A little bit of embroidery

I have not been embroidering for awhile.  We have been so busy going here and there I have not had time to pick out all my colors and prepare them to be toted around.  So for the last 3 weeks in my time at home I have been embroidering this pattern from Coats and Clark Book No. 143  I actually decided to use the colors they suggested.  In retrospect I would probably not use that much green it seems to overwhelm the piece. 


The deer was my favorite not to favorite part because I decided to tackle the long and short stitch.  I did not succeed.  It is very lumpy and wonky in lots of parts, but I am working on it.  If you have any tips please do share I can use all the help you can spare. 

One another note, my birthday was last month (we will not discuss age) it was fun and Brian was so sweet he bought me a universal craft stand.  I put it together but I have not used it much.  I think I will like it for doing french knots and other difficult stiches because it will keep my hands free.  Right now I see the only problem is I tend to move my hoop as I stitch and that might be difficult with the stand.  I do like that is it short and very compact we have a small house so space is a premium.  I plan to play around with it this week and I will let you know what I think later on. 

Does anyone else have a stand, if so any tips?

Knitted Goodness

I have had a lot of road trips this summer and with most of them being camping I decided I would take knitting instead of my embroidery. I tend to lose those small embroidery needles and then I would probably step on them in the car. I do that in the house and that is bad enough.

The Monkey is Mr. B.A. Foster. (B.A. stands for Ben Anise) B.A. is a bit of a character always trying something. First of all he thought he should drive when we went to Portland and we had to tell him no. Then he thought he should have our lunch.

We finally got him to sit in the backseat and leave us alone while we ate. Cheeky little monkey.

After we bought our Bug I was looking on etsy for anything VW bugish and I found this lovely pattern. It has a bus, bug and scooter. I did make the bus for my T. He loves it and it sits on top of his computer desk.

What have you done this summer and what have you made?

~Bekah

New Project

I have wanted a VW Bug since my parents got rid of theirs in the 80's. I was so excited when T and I decided to start looking for one. We found this one a 1968 VW Beetle. We were hoping to find a 1975 since that is the we both were born but all those were either just shells or junk. Oh well, we might have to try and get a 1975 VW Bus instead.

This one does looks terrible but the engine is pretty sound. Although, we did have a fun time getting it home. We were about half an hour from the place we bought it and an hour from home when the fuel line came loose. That was fun here it is 9:30 at night on the side of the freeway trying to get it to start. I was pretty glad T was able to fix it enough I could coast to the next exit and get to the gas station. We temporarily fixed it enough to get home. I was glad since I was driving it. I think I also forgot to mention that the breaks were iffy so ... well that is a longer story. The point is it is home and ready for us to work on it.  Next time we are towing.

We plan on doing the interior first and hopefully get it painted in the spring or summer next year. I am so excited I can barely stand it.

Hope you all are having a great summer.

~Bekah

What a Weekend!

We had quite a weekend first on Saturday I was scrambling to finish two birthday presents for a double birthday party on Sunday. (Yes I always leave things to the last minute I work better under pressure, or that is my excuse.) I was finishing embroidering an apron for my niece and I only had 7 french knots left when we heard a huge zap then the power went out and flicked back on and went out again. I could not believe it. It was about 8:00 pm. We had a little light but not enough to see the faint line that I had ironed on. So I could not finish the embroidery or sew on the ribbon. Did I mention the party was on Sunday. I was a bit concerned that I would not get the apron done or the hankies that I was making for my FIL since I had not even printed out the pattern.

We of course made the best of the time we played Yahtzee by candlelight. It was fun and I won two out of three so it was a good night. By the time we started the third game the power came back on and we turned off the lights and finished the game. It was lots of fun. I think we should play more games by candlelight.


On Saturday morning I woke up early and was able to get the apron finished, ribbon sewn on, print and embroider the hankies, wash and starch them. I was glad the party was later in the afternoon. I was so tired that I went to bed early but then we were awakened at around 1:30 am to a huge downpour. I mean like as if a sprinkler was broken and shooting water everywhere. That is quite unusual for this side of Washington. We are on the desert side sagebrush and everything. I do miss living on the other side of the mountains but do not miss the Seattle traffic.

Am I the only one that waits until the last minute?

***Then yesterday as I was getting ready to post this our Internet and cable went out. Man when it rains it pours. he he. Oh well all is well today. Have a good one everyone.

Summer Thunder Storms

I love summer thunder storms! I could sit here all night and watch the lightening and listen to the thunder. I wish I could capture this with my camera and show you, instead I will show you what I have been up.



Last year I spent most of it not embroidering but collecting things to embroider on and embroidery patterns. So this year I decided I really should use all those patterns and materials. I have this bee fabric that was just dieing to be a lining for a tote bag and it also gave me a chance to use one of my vintage patterns.

This pattern is a Vogart 293. This was the first Vogart pattern I ever bought I just loved all the bees. I hope you will enjoy this pattern.

What have you been up to?

~Bekah