Remembering Ernestine

In Mid November, we saw Lily Tomlin on stage.  My favorite character of hers, Ernestine, made an appearance.  No longer working for the telephone company, Ernestine now works for an unnamed health insurance company, busily denying claims and offering absolutely no sympathy:  'That's an elective procedure.  By that I mean, we elect not to pay.'

And I began work on some Christmas-related stitching.  This one is based on an ornament from the 2013 Christmas Ornaments issue of "Just Cross-Stitch" magazine.  The Assisi piece is designed by Elizabeth Gorski of Primrose Needlworks, though I changed her lettering from "HOPE" to "NOEL."

Children's Reunion

Archaeologist brother Robert let us know he was planning another trip to the United States in October. He represented our family at our Aunt Mimi's memorial service in Louisville and then headed to Dubuque.

Uncle Fritz speaking at Aunt Mimi's memorial service

Brother John and Sister-in-Law Renee had already made plans for a trip to Coralville to visit me and to see the play, "Spamalot."

We invited Rob to join us, and we "kids" had a reunion.  They arrived Sunday morning in time for church (our brand new organ had its debut!) and then the play Sunday afternoon.  We met again for supper Sunday evening, and then said goodbye Monday morning.

At Bandana's restaurant - Dennis, Linda, Robert, John, Renee

Here we are at Perkins for breakfast - Renee, John, Robert, Linda, Dennis

Inch by Inch

I am taking an on-line stitching class called "Inchies," taught by Kathy Rees.  It is a canvas work piece of 40 inch-sized segments (8 by 5), with different stitches and different threads.  It's a way to try out new stitches and new threads.  I really do not need another piece to hang on the wall, so did something different.  I stitched the inchies in groups of 9 (3 by 3) which I'll make into ornaments to hang.

"Inchies" stitched 3 by 3 to be finished into ornaments

Pink ornament

While waiting for some canvas and threads I had ordered for my next project, I was sorting through a stack of magazines and found "Look What I Did" by Jennifer Rodriguez of Always Time to Stitch in the September/October 2013 issue of "Just CrossStitch" magazine.  The design comes with a ghost holding up a Halloween quilt.  I decided to stitch the Halloween quilt portion and left off the ghost.  I'll finish this into an ornament for my Halloween tree.

Latest Finishes

A few weeks ago I got the urge to go through one (get that - one!) of my UFO (Un-Finished Objects) boxes and found two pieces I wanted to finally finish.  The oldest one was a Ewe and Ewe and Friends design called "Sampler Pincushion."  I had finished stitching the sampler part in 2007 but got stumped by the section the designer had left blank with the instructions to "Be creative!"   So I set it aside.  I've taken it out and looked at it several times since then but couldn't figure out what I wanted to do with the blank section.  Then, finally, inspiration struck.  I had another pattern that had some stitched "lace" sections (that too was a UFO), and I decided to combine some of the lace sections from that pattern with this sampler.  And voila!  A six-year old finish!

My second UFO finish is a bit more recent: "Take Time to Quilt" by Jeannette Douglas Designs.  I started this back in 2011 and set it aside once because I couldn't decide what saying to put in the center. When I decided on "Autumn Colors," I stitched some more and then set it aside again when everything was done except the block in the lower left corner.  I simply could not figure out the instructions. This time I was determined to finish the project with its gorgeous colors.  Though I still couldn't figure out the instructions, I did figure out that if I put the booklet cover under my magnifying light, I could see how it was stitched and follow that as my stitching guide.

This past spring I completed "Variations on a Rhodes Theme," in honor of our cruise last winter that ended up having Rhodes as a port of call.  That was the first of three Rhodes patterns, and I more recently completed another of the patterns, "More Rhodes to Follow."  There is a third pattern, "All Rhodes Lead to Stitching" that is in my "to do" pile.  I am using the same colors throughout all three pieces.

Lest you think all I do is stitch, a friend and I took a two-part Introduction to Islam class that was very informative.  I'm also attending a six-part class on Anton Chekov.  I didn't study him in school so was not at all familiar with any of his work.  We started the class by reading his short story, "The Lady with the Little dog," then moved to his play, "The Seagull."  We are now discussing "In the Ravine," a long short story.

Uh, Did You Want to Finish the Stitching Before Framing It?

Well, another week another play - no, it just seems that way.  The end of July we went to opening night of "Rent."  We normally go to Sunday matinees, but this time Sunday did not work for us.   The auditorium was packed, lots of applause, and a standing ovation at the end!  I had not seen the play before, and was expecting a musical, though not an opera.  Nor was I expecting it to be as sad as it was.

