The Terrible Two Are MEAN!!

I got up this morning with the intention of going right to work on the Observatory.

I made sure that the rug was going to fit in the area that I had planned it for. 

OK. That worked out nicely.

But then I overheard the Terrible Two discussing what I was going to be doing next...

"We have to get her to give back the sign."

I knew immediately what they were talking about.

I have had the sign that is in the next photo attached to the light next to my bed for about a year.

They seen to think that Daisy is going to want it back.

I like the sign and don't want to give it up. I am going to have to make a couple more copies.

I know that if Daisy has one, Zar is going to want one too when I get to his projects again... So... Either I make a couple of copies or hand letter a couple.  I don't want to give mine up and I don't want to have the two of them to come to blows over the ownership.... With me in the middle! Unfortunately, Tessie will want one too. Just because everyone else has one. Make that three more copies.

I decided to stay away from the observatory and work on the rug for the library.... That would be fine, if I could just find the shade of grayish brown that I was using for the background. 

Unfortunately, there are a LOT of shades of grayish brown on the DMC chart.  I usually write the numbers on the edge of what I am working on. Unfortunately, I forgot to do it.  Now I am VERY sorry that I forgot.  I have been looking at that chart  for at least a half hour.  I am NOT having any luck.  I find a color that I think is the one.  Start using it. Only to find that it is not the right one. 

Back to the chart and searching.  See you tomorrow.  Hopefully with the rug more finished than it is now.



Something Wicked...

I still haven't found the mirrors.  This morning I started looking in other places... Big mistake!!!

I started looking in the jewelry chest that I keep the mini cross stitch in...

I found three drawers that had a LOT of unfinished rugs and other embroidery in them.

What is terrible, the drawers are full of fabric and some of the pieces have two or three rugs and other things started on them.

I didn't count all of the starts.  If I did, I would probably start throwing things.  Namely the fabric with unfinished rugs, etc. on them.

If you start counting, please don't write and tell me how many unfinished items of embroidery there are for me to finish.  I don't want to know.
Some of these go back to my early days of minis... Late seventies or early eighties.

If I ever finish this one, it will be a miracle. It is the start of a crewel bed spread. If I finish it, that means that I will have to carve and build a bed to go with it.

I am not holding my breath until I finish it... That's for sure!!!

This is the bottom drawer.  It has a lot of blank fabric that is just waiting for something to be started on it.

I am NOT going to start anything until I finish some of the other ones first.

I did find one other thing that I am going to finish.

I started this about twenty years ago.  All it needs is a mat and a frame.  It's not a mini.  I am thinking that I should finish the framing.  If I do that, I will hang it somewhere near the embroidery chest.

Maybe it will warn me not to start any more mini rugs and other things until I finish some of the things in these three piles!

I am now going to waste a little more time looking for the mirrors.  Then I am going to go finish something... Anything will do.  I just need to complete something! See you tomorrow.

After Christmas Cleaning Should Never Happen!!!

 I Started with the bedside table.  Not bad.  I got it cleaned in no time and didn't run into any problems.  No unfinished projects...

The telephone table was a bit riskier.  Three pair of unfinished socks and a hat...

Don't ask about the ones that I hid in the closet.  I was just cleaning the tables.  Not the boxes of yarn that I put in the closet yesterday... The socks will all get finished some time... This year?  Next year?

I cleaned off the work table... Victor is very proud.  After all, that is where he has to live.

I can get back to work there at any time!

Then I made the mistake of opening one of the drawers where I keep unfinished rugs...

We aren't going to talk about the other two drawers like this... Not a word!

I am planning on finishing the Rya in the right bottom corner before I do anything else. That is the one that I started for The He Shed.  It is about three quarters done.   I am going back in and clean the bathroom now... One problem... All of my unfinished jewelry pieces are in there... Again. We are not going to talk about this.

See you tomorrow.

At Least It's Not the Flu

Cleaning can be fun! I found enough #24 canvas to make a ton of rugs! It was stuffed in the back of my closet.

