Stuck

Hello Dear Friends,

Have you ever felt stuck in a place that makes you wonder if you will ever make the changes you need to make in your life to be truly happy?  It's a wonder that anyone ever moves forward. 

Ingrained habits die hard and I sometimes struggle to make sense of the "why"?  Even though I know what needs to happen, it is hard to implement a change of habit.  The old keeps dragging me back to what's easy and familiar.  My heart and soul look towards the possible and my feet take me on the same paths I traveled yesterday.  I will keep my sights set on the possible and continue the journey even though I sometimes stumble on rocks that are strewn over the road.  I still believe that change can happen and being stuck is often part of that process.

I discovered a new magazine that has really touched my spirit.  It's called Bella Grace and is available online or at JoAnn Fabrics.  It's put out by Stampington Company, a company whose focus is on the creative arts and crafts.  Bella Grace is an out of the ordinary glimpse into the creative processes of many women whose inner fulfillment is a result of letting their artistic endeavors lead their life's journey.  There are currently 3 issues available and I quickly picked up all three, devouring every word and reading many of the articles more than once.  If you wish to enjoy developing your own artistic side and want to get a spiritual lift in the process, you will enjoy reading this magazine. 

Time for me to get back to my own creative process.  I wonder how I can create an enjoyable experience of the more mundane tasks associated with owning one's own business.  The creative side is always a joy, while the business end is often a struggle.  Maybe some of you have some suggestions as to how you do this in your own work. 

Let your creative juices flow,

Gloria

Hello Friends,

I am sitting here catching up on posts from all the blogs I follow and decided it was time I think about updating my own blog!!  Actually I am avoiding finishing the Christmas decorating.  I love to decorate for Christmas, but this year I have had to drag things out of packed boxes from our move to Arizona in order to get started and that has been a task in itself.  So, I am taking a break.

What's new....well, I am reading the book The Needle and The Blood by Sarah Bower. 

Good Reads summary is as follows: January 1067. Charismatic bishop Odo of Bayeux commissions a wall hanging, on a scale never seen before, to celebrate the conquest of Britain by his brother, William, Duke of Normandy. What he cannot anticipate is how utterly this will change his life-even more than the invasion itself.  His life becomes entangled with the women who embroider his hanging, especially Gytha-handmaiden to the fallen Saxon queen and his sworn enemy. But against their intentions, they fall helplessly in love. Friends become enemies, enemies become lovers; nothing in life or in the hanging is what it seems. 

I am about 1/2 way through and I am enjoying it for the most part.  I have a few issues with the book as written.  I think that some of the coarse language is put there for shock value and doesn't really add much to the understanding of the times in which the plot takes place.  In addition the book is written in several tenses which muddies the reading a bit.  However, I  absolutely love reading about the stitching of the tapestry.  There are passages that make the Bayeux Tapestry come alive.  I found it thoroughly enjoyable to be taken back in time and feel myself stitching along with the women working diligently in poor light on one of the most famous pieces of needlework in history.  I felt myself pricking my finger with my needle, feeling the needle moving in and out of the fabric and watching the story come alive in silks and wools.  Each passage detailing the work on the tapestry was such fun to read.  It's worth putting up with some of the other annoying things while reading the book.  You might want to check it out.


In other news, I have joined a blog stitch-along.  Just what I needed..right?  Well, it seemed like a good idea at the time.  :)  The blog is Nicola's Scarlet Letter Year at www.scarletletteryear.blogspot.com .  Nicola is celebrating turning 50 all year long.  What a great idea!  During that year she is hosting a challenge to those who join her blog to begin and finish samplers from The Scarlet Letter.  I have been working on Wisdom and Innocence since 1998.  As  you can tell, working is a relative word.  There have been a few years in which no work was done on this piece.  I would really like to get it finished!!  Maybe with some encouragement from others and a challenge to boot, I can make some progress in that direction.  Check our her blog and join the fun.



Off to catch up on more blog reading and work on Christmas decorating.

May your life be filled with time to stitch,

Gloria

Trip To The Canyon and The Painted Desert

Hello Friends,

We got back from our 14 day trip about a week ago and it was a wonderful break to see beautiful scenery and take in a family reunion.  It was nice to get back home again and we are back in the swing of our daily routine.  Wish we had had a break from the heat, but while we were gone it was hotter where we were than here in Arizona.  :(  Go figure!!

I thought you might like to see what we saw.  I won't go crazy with pictures here, but just a few will show you the beauty of nature which surrounded us.  We were in awe of our creator's stunning array of colors, sights and sounds. 

Painted Desert With Double Rainbow

Canyon De Chelly

Where the Navajo Lived Canyon De Chelly

Painted Desert

Canyon De Chelly

Amazing Rock Formations & Color

Canyon De Chelly

The White House

Canyon De Chelly

We were sorry to leave such beauty behind us as we traveled on to Chicago for the family get together, but we did have fun despite the heat with my four sisters and their families.  If  you get a chance, don't miss this beautiful hidden gem.  Not a lot of people there this year and we loved it!!

Till Next Time,

Gloria

Hello Friends,

So, I am now settled into my digs in Arizona.  Still some boxes in my garage and a few other places in the house, but I need to revamp the closets in my office to have room for all my stuff.  I have finally received a quote for my office/craft room including the closets that is at least a bit more reasonable than the first quotes.

This is my dream office/craftroom, but it's a bit pricey, so I am starting with the closets and then will decide how much of the rest of office I can afford to do. 

We will be able to get started on the closets in a couple of weeks and I will post photoes of my work in progress.  :) That will empty a lot of boxes in the garage, clean out the few boxes left in our great room and clean out the guest room. I can't wait for this area of my house to be more settled.

I wrote the above in February or March and never published it.  Now an update will help me to get this the post completed.  The closets were finally finished on Thursday the 12th of July and I am in the process of filling them.  Once they are done...Then I can decide what the rest of the office will need in order for me to store and work in this area.  Here is a picture of what my office looks like now.  All of the things on the floor and in the bookshelves are supposed to either go in the new closet or in my new built in office when it is done.   

Here is what I have done so far.  :)  It's taking forever and I am finding all sorts of things I haven't see in years.  :)  I may have to have a stash sale. 

So what do you think?  Have I got a lot to do or what?  I am going crazy with my work space the way it is and I am trying to work on some things for an upcoming class.  So you can imagine how nuts this makes my life.

The next post will include highlights of our latest trip to Canyon De Chelly.

Until next time...

Gloria

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