The Stitch Up

January Inspiration

I've already mentioned how January is the month where my Type A personality really gets to shine and I fully indulge in organization projects, making lists and reorganizing.  But on the flip side, it's also the time of year that I like to get cozy.  As soon as I take down the Christmas decorations, I start decorating with Hygge in mind: Candles, throw blankets, and the occasional fairy light.  I've got a few different resources I use for Winter/Hygge inspiration. 

 

First, I have a couple of Winter themed home decor/craft books I crack open this time of year to get some Hygge inspiration ideas.

 

 

Making Winter has some great ideas for Winter crafts to bring the outside indoors or knit up something cuddly. I also love Selina Lake's design book Winter Living Style. It has different decorating themes for Winter including Homespun, Rustic and Scandinavian. Each of the different design styles has great ideas for getting that perfect Winter feel.

 

In addition to craft and design books I also horde (or rather curate!) back issues of Marie Claire Idees Magazin and they come in handy for inspiration every season.  It's not ideal to hang on to stacks of old publications but I find something new to inspire me every time I flip through these magazines so it justifies the space they take up in the craft room.

 

 

I've organized these magazines by season so I can easily grab all the issues I want to flip through for inspiration at once. For the past few years I've been getting the publication in digital format as I'm realistic about the amount of space I can take up with old magazines, but as great as the new issues are, I really do prefer being able to physically hold the magazine and flip through the pages.

My last source of inspiration this month is the Spoonflower Doodle-A-Day Challenge. My friend Teresa and I are doing this together and its really fun to see the different way we each interpret the same prompt. I'm posting each day's doodle on my Flickr feed if you want to take a look. 

 

 

I hope January is bringing lots of inspiration and cozy warmth to everyone!

Winter WIPs - Working Through 'Em

I've finished a couple of the WIPs on my Winter list - the tea towel and the tablecloth.

The tea towel was a nice project. A stamped project is a great way to kick off crafting in the new year and the September House has such great patterns.  

I spent a little extra time outlining some of the flowers and leafs and I think it helped them pop.  

I also finished the tablecloth.  This was exciting since I'd been stashing this fabric for YEARS and saying I was going to turn it into a tablecloth and now I finally have!

I even managed some mitered corners so it has a finished look.

This is going to be a perfect "anytime" tablecloth - it's neutral but the fabric is so nice.  It also goes well with my mom's china which she passed on to me last year in an effort to start downsizing a bit.  

Just a couple of projects left to finish up before Winter officially ends.  I've got my scarf started and the textiles cut up to start the bag, so this week should be just some wrapping up of my Winter efforts before I start planning for Spring! 

WIP Progress

I wanted to check in with my WIP progress.  I've knocked out a good bit of the embroidered tea towel:

I've also got a plan for the tablecloth and I think I'll be able to finish that this week, so more exciting progress updates to come!  I also thought I'd show off the salt and pepper shakers from my collection that are getting sunlight during this "cozy" winter period.

I don't think I really have any winter themed salt and pepper shakers so after the blow out at Christmas, when all of the holiday themed shakers get their time to shine, I have to search around a bit for a theme to start the new year.  This year I decided to put out all of my cat shakers:

These are a mix of vintage finds and new purchases.  The set of siamese cats at the top are vintage although I haven't been able to find out too much about them - just that the set dates from around 1960 and is from Taiwan.

This is a cat and dog team.  My aunt found this set for me in a thrift store in Arizona.  These were a midcentury promotional set put out by Ken L Ration (a dog food company.)  They used a yellow dog named "Fido" on their ads and I've seen this set referred to as Fido & Fifi so I guess the cat is named Fifi!  The set was made by Fiedler & Fiedler (F&F) Mold and Die Works of Dayton, Ohio. 

This is a mix of vintage and brand new.  The blue flowered cats date from about 1970 and come from Thailand originally.  The happy cats are a recent purchase from World Market because I just thought they were adorable.

And speaking of cats, here is my kitten enjoying the small amount of snow we've had so far this winter:

For anyone else working your way through a WIP pile, I wish you luck and productivity!  I hope winter is treating you well. 

 

New Year New Plan

Like so many other crafters I have a ton of WIPs - both projects that I've started and stalled on and projects where I've bought all the supplies but haven't found time to get the project underway.

My first effort to get make some headway on my WIPs was adding the progress bars to the side of the blog to publicly shame myself into getting to work on specific projects so the progress bars don't stay at 0% all month.  

My new plan is to basically work seasonally.  I'm going to pick 3 or 4 projects that inspire me that season and work to finish them before moving on to the next season and next group of WIPs.  Anything to get inspired and get moving!

The first season is of course - Winter.  It's kind of the perfect season to start this effort since the colder weather means a bit more time spent indoors cuddling next to the fire with some needlework.  I also just love this time of year.  I enjoy the quiet after the busy Christmas season, I LOVE setting goals and resolutions for the New Year and I have been inspired by the whole hygge movement to really indulge in creating a cozy experience during the winter months.

