So far half good

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Progress on the felt ornaments.  Here are the felt pieces with the freezer paper ironed on one side.

Felt and freezer paper

This was really easy to do.  The iron was on a medium setting (permanent press without steam on my iron).  Just keep the iron moving and made sure the steam is turned off.  I drew right on the paper and cut the shapes out with regular scissors.

Paper side up

 These are the two ornaments that I finished and I realize my embroidery skills aren’t the greatest.  I’m not very happy with the tree.  I was going for snow-covered branch tips and I think they look like cow udders or something else.  It’s a bit too busy.  You can also see the other shapes I have cut out so far.

Two down, many more to go

Here’s a close-up.  The colors are deeper but I took what light I could get.  There’s a little bit of fiber-fill between the pieces to give them some depth.  I remembered to insert the ribbon to hang it before I did the blanket stitch all the way around.

Two done, many more to go

Another close-up of reverse side tis time.  Those are tiny star sequins on the tree.

Reverse

I’m not sure how much I will get done tonight.  I still have the Musica mitts to finish.  I did make another Spud and Chloe hat last evening.  I must say that pattern is so quick and easy.  I knit it in less than two hours using stash yarn.  I still have the crochet edge and I-cords to do but those are relatively quick and easy, too.

What I want for Christmas

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Dear Santa,

I hope I’m not too late with my Christmas wish list:

  1. Double point needle organization/storage roll.
  2. 14 inch needle storage roll.  The one I made years ago just doesn’t hold enough needles and I didn’t make the slots big enough.
  3. Circular needle storage case.  I don’t have many circular needles but they need to be someplace other than a clear zip bag.
  4. Professional organizer to organize my various craft, sewing, knitting, yarn, needlework, beading, polymer clay, and painting supplies and patterns.  (And if there’s time, my closet.)
  5. Cleaning person.  I have more important things to do than scrub the bathroom, iron, vacuum, dust, blah, blah, blah.
  6. Craft room designer and contractor to design and construct a craft room in my basement so #3 can do their job.  I have the money set aside.  I just need the plans and the person to make it all happen.

I have been good (enough) this year.

Thank you.

Everything takes longer

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I thought it would be a quick project but making felt ornaments without a pattern takes time.  A lot of time.  Ten times the amount of time one would think.

I did iron freezer paper to one side of the felt so I could draw my homemade patterns and cut out pairs that actually match.  Then I had to decide how to embellish the felt pieces.

I cut out enough felt for three Christmas trees, two teardrop shaped ornaments, one squatty ornament, and one heart.  I started on the heart.

It;s been a l-o-n-g time since I used embroidery floss and I couldn’t remember how to do the blanket stitch.  After a quick search on-line, I was in business.

I promise pictures of my slow progress.

Now that I’m thinking of it, I should have just used one color of felt and one color of embroidery floss.  White felt and red floss, dark green felt and light green floss, blue felt and white floss.

So many ideas, so little time…

Geriatric magnet

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Yep, that about sums it up for me. 

The other day at the market, I saw a woman struggling to get some boxes of Jell-O off the shelf.  I asked her if she needed any help.  No, she didn’t but she told me about her recent stay at the hospital, showed me the bruises on her hands and arms from a fall, and mentioned her heart issues.  She ended up in the hospital because her husband, while trying to help with  the Christmas decorations, left some boxes in her way and she fell.  Hence the bruises.  Two weeks ago she had something done to her heart.  She’s going to be 80 years  old on her next birthday. 

Do I know this woman?  No.  I just offered to help get some tiny boxes off the shelf for her.

A few  minutes later I was standing in the pasta aisle deciding if I wanted traditional spaghetti sauce or roasted garlic with onions sauce when someone tapped me on the shoulder.  This time it was an older gentleman who told me I was cute and looked like Little Red Riding hood in my red winter coat with a hood.

I thanked him.  What else was I supposed to do?

Anyway he proceeded to talk to me for an additional ten minutes.  He’s 72, his wife passed away in April.  He has two daughters, one 43 and one 45 years old, and nine year-old twin granddaughters.  He guessed my age as 15 years younger than I am.  His cat is named Muffin.   He was having dinner with his 91 year-old mother-in-law that evening.  The menu consisted of spaghetti, salad, and homemade blueberry pie.  He even asked if I wanted to join them for dinner.  I learned who he voted for in the last election.  He even told me his password to get on the Internet.

Did I accept the dinner invitation?  He seemed very nice but no, I’m happily married and told him Mr. Aitch and I had dinner plans.  Did I even know this man?  Again, no.

I learned more about him and his family in ten minutes than I know about some people I’ve worked with for over five years!

Why can’t some hottie tell me I look cute?  And can a woman over 21 still be “cute”?