My friend and stitching buddy, Jackie and I got together for an inpromptu stitching weekend.  Mark was out of town - she and I had talked about it but thought we couldn't make it happen - and then it DID!!  So she came into town on Saturday afternoon and we had a stitching and TV watching marathon until Sunday night.  When we actually stitching, I worked on the cowgirl.

Her blouse is finished now, except I need to go back with some buttons and maybe outline stitch a little bit to delineate her sleeve and bodice.   But I like it.   I couldn't find the beads that Tony specified to put inside the strap stitch on the blouse, so I came up with some silver beads I had here at the house - had 75% of them in and then decided they were too big.  So I found these little clear beads and used the matching silk for the area to attach them.  So I think I'm happy with the blouse.

In addition to finishing the blouse, I outlined or stemmed the hat and the pants.

So now I'm starting to build anxiety over these dang gloves.   They're supposed to be appliqued ultrasuede, which will be beautiful, if done correctly.  Scary thought.

Happy stitching,
Jane

 

I got an amazing amount of stitching done right before the holidays - I've got 75% of the "first layer" done on this piece. 

For some reason, the middle sunflower on the right only had a center, so I had to kind of fake the petals.   I'm not sure if that was a mistake or if I just didn't "read" the canvas correctly.

Sorry, Tony, but I switched the thread for her pants.   Instead of using black black - a Splendor - I used an overdye - Weeks Dye Works Ebony, which I like.   The jeans have some couched details over the top, which I'll do when I start the 2nd layer of stitching. 

So here's a question:   Do you stitch all the layers of an area before you move on, or do you stitch the entire canvas, one layer at a time?   Or do you dream about doing a piece in basketweave only?  

Some days I dream of basketweave!!

Happy New Year and Happy Stitching.
Jane

Jordan got home on Monday - we decided to do some ridiculous cooking before the rest of the family arrives in town this weekend.

So we pulled out the Momofuku cookbook and got busy.  My favorite grocery store in town, Central Market, was a little scant in the Asian aisle, so we went to a Korean market on the East side of town and found the rest of everything we needed.   (The people in the store were lovely. The other customers were especially helpful.)

We made Asian fried chicken, noodles with scallions and asparagus with a poached egg - for the first time with all the recipes, I think it turned out very well.   Quite tasty.  And you know me, I think a poached egg on top of just about ANYTHING is the best meal one could have!!  Love those things!!

As crazy as it sounds, I have been stitching more than usual.   I'm still working on the Linda Carter Holman piece - I'll show it to you in a day or two.

Happy stitching and/or cooking.
Jane

Since Thanksgiving is almost my favorite holiday I thought I'd share a few pics and details.   We got back from Barbados on Friday night (the day after Thanksgiving) but I had planned in advance to have our Thanksgiving meal here on Sunday.  Our local offspring + our friends Bob and Ann came over to help us close out the holiday weekend.

Here's what I made:

        Ina Garten's roasted turkey breast (did them on the grill)
        Mashed potatoes and gravy
        Sweet potato casserole with marshmallows
        Cornbread, shrimp and andouille dressing
        Cranberry/Jalapeno Salsa
        Spinach Madeleine
        Kelly's Onion Pie
        Endive, Apple and Blue Cheese Salad (sort of an updated Waldorf)
        Marie Helene's Apple Cake
        Pumpkin Pie

Ann brought Butternut Squash soup and Dixie Belle dressing

Manda brought Cornbread/Tamale Dressing and Cranberry Salsa (a different kind)

Holly brought Cherry Pie

It was a feast!!!   Crazy amount of food for 8 adults and 2 babies.  Can you believe we ended up with 3 kinds of dressing?   And sort of at the last minute, I decided not to make another stuffed pumpkin.  That would have been over the top - even for me!!

Jakey's latest antic is that whenever he sees a camera, he leans toward it (or pulls the lens toward himself) and says, "CHEESE!!"   Funny boy.  Papa's pretty funny, too.

Happy holidays.
Jane

P.S.  Almost the best part of making the turkey breast is using the leftover bones and meat to make Turkey Gumbo.   I have decided I'm addicted to anything that is served over rice.   Love that stuff!!!