Now I want to design new rugs.  If I do, I will put some of them on the blog for you.

That is if I can get the canvas away from Kota. 

He seems to think that they would be fun to chew on.

I am getting the bedroom back to working order.  I still have to find a nice towel to hang on the dragon. Toilet paper just doesn't suit.

And yes.  I know I need to clean off the worktable...

 Zar and Tessie are not talking to one another again.  Zar went off to his radio study to pout.

It won't last.  Darn!!!

Tessie has taken up residence in the top shelf of the tower and keeps leaning out to see what is happening on Supernatural. 

I am just waiting for her to fall over the edge.  Leaning out is not a good idea.  Maybe I should slant the tower so that she can see.  I wouldn't want to be the cause of a terrible fall.

The good news for the day is, at least I don't have the flu.  We found the thermometer. I am running a 97.6 temp.  That is about normal for me. So I am not in to bad a shape.

We spent the morning in the garage and wound up getting rid of some things that just didn't need to be there. 

It kind of feels good to start the new year by unloading some things that we really don't need. 

Back to work.

See you tomorrow.  Maybe with something new started!

Even Redder Than the Photo!

This photo doesn't really do the sunset last night justice! It was even redder than it shows up here!

This is part of  the reason that we live in Arizona.  The sunsets are like this a lot of the time.

 Now back to the real world.  I had to re-glue the bench a third time.  It is now working right.

The blue in the foreground is what I am using for the upholstery. It is very thin, but has an almost leather like finish.

The real bench has brown upholstery, but I thought that the blue would go better with the Star Wars material of the bed covers.

This is a piece of upholstery material that I had in my stash.  The right side is at the outer edges of the photo. 

It actually looks a lot like the rug that they have under Amare's bed.

I simply cut the fabric to a little larger than I want the rug.  Then I smeared glue around the edges.  After it's dry, I will cut it to the right size.

We are coming along nicely. Fingers crossed!

April is doing the turkey, tomorrow.  I get to do Christmas.

It all works out.  I have more time to play with making Christmas presents while she cooks.

Back to work.  See you tomorrow.

The Way It Used To Be

It used to be that these doors just fit in the holes in the room box kits... Someone has changed something.  The doors are now too short and too narrow to fit right.  They are going to have to be fudged a bit. 

I have already cut between a quarter and a half inch off of the cutouts for the doors. 

As you can see, I have them glued and taped in place. 

Now I am waiting for the glue to dry.

I found this bag of stuff for Tessie when I was cleaning.  She now has combs, safety pins, hair pins and scissors. Not to mention nail files... I can see it now.  I will be getting out the beads and findings to make nail polish and such. 

She knew I was hiding something and she went looking...

She was grinning from ear to ear when she found out what was in the bag... And I was right.  Nail polish bottles coming right up!

I am getting closer to finishing the rya rug.  I just keep plugging along.  A few rows a day and soon I will be finished.

I am liking this one and I want one my size like this one... April tried to talk me into making one just like this in real size for her... I don't think that I will live that long!

It takes me weeks to finish this size.  Can you imagine doing this on a piece of canvas that is six feet square... It might take a while!

Then after I got that finished, I would have to go back and finish all of the mini ones in this box...

I just told her that if she could afford enough silk yarn to make a six footer, I would get started...

I think that I am pretty safe.  It would be in the thousands of dollars category...

I am going back and work on the two room boxes some more.

See you tomorrow.

Having Fun Now....

We Found Tessie's alligator while cleaning the workroom.

She hasn't bugged ,me about doing things for her for the last 48 hours.  She and her friend have been getting reacquainted.

I am being ignored... That is a good thing.

On the other hand, Kota has been next to me for those 48 hours.  He likes having me to himself.  So he divides his time between Walter and I equally.

He has been helping me work on the Rya rug most of the day.  Walter was playing golf.  So what else could Kota do?  I was the only one around to pet him.

