Market.

Enjoy your reading and stitching,

Gloria

Life is Unpredictable

Just a couple of months ago, I was preparing for the Nashville Needlework Market and going crazy as usual.  Then my dad had a heart attack and everything changed.  If you read my business blog, you know that he died on February 28th after two weeks of trying to get better mostly for his daughters and a little for himself.  He tried hard, but it just wasn't meant to be.  Dad was in Arizona when all of this happened, so all five of his daughters ended up in Arizona just before he died in Hospice.  With all the hustle and bustle of getting things prepared for the memorial service and then back in Minnesota to sift though a life time of belongings; it seems like I haven't had time to properly sift though the memories of my life with my dad.  After the frentic activity that accompanied dad's death the ensuiing time has either been filled with the activity of catching up on  the things left undone or avoiding doing anything at all. 

Grieving is a process that shouldn't wait and yet it does wait until it can wait no more.  Remembering is a part of that process.  So, I have come back to Arizona for a brief time.  Rick and I are looking at homes out here as possible retirement possibilities.  It has been strange entering my dad's place here for the first time since all of the activity surrounding his death.  I missed having him there to greet Rick and I when we arrived.  My sisters have long since returned to their daily lives, so it is quiet here without them.

Although his physical presence is gone now, I still feel his spirit here where he loved to come in the winter to drive away the cold of Minnesota.  I often drove him from Minnesota to Arizona and on those trecks across country we sometimes talked and sometimes just watched the scenery pass by.  There were times when he would comment on the beauty of the countryside and then there were times he would want to play the game of seeing who could find the most white horses and chalk up the most points.   I will miss those trips with him...a daughter spending time with a father who has given so much of  himself to his family, friends and strangers over the 95 years of his life.

On the way out here, Rick and I stopped at the rest stop where dad and I always stopped.  It is a beautiful desert area with rocks piled precariously on top of one another as though ready to fall at any moment.  I remembered on one of those stops, dad saw a woman with a sign asking for help for her family and herself.  Dad didn't hesitate...he pulled out a twenty and gave it to her.  In this current age of busy people passing each other by without a thought or word, my dad stopped to make a difference in a stranger's life.  Most people would think...wait a minute...what if this woman was going to spend her money on drugs or booze or some other activity that wasn't really helpful to herself or her family.  Instead of wondering about this, dad just acted and trusted that the forces of the universe would help to provide what was needed in this woman's life.  Sure the money could have been spent unwisely, but it was the loving, generous attitude with which he gave the money that mattered in the larger picture of life. 

So, as I meet life today I hope that I can greet the unpredictable circumstances that surround me with an open, caring and generous spirit rather than acting out of fear or cynicism.  May you find the time to do what you need to do for your spirit today.

Till next time,

Gloria   

Announcing Ann Trump Raffle

Hello All,

The Tudor Rose Sampler Guild, which is my local Sampler Guild, began a project to help collect funds for sampler conservation and restoration at the Ackworth School In England.  We decided to stitch one of the samplers in a round robin format and then raffle off the finished and framed sampler with all proceeds to go to the Ackworth School.  We contacted Jacqueline regarding our plans and the choice to stitch the Ann Trump Sampler.  She was thrilled to know that guilds were interested in supporting sampler conservation and restoration.  She helped us towards this goal by sending several copies of the pattern to our guild for use in stitching our project. 

We completed Ann Trump and unfortunately had to work out a few wrinkles with the raffle due to our non-profit status.  However, we have finally ironed this out and have started to  sell raffle tickets for this sampler. 

Both the guild website and this website will be selling these tickets for the next few weeks before the final drawing in March.  The raffle works as follows:

For each ticket you wish to buy; send a $5 bill, money order or check made out to the Tudor Rose Sampler Guild to Gloria Moore, 1510 Briar Meadow Drive, Keller, TX  76248.  Be sure to enclose your name, address and phone number so that I can fill out the raffle ticket for you and send you back your ticket stub via snail mail.  The drawing will take place in March at our guild meeting (The first Tuesday in March).  Either the raffle chairman or I  will notify you as to the winner of the drawing.  You can buy as many tickets as you wish and all the proceeds will go towards sampler restoration.  You can contact me at gloria@discoverwebs.com for more information about this raffle.  Tickets are going fast, so enter right away. 

Don't wait...the raffle ends soon. (March 1st). 

Looking forward to hearing from all of you.

Gloria

Mary Wigham

I orginaly posted this post without a picture in July last year.  So I went in to edit it and I ended up reposting as of  today.  :(  I still haven't totally got the hang of this blogging thing!!  So here is the old post with a picture. 

Despite the need to work on projects already in progress and getting started on designs that need stitching for the St. Charles Market; I started work on the Mary Wigham Sampler from Needleprint this weekend.  I just couldn't say no!

Did you ever just get so excited about a project that you couldn't help starting it?  Well, I ordered the silks, got the fabric and I just had to start stitching.  So, while watching a few favorite shows, I started the sampler.  I love working on it!!  The silks are so wonderful to work with and I am enjoying how the thread smoothly draws through the fabric and lays so softly on the linen.  It's so comforting some how. 

However, I will shortly have to stop so I can get going on the reproduction sampler that I need to finish charting and stitching.  It's such a short time till market, and I get so side-tracked sometimes.  There are times I wish that I was not a designer as I could stitch on whatever I would like to stitch.  However for the most part, I love what I do.  So, I will continue to design needlework until I seem led elsewhere. 

In the meantime...here's the progress so far on Mary.  She is a joy to stitch.

Till Next Time,

Gloria