And my "blooper" of the week:  I gave two pieces of needlework to my framer (Claim to Frame).  I have worked with Cathy for many years; she used to have a store front in town, but now works out of her home.  Several days after I gave her the pieces, she contacted me - uh, did I want to finish the stitching on one piece before she framed it?  I thought I had finished the piece and put it away in my stack of FUFOs (Finished but Unframed Objects).  But, I had stitched the top row only about a third of the way across!

I finished the stitching, and realized I had also forgotten to add my initials and date to the piece, so I did that too.  This is a block of four Farmer's Market charts by SamSarah.

One of the stitching email lists I belong to asked for photos of "stitching buddies."  That made me realize I hadn't posted any photos of Mr. Max lately.  Here is one of him sitting in my stacked clothes dryer.  In the winter when it's a bit chilly, he likes to jump into the dryer at the end of the cycle and burrow into the warm laundry as I'm trying to remove it.

On a more stitching related note, here he is digging through my organizer.  He especially likes to pull out my packets of needles (they make a crinkly noise) and highlighter markers (they roll around the floor).

And, when I'm working on the computer, he decides on the time limit.  He starts out sitting on the table beside my mouse, but when he thinks I've done enough work, he moves and sprawls across the keyboard.

A Milestone Anniversary

July 30th was my parents' 65th wedding anniversary.  We planned a family get-together on Sunday, July 28th, and knowing that Rob would not be home until October, we planned to hold a second gathering when he was back home.  However, Rob was able to reschedule his trip home, so we were all able to be together on Sunday.

John and Renee placed announcements in the local newspaper and at the church we grew up in, asking people to send cards. Dad said that an announcement was also made at their current church, and the congregation applauded.

The group at dinner
Clockwise from lower left: Dad, Mom, Dennis' Mom, me, Dennis, Rob, John, Renee

Here we are outside the restaurant: Me, Mom, Dad, John, Rob

I had read in the newspaper that a replica of Christopher Columbus' ship, The Nina, would be docked in Dubuque over the weekend.  So on our way to restaurant, we stopped to take pictures.

Such a small boat in which to cross the Atlantic Ocean

Unfortunately, a local newscaster related that Columbus and his men had crossed the Atlantic to avoid religious persecution in Europe.  I think he was confused between Columbus' voyage in 1492 to find a route to the Orient and the Pilgrims setting out on the Mayflower in 1620.  Moral of the story: don't believe everything you hear on TV.

Another stitching finish relates to our cruise last fall.  One of our ports of call was Rhodes.  Once we got back home, that gave me the incentive to finish a piece, "Variations on a Rhodes Theme," by Freda's Fancy Stitching.  I enjoyed doing the piece so much that I've ordered the two companion patterns, "More Rhodes to Follow" and "All Rhodes Lead to Stitching."

Rain, Rain Go Away

Well, last year we had a serious drought.  This spring it started raining and wouldn't quit.  With Iowa River flooding predicted, the University of Iowa began putting up flood barriers around building, and there was lots of sandbagging.  University buildings close to the river, such as the Theater Building, were closed, and students were evacuated out of the Mayflower Dorm.

The closure of the UI Theater Building meant changes in the Summer Repertory Theater schedule. Rather than the anticipated three plays, the schedule was reduced to one play, and the venue was moved to the local performing arts center.  We saw the "Bad Seed" on stage.  I remember the 1950's movie which I found very creepy.  The play had the same premise, but was purposely played "over the top," so the audience was regularly laughing that the people in the play weren't catching on to the obvious.

Next up was the UI Summer Opera, Gilbert and Sullivan's "Iolanthe."  I was unfamiliar with that operetta.

I did finish another piece, "Broken Heart," by Charlette's Collectibles.  I changed the colors from red, blue and cream to shades of green and purple.  And I changed the saying on the piece.  It took some time to think about and find a saying that I liked.  I ended up Googling "broken heart quotations," and looking through pages and pages of quotations.  I finally found one: "Only the broken heart has the ghost of a chance to grieve, to forgive, to long, to transform," by Christina Baldwin, author of "Life's Companion, Journal Writing as a Spiritual Practice.  The quote was used with the author's permission by Judith-Victoria Douglas, "Ariel's Cottage: A Place for Love."  That gave me the idea of what I wanted to say on the stitched piece.

This March was the 6th anniversary of my husband's death.  Sometimes it seems like just yesterday and the tears start, but I am trying to piece my broken heart back together, like I take cut-up pieces of fabric and transform them into a quilt.