I am making progress on the Rya rug.  That little pile up in the corner is all of the thread that I have left.  I think that it will cover most of the canvas that is left.

And yes.  The workroom is still presentable.  I need to go put a couple of things away that are on the worktable and the bench. Otherwise it is staying clean.

Then back to the rya.  See you tomorrow.

The Monsoons Are Back!!!

The colors in this yarn remind me of the color of the sky this afternoon.

Not much pink. A lot of gray and blue though. 

I got this thread from Witch Joan.  She tried doing the Rya, but it was too tough on her hands.  Arthritis and Rya rug making in mini don't mix well...

Now about the skies... Very gray and raining a lot.  Our back yard is going to be flooded in a little while.

Hey! I am not complaining. I won't have to water for a few days...

This is what is happening to the hummingbirds... He looks like he is about to be blown away.  Strangely, he is!

The wind is blowing him off course when he flies. He is a determined bird though.

He wants dinner... And he is getting it. A little at a time.  I tried for a photo of him eating, but unfortunately, he kept getting blown off course.

The wind seems to be slowing down a bit, so I am not worried that he won't get enough to eat.  There are five of these silly little birds flying around the back yard.  They seem to enjoy the rainy weather.

The Wednesday Witches went down town to Witch Judy's restaurant to have lunch today, so no minis.  Just a lot of good food. It is in a building next to the Tucson Museum of Art.  The name of the restaurant is Café a la C'art. The building that it is in, is one of the oldest buildings in Tucson. If you  ever get to Tucson, I highly recommend it! Great food! 

A good time was had by all.

Back to minis tomorrow. See you then!

Finishing the Rya...

I decided to make a small throw rug, instead of pillows. I made it as big as I could on the canvas that I started it on. Now to finish it.

This is how you go about it. 

First I trimmed the edges three rows from the rug all the way around.

Then I cut a diagonal on all four corners.

I intentionally left the last two threads in all of the corners.  To be trimmed after putting on

the glue and the clips.

I put the glue on the unfinished edges of the rug.  NOT on the rug itself.  That way, it will not gum up the nap on the rug.

Then I turned under all of the edges, long sides first, then the short, and clipped them with hair clips. 

I haven't seen the clips in the hair care section of Walmart in a long time.  The other day I did find them in the jewelry section.  People are

decorating them to wear in their hair. 

Just in case you go to look for them, try the jewelry making section if they can't be found in the hair care section.

Anyway, after the rug is dry, take them off and turn the rug right side up and use your toothbrush to brush the edges outward.

If you turn it back over, you will see that it sticks out on all four sides.

Of course, after all that work, guess who has the rug?...

Yup. It's in front of Tessie's She Shed.  Nope. It doesn't match, but that's not what matters...

What matters is that "Possession is nine points of the law."... Anyway, that's Tessie's story and she's sticking with it.

See you tomorrow.

Rya Rug Instructions Here!

I came up with this idea at one of those three o'clock in the morning moments...

If you try this, please give credit where credit is due.  I don't think that anybody else is doing this.

The canvas that I am working on is called waste canvas.  It is used to do cross stitch on any kind of fabric.  This particular #14 waste canvas can be gotten at Michael's or any store that carries needlework supplies.

It is very inexpensive and can be used for a number of things if you tire of making rugs and pillows.

Anyway, the first thing you do is get a pencil and draw off the project that you want to make.

In this case, I decided to make a couple of pillows. This will give you an idea of how to go about it.

The reason for using this canvas is, it's the smallest double threaded canvas that I could find and it has guide lines in blue for every five rows.

You will be using embroidery thread (three strands) to do this.

I cut my threads in yard long pieces.  The part that you see done in these photos took one yard long piece.  I split it into two groups of three threads. 

The first photo shows that you start at the lower left of the project.  I am just giving right handed instructions.  If you are left handed I imagine that you would start at the bottom right.

You put your needle under the left thread of the first pair of vertical threads, from right to left.  You will always be using the needle in the same direction.