So my theme for the winter WIPS is "Cozy":

Yes, that is a vision board for my projects - I am SERIOUS about getting motivated!

The projects I've picked for this season are:

1. 2020 Tea Towel Calendar.  I've started on this tea towel calendar kit from SeptemberHouse.  I love her calendar kits - this has become something of a tradition for me and is usually the first project I'm working on each year.
2. The Long and Lacy Scarf by Mrs. Moon.  I picked a very pretty green yarn from my stash to use for this scarf and I'm excited to see how it comes out.  
3. Marimekko Tablecloth.  This isn't on the vision board as it's an older pattern so not on the Marimekko website and I didn't want to cut in to my fabric as I think it's currently the perfect length for a tablecloth.  But here is the fabric:

    I've gone back and forth on whether to add trim but I think I'm going to just stick with hemming the fabric.  It is perfect for a winter white theme so I want to get it on the table before we move into Spring.

    4.    Vintage Textile Bag.  My goal is to have one "upcycling" project each season.  For this season I want to use some of the vintage embroidered textiles I've bought over the years and make a bag similar to this or this.  Many of the textiles I've picked up are stained or ripped and can't be used for their original purpose as a pillow case or tablecloth for instance.  But I want to save the beautiful stitching so I think a project like this will work great!

So that's what I'll be working on - stay tuned for exciting updates to the progress bars and follow up posts on my (hopefully) finished projects.

I hope everyone's New Year is starting out great and that you are enjoying a productive start to your crafting year!

 

 

Middleburg, Virginia

We managed to make it through the snow storm with no permanent damage.  We did have huge branch fall.  It took down some wires, but it turned out that was not the cause of any power loss.  (Thank goodness.  I would have been embarrassed to have been the cause of the whole neighborhood losing power.)  It turns out the wires that came down were just old telephone lines but it sounded and looked pretty damaging:

Wild, huh?  The husband chopped up the limb and took care of business and looking around the neighborhood there were quite a few people who had downed tree limbs.  

We spent a lot of time at Starbucks and hitting some restaurants over the few days that the electricity was off.  It was cold in the house and we are also sadly addicted to internet access.  

I was thinking about writing Starbucks a thank you note when I was sitting there warm, snuggly, full of vanilla latte and perusing my favorite craft blogs with their free wireless.  But then I remembered that Starbucks has been getting PLENTY of my cash over the years so I figure we're even.

Once the electricity was back on and things had settled back to normal the Hubby and I decided to take an outing.  We've been out to Middleburg, Virginia several times.  It's one of those cute towns in Virginia horse country with a lot of history, beautiful old buildings and adorable shops.  They have a great Christmas parade that also signals the start of fox hunting season so the parade begins with hunting dogs and horses and riders who take part in the hunt.  I think because this is such a big part of the Middleburg social scene, the unofficial mascot of the town is the fox:

We in fact had lunch at The Red Fox Inn.  It's a restaurant and hotel that was originally built in 1728 and according to their web site, this was how Middleburg got it's name.  It was the half way point between Winchester and Alexandria Virginia, and where travelers would stop on their trip to spend the night.  The Inn has lots of history - of course as with most places in Virginia, that history includes the Confederacy during the Civil War.  General Jeb Stuart and Colonel John Mosby (who is insanely popular here btw, everything is named after Mosby!) met there and it was used as Confederate headquarters and a hospital during the war.  John Kennedy also gave a press conference here and they say that Jackie Kennedy stayed at the Inn during fox hunting season.  More importantly - Elizabeth Taylor used to kick it in the Tap Room at the Inn when she was married to Senator John Warner.  

The Inn is beautiful as well as historically interesting and the food is great:

After lunch we strolled around the shops and buildings in Middleburg.  

My favorite shop in Middleburg is The Christmas Sleigh which carries Christmas ornaments and decorations from Germany:

I bought this adorable smoker:

I think he matches the Santa Claus table runner kit I bought in Berlin and embroidered.  I can't wait for next Christmas!

I've got some progress on knitting and embroidery to post soon.  We're expecting more snow tonight so keep your fingers crossed that it's a small storm.  I'm looking forward to heading into Spring.

Survivalist Training

We had a big storm Wednesday night and between the snow, freeze and falling tree branches a big part of the northern Virginia area lost power.  We're part of a handful of lucky peeps that have continued to be without power while they clean this mess up.  It's been challenging and COLD!  

Luckily, the husband makes a mean fire.  Of course one member of the household did not have to be asked twice to take the warmest spot in the room:

We've been going out to eat as the stove is electric and so we can't cook.  One plus is that even thought the fridge is out we haven't had to worry about food spoiling as it is so cold every thing is staying fresh.  How cold is it you ask?  Well, none of the ice in the freezer has melted even a bit and we are wandering around the house in layers of sweaters, jackets and gloves.  We did try to do a little cooking over the fire:

This was an effort to make a grilled turkey and cheese sandwich over the fire.  Let's just say that one side of the sandwich was edible and we learned that maybe we're not meant to try a campfire cook out in our fireplace.  

