Catching Up—furniture, Prairie Schooler ABC, books, podcasts

Thought I'd better write as I have been getting calls from my friends wondering why I am not writing. Just been busy. It's summer! Things to do inside and outside the house. Spent Friday and some of Saturday weeding and thinning my messy garden. The weeds seem to spring out of nowhere. My granddaughter and I had planed some beans but my husband thought they were weeds and pulled most of them out! I need to plant more. His tomatoes are growing like crazy with all the rain we've had here. Been working on finding all the documents needed to sell my mom's house. The closing is July 6th. My brother and husband moved all of the remaining furniture out to my house with the exception of the deacon's bench on the front porch. It still has the realtor's key box attached.

Decided to try out my mom's dining room set in my dining room so I moved my grandmother's set into the living room temporarily. This is my mom's set in her dining room before we had the wallpaper removed and the walls painted and the light fixture made more "neutral." I love the brass one but I know it isn't with-it today.

Below is my grandmother's dining room set that I have had for 40-some years. It is Berkey & Gay made in Grand Rapids, MI, probably in the 1930's or 1940's. The heart plant shelf is not part of the set and it's down in my basement now. The painting is from my aunt and I know nothing about it. Disregard the "stuff" on the server as they are all somewhere else in the house. I took these pics ages ago.

This is the stencil on the front of the tall piece above. The chandelier, though not my taste, is also my paternal grandmother's. The oriental rug on the floor is my maternal grandmother's.  I plan to paint the walls a cherry red/pink color above the chair rail so that the moldings and the needlework that I now have in there will stand out. The seats on grandma's chairs were originally needlepointed by her, but I had them reupholstered as she had stitched them in continental stitch and they were getting thin withsome of the canvas splitting.  some of the canvas splitting. Continental or half cross stitch does not hold up as well to wear as does the basket weave stitch.

PRAIRIE SCHOOLER ABC—

I've continued to work the ABC most every night for several hours using as many needlepoint stitches as I can to make the work go more rapidly. Can't imagine how long it would take to do this with cross stitch! I have laid in the foundation work for the 2nd and 3rd rows but am now concentrating on getting row 1 completed. I am saving the backstitch for last. Changed some of the colors and used blends of several shades of DMC to get the colors I want. Have found that the photos on the charts sometimes do not match the colors called for on the graph page--big no no in my opinion. Remember I'm stitching this on 28 count linen with half-cross/continental stitch for the most part.

I took these several days ago so I have quite a bit more done on G and H. Already thinking about my next project. One can dream, can't one?

Tuesday stitching has been meeting but we have had a smaller group most weeks. The older we all get, the busier we are. 

Have finished the tops and backing and binding for 2 disappearing 9 patch quilts in the past few weeks. One is for my neighbor's daughter who is getting married and the other is for my sister-in-law who turns 60 in July. She is a peach. I used up all of my homespun except for small pieces and only had to buy a bit of fabric for one of the bindings. Hope to quilt at least one of them this afternoon on my big machine. 

Been reading a lot lately. Liked the latest Elizabeth Berg book about people getting ready for and going to a 40th class reunion. Also liked the latest Emily Giffen book. She is from our town. Tried to download the old Presumed Innocent by Scot Turow so I can refresh myself on the story before the new one is available to me, but I can't seem to get the gist of the library's software. Guess I'll have to go there and try to find someone who can explain it to me. Been listening to podcasts while piecing those quilts. I like This American Life, Freakenomics (sp?), History Stuff for the History Buff, Lake Woebegone, etc. Did download one on stitching but have not listened to it yet. 

Better go eat lunch so I can get to that quilt! Will try to get back here soon. One friend said, "Maybe you have run out of things to say." I don't think that will ever happen... Nancy