Holding the tail with your left thumb, pull the thread through. Then still holding the tail, put you needle under the right thread of the pair and draw it through. 

You should go under the thread that you just put through. This will make a larks head knot. It is the same one that is used to make latch hook rugs.

Now you insert a #1 or #2 knitting needle under the row that you are going to work on.

Pull the thread behind the needle and start making another larks head.  First through the left and then through the right.

This should  result in the second larks head knot.

Again put the thread behind the knitting needle and do it again... And again...And again. Until

you get to the end of the row. The whole row will be topped by larks head knots. Pull the knitting needle out. Cut the thread to finish the row.    You should have a loop between each of the knots. 

 If you run out of thread in the middle of a row, simply rethread your needle with new thread and keep going.  You will not have a loop in that particular spot. Just be sure to leave a tail on the old thread and a tail on the new thread.

When you finish a row take a small pair of scissors and carefully cut all of the loops at the middle. 

 Then brush all of the fringe down with a toothbrush. 

Start the next row in the holes above the knots.  If you look at the back, you will see two threads between the rows.  It doesn't show to clearly from the front.

Of course Tessie grabs the project every time I put it down and starts petting it... Guess who wants the new pillows?

The part that I have done in the photo with Tessie is how much one yard of thread, split in half, will cover.

If you want to do a large rug, you will need a lot more skeins. 

One yard equals about one square inch.

I will leave you with this much information today.  Tomorrow, I will show you how to finish your project.  Good luck and have fun. 

See you tomorrow.

Make Curtains NOW!

When I got home from the Wednesday Witches meeting today, Tessie was waiting for me...

She was sitting in her She Shed with a vanity tray, doing her hair and nails. 

It was a hint to do her hair like I promised...

I looked closer and she had the fabric that was left over from her one woman chair and footstool propped up behind her against the window...

I suppose that she was hinting LOUDLY!

she wants the She Shed done as a place to do absolutely nothing.  She just wants it to be a place to watch TV and do her nails.

I have a feeling that she is going to win...

I looked next door and Zar had most of her potion making paraphernalia  scattered on his front deck.

Maybe I can talk him into learning to make potions.  It seems that Tessie is not at all interested in it being in her She Shed.

I doubt that he will want them there either.

Very large dilemma..

I am not making another She or He Shed at this time!

I am working on Tessie's rug... Which no longer goes with what she has in her She Shed. 

I wonder if Zar would like to trade.  His rug would go better with hers.

How do I get into these messes... I think it might be there are too many mini people with a lot of time on their hands... And me with not enough time on my hands. 

As soon as I finish this rug, I am going to try to do instructions on the blog.  Hang in there.  They are coming soon.

See you tomorrow.

Tessie Repairs Demanded!!!

I got up and started working on Tessie's rug this morning... I am half way done now.






I can't do anything on my IPad.  Kota took  it over and won't let me have it back! 

Good Cat Bed.  Bad IPad.

He hisses at me every time I try to get it back.

Oh well....

I have other problems to solve anyway...

Tessie came flouncing in and dropped onto her chair on the magnifying lamp. 

She started the sob story with... "I broke my thumb and my dress." The thumb is completely gone and I suspect that she pulled the sleeve off of the dress at the shoulder with her good hand. I can't prove it, but it sure looks like it.  Lots of stitches missing...

Then she quietly added, "My left foot keeps falling off and I hate my hair!"

I thought that was the end of it... But NO.

Then she added, "I want my nose back!"

I suspect that she tried to give herself a nose job and didn't quite get it right.  A small piece of the right side is missing...

Anyway, I can't leave her like she is.  She has managed to make a total mess.  I guess I am going to spend the rest of the day messing with Tessie. With the mood that she's in, I had better get it right or she will mess me up to match! I will be in need of more glue and thread than she does.

I am off to fix things that are wrong in Tessie's world.  Wish me luck!

See you tomorrow, with a whole new Tessie!