Stitching and Furniture

Alert the media... stitching has been seen about Ms Marty's palace! No really... see?

Isn't it cool? It looks just like the last 7 blocks, doesn't it? Hee!

Anyhoo... this is my fave seam treatment on this block...

It's a detached raised chain stitch (I think) with lazy daisies alongside. The detached raised chain stitch in white #3 perle cotton was too stark, so I added the lazy daisies in a smaller, grey perle cotton and that really toned it down. It's neat the way the addition of another color changes how a seam looks, isn't it?

Since Rian asked if the model home furniture (from an earlier post) was small, I went back and took a few pictures. This armoire is enormous... it must be 9ft at least!


a beautiful dining table that could probably seat 10 in a pinch...


plus sectionals...


Lots of colors, too... green is popular for the modern styles...


We also have yellow...


and purple...


and this is my favorite piece (that I won't be buying)...

a "french lounge chair." Gorgeous!

So, if you're ever in Phoenix, do check out Furniture Affair ... it's a very eclectic bunch of furniture and it's great fun wandering around!

Hmm... that kinda sounded like a commercial... sorry!

Allie's Gift

I received a most welcome gift in the mail on Saturday. Allie had asked me for my snail mail addy last week so I was all atwitter with anticipation. The package was nice and squishy and when I opened it there was a lovely surprise inside. (click on the picture to embiggen - go to all sizes)

Isn't it beautiful? It belonged to her grandmother who was a world traveler in the 50's. This looks like it might have come from Egypt since it has depictions of the Egyptian god Horus. At first I thought his name was Osiris but after Googling (I love Google!) it I realized he is Horus. We think it was part of a jacket since there is a pocket on it. Whatever it was, it is beautiful and it's from Allie and that's all that matters!! Here's some closeups... each depiction of Horus is done in slightly different ways... they used a varigated thread to great effect!




I'll have to see if I can figure out a translation of the hieroglyphics, too. Thank you soooooo much, Miss Allie... I think I have the perfect place to showcase it!

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I don't have any stitching to show off today; however, I do have a before and after shot in the "what we did Sunday" file. Glenn is determined to reclaim the house from the cat's claw vines that have begun taking it over! This is a before shot of the east side of the house (with ancient air conditioner) from when we first moved in. The vines had doubled in size from this photo!


and here it is now...

As you can see, we still have to attack the other side of the wall in the front of the house. There was a big mat of roots, leaves and dirt between the A/C unit and the house... it was nasty!! Some of those vines were as big as my wrist! I'm quite sure I'll be spending the rest of the summer using Roundup on a regular basis on them as they grow back. We think they may be the cause of the small cracks in the walls of the house. Lovely!

Anyhoo... it's a start on the landscaping that needs to be done. The next big step is getting rid of this olive stump...

and it's partner in crime, a mulberry tree that was butchered by the previous owners. We have an arborist coming to take a look at them and the other trees in our yard next week. WooHoo!!

Hopefully I'll actually have some embroidery to show next time... this IS a crazy quilting blog after all!

Whoops!

Sorry about the unexpected hiatus... I have been, once again, sick with the flu from hell and am only now feeling back to normal. Three days of feeling terrible, followed by a week of slowing waking up. I will be SO glad when this winter is over! I have never been so sick so many times... either Glenn or I have been sick since Thanksgiving and I am soooo over it. Blech.

'Nuff said about that.

I have no new pictures to show of any stitching. I haven't even touched it all week. I have a terrible time being creative when I'm sick... my mind kinda shuts down and it's all I can do to keep up with normal things. I am missing it now though, so am determined to get back in the groove. I hope to have some progress to show you soon.

I was feeling good enough this past weekend to do some furniture shopping, though. There is a store here call Furniture Affair that stocks all the model home furniture that the builders don't need anymore. They have a very eclectic mix of furnishings so it has taken awhile to find the sofa set we wanted. After six weeks of haunting them waiting for the perfect set, it finally appeared! I stopped by on a whim on Friday on the way home and found my sofa set... this one in a dark brown fabric.

I needed to make sure Glenn liked it, too so we were there as soon as the doors opened on Saturday morning. We bought the sofa and chair set, as well as a rug to go with them. They delivered it on Saturday night and we had some fun fixing everything up. It's made by Rowe Furniture and is very comfortable. It's been awhile since we had new furniture and it looks so nice! It's like we are grown-up or something!! ;0)

Hokay, that's all I got today. Blogging will improve from here on out... I'm determined to get back in the swing of things!

Have a good week and see you in a couple of days!