Dominion claims we will be back to normal by tonight.  Of course, as I'm typing this at the Starbucks, snow is starting to fall again which always seems to complicate things around here.  Keep your fingers crossed.  I don't think we can survive on burnt campfire sandwiches for much longer!

New Year Resolutions #3 - Get Moving

I have a long list of fitness resolutions that I won't bore everyone with, but it boils down to the idea that I need to get outside and get some exercise.  Which is a good goal but one that has been tough to meet with the crazy blizzards that have blown through here this Winter.

  

 

Even now that the blizzards are in the past, it's still cold and there is a bunch of snow on the ground. Which doesn't encourage a lot of getting out and getting active, but has been good for my embroidery projects.

We did get out to a pretty local park last weekend and had a nice winter walk, but it took some slogging through the snow.

 

I'm hoping that the Spring thaw will light a fire under my behind that sparks some motivation to work out.  In the mean time I am justifying the fact that my behind is firmly planted on the couch with the knowledge that I do have a lot of crafting planned and, the sooner I get it done the sooner I'm ready for an action-packed Spring.  Until then, I am enjoying the pretty winter scenery and relaxing!

 

 
 
 

Who's the Idiot Now, Smart Guy?

I decided to do a little retail therapy at the mall on Sunday to squeeze some enjoyment into my one day off as most of the rest of the day was taken up with chores and errands.  As I was browsing through the magazines at Barnes & Noble I heard this married couple chatting.  Him:  "They said on the news that we're going to get 7 - 10 inches of snow tonight".  I thought to myself 'we got an inch of snow last night, it's already melted, we haven't gotten 7 inches of snow all YEAR - this guy is an idiot'.  About that same time the guy's wife says to him:  "You're an idiot".  Ha!  Him: Sigh "I'm just telling you what they said on the news".  (I got the impression that they have this type of conversation a lot.)  But sure enough as I went into other stores in the mall the salespeople were making plans to close early because of "the storm".  At Trader Joe's it was packed with shoppers and the guy at the checkout said it was because of "the storm".  And the news report said we would get 7 to 10 inches of snow.  At this point though, the sun was still out and it was hard to believe we were going to get any snow.  But Monday morning:

 

Ruh Row:

 

  

So - it turns out the guy at the mall knew what he was talking about.  We got 6 inches overnight and it kept snowing through about noon.  It stuck around a few days as it was pretty cold Tuesday and Wednesday - but its mostly gone now and it's scheduled to warm up to 60 tomorrow so I think it will all melt by Saturday.  A nice little winter blast there but I figure that's got to be our last winter blast this season.  Right?  Maybe I should go skulk at the mall and see if I can get anymore good weather tips!    

I know I've said this before - but my current project is wrapping up and I think I will have time for crafting and maybe some blogging over the next few weeks!  This time I mean it!  Stay tuned!

Brrrrr! Baby It's Cold Outside!

It looks like I've already flaked a bit on my New Years resolution to blog more. I started on a new project about three weeks ago and it's been keeping me busy. On the plus side, it involves reviewing documents in Spanish and I'm enjoying the opportunity to use what I learned in Madrid back here in DC. On the down side it requires some long hours and working 6 days a week often (although the pace is quite a bit better than other projects I've been on). In any case I'm usually at the bus stop at 7 am to get across DC to Tenleytown by 8 and after leaving work at 7 pm, I usually don't hit the door to my place until about 8pm. It makes for a long day and since I'm usually inside staring at a computer the whole time, I haven't felt that I have a lot to blog about. But this week we had some snow and ice and it prettied up what is usually my somewhat dreary commute. 

First, before the sun was out I took a couple of shots of the snow falling at my bus stop: 

 

This is what things looked like about 20 minutes later at the metro:

 

And about 40 minutes later near the office where I'm working:

 

Starting to pile up nicely huh?  Sadly it did not last much longer than the next day when most of it melted.  I enjoyed the snow and the nice little blast of winter but the panic the weather induces in the local DC populace is always a little annoying.  In most cases all the federal agencies will close down if there is even a hint of snow so it can make the commute nice because there are about half the number of people who usually ride the train.  On those days (like this week) however, when the snow does not start early enough, the feds don't close and everyone crowds on the train as they are too freaked out to drive on the highways.  This is understandable as DC is full of people who come from states and countries that don't get snow and they have no idea how to drive in it.  This naturally causes the stupidest accidents that involve a crazy number of cars.  I think we all came through relatively unscathed and so far there are no more storms on the horizon.

I have Sunday off and I'm trying to finish a couple of embroidery projects.  Hopefully, I can get back into a somewhat regular schedule soon and blog about more than my commute!  Until then!