I was pretty much in disbelief as to how long it took me to put together six projects to get started. One of them was a kit that came with floss, linen and chart. How long could that take to put together? I had to pull a thread to see exactly how much usable space I had. It’s a bit tight but I think framing it myself will work. The only thing I had to do besides straighten up the fabric was serge two sides where I had cut and make a working copy of the chart. I do that because I write on my copy and mark through the squares I’ve stitched.
For Come Into My Garden, I had a one yard piece of that fabric so I had to pull threads to get it the lines to cut out the piece I needed and serge the edges. The floss was already on a floss ring. I had to make a working copy of the chart.
For Hannah’s Brownstone, I had to make floss drops, pull a thread on a larger piece of linen, cut and serge the edges on the piece I’m going to use.
For Sergei, I already had all the floss pulled so I had to make the floss tags, cut and serge a piece of fabric.
For the two Prairie Schoolers, I had to decide on fabrics, cut and serge the edges and make floss tags for the 1997 Santa.
It didn’t help that Oscar seems to be getting worse instead of better with his behavior. I think he’s been inside too much and we need to get outside and play as soon as the snow melts and the ground dries up a bit. I was having to go into the sewing room to cut fabric and serge it. The minute I left him alone, he would get past the gate on the stairs and go running upstairs. I’d have to stop and go get him. He’s pretty heavy to carry down the stairs but (1) I don’t want him going up or down the stairs on his own and (2) he doesn’t mind going up but he will not come down them. I would put him in the crate, then I’d be back in the living room for a while and I’d let him out. Then I’d think I was going to be super quick in the sewing room, leave him out . . then I’d hear him running up the stairs and I’d have to get him and bring him back down. That happened honestly about 10 times. We’ve tried three different gates to keep him off the stairs and he has managed to get past all of them. I told Vince . . we might try putting all three of them up and seeing if he would give up before he got past the third one and we could just go outside, walk around the house and come through the front door except when it’s snowing or raining or dark.
I think one of the things I’m going to do in 2023 is spend some time not only kitting up projects but cutting the linen down to size, serging the edges, putting the floss on tags and rings. Some of my bags have two or three pieces of linen in there because I couldn’t decide what I wanted to use. I need to decide and be done with it.
I had to order more of the bags I use for project bags. Maybe by the end of the year I’ll have some empty bags I can re-use! I also had to order more book binder rings that I use for floss. I ran completely out of those.
Overall, I was really surprised at how much time it took to get these projects ready to stitch. I guess when I’m doing one at a time, I don’t notice it so much.
Another issue I’m going to run into is that I don’t seem to be able to stitch in hand any more. I’m not going to say it’s a hassle to load pieces in the scroll frames but it does take time. I like to leave them in the frames til they’re finished but each frame costs upwards of $50, depending on the size so I’m not going to be able to have a frame for everything I’m working on, unless I do more starting and finishing before I start something else. I can tell a difference in my stitching when it’s stitched in hand vs. stitched in a frame so I’m going to try to finish the ones by stitching in hand if they were started and had a good bit of progress while I was still stitching in hand. I will probably stitch the smaller pieces (Prairie Schooler Santas) in hoops.
I have two more frames ordered but I doubt they’ll be here before New Year’s Eve. I also have three frames I ordered from somewhere else that I don’t like as much as the Rolaframes but I may have to use those on the larger pieces I plan to start.
I suppose if that’s the worst of my problems, I’m doing alright! 🙂
Tracy says
-Sorry about Oscar giving you the run around, it reminds me of my dogs shenanigans. They are allowed outside, within a fenced area, but they are not allowed to bark. My DH often lets them out, and then goes back to his office downstairs, out of hearing the barking range. Of course they start barking at a fallen acorn or such, and I have to stop stitching, get up, find the proper treat to bribe them back in, and retrieve them. This happens quite a few times a day, the dogs are now using it as a way to get extra treats, they are smart that way. My DH just doesn’t understand why I tell him not to let them out every time he sees them in. Maybe he’s the one that needs re-training.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Similar things happen here. We have two different wooden inside “fences” to keep Oscar off the carpet. One we can also use to keep him out of the living room where I sit to stitch. If I have things spread out and don’t want him shredding everything within reach, I’ll put up the fence to keep him away while I pick up. I have to put up the fence, put a Rubbermaid tote in front of the spot where we open and close it, then put something else to block him from shoving the tote out of the way. Vince almost always puts the tote in front, knowing that’s a piece of cake for Oscar to move so as soon as Vince is out of sight, I have to get up, chase the dog, pry open his mouth to retrieve whatever he has grabbed, put him back inside the fence, fix the barricade. Every time! I’ve been so tempted to call Vince down from upstairs and say “Come catch Oscar. He got loose again!” but I figure I’m the one who wanted the dog so I’ll deal with him.
When Oscar gets past the stair gate and goes upstairs, I try to keep my eyes on him and we close all the bedroom doors and the laundry room door so he’s confined to the kitchen, dining room and living room. I’ll be working in the kitchen so I’ll say to Vince “Can you keep an eye on him so I can finish cooking?” Sure . . then I go in there and say “Where’s Oscar?” He doesn’t know. He’s either out of sight digging in something he’s found, under a chair . . always into some kind of mischief.
Jimi says
Do you have a contact for Rolaframe. Tried to find a place to order yesterday ??
judy.blog@gmail.com says
I’ll go do a blog post about them.
Marie L. says
If you don’t have a serger, how do you treat the edge of your linen? Just starting back to stitching, most of the linen I have bought has been cut to size and serged. I have just started buy linen as larger pieces and have been thinking about what to do once I need to cut a piece since I don’t have a serger. I would rather not do the 80’s method of putting masking tape around the edge. Thanks for any suggestions.
Sheryl says
…I have whip stitched the edges before but my favorite which might be frowned on is to draw a thin line on the edges with archival quality glue and let that dry. It can be trimmed off after stitching.
Marie L. says
Thanks for the information.
judy.blog@gmail.com says
Doesn’t seem like a problem to me. First, you’re using archival quality glue and you’re trimming it off when you’re done. Great idea. Thanks for sharing that tip.