Jul 2, 2018

Marvelous Monday Update 7/2/2018


WEATHER

Whew, this past weekend was a scorcher!  Heat index temperatures were 110-115F.  The air conditioner in the house and vehicles could hardly keep up.  Thankfully, on Sunday a cold front came through and the temperatures dropped considerably.  At least for a few days...  Dog days of summer!

THEATRE
I almost had a fiasco on my hands.  Last month, I bought tickets to Of Mice and Men at a local community theatre for June 30th.  The local college was putting on Wizard of Oz so I bought tickets on June 22nd for the production on the 23rd... or, so I thought.


Arrived at the theatre on the 23rd all dressed up to find there were people in my seats.  There were 20 people in line at the box office and the lights were flickering to tell people to take their seats.  I figured part of the show would be missed if I had to wait until the line was cleared, so I went home.  On Monday, I called to see if I could exchange the tickets for the last showing of Oz on July 1st.  Instead of sitting front center, the only seats were in the last three rows a little off center.  Better than losing the cost of the tickets, I got those.  The production, like all the college's productions, was fantastic!  I'm always amazed at how talented the actors/actresses are and the special effects are always so good.

Of Mice and Men was also very good.  It's based on a novel by John Steinbeck.  I've never read the book or seen the 1993 movie.  The ending was compassionate and disturbing at the same time.  I was sitting third row center so I experienced the ending up close and personal!

STITCHY STUFF
Happy Dance!  I finished Ode to the Ort Basket.  I'm very pleased with how it turned out.


Ode to the Ort Basket
Designer:  Brenda Gervais/With Thy Needle and Thread
Fabric:  40ct Vintage Pecan by Lakeside Linens
Fibers:  GAST, WDW, DMC, and Classic Colorworks threads
Basket is 2.75"W x 2.5"H x 1.5"D


Soap box time!  The designs calls over-dyed threads so I bought them all.  I was very irritated that one color used only three stitches.  Since the design is stitched one thread over two, that means I used 1/2" of one strand of thread.  With the little amount of thread needed to stitch this project, the designer could've put in the small amount of threads needed and bumped the price up a couple dollars.  Okay, off my soapbox now.

Until next time...


17 comments:

Christina G said...

YOur basket turned out great! I have learned to read the pattern and the called for yarns and will substitute any over-dyed threads with regular floss...those over-dyed or gradient dyed threads need at least 10 stitches to show the effect...sometimes more.

Anonymous said...

Love the ort basket - really cute. Glad you got a weather break - you guys also get tons of humidity with high temps so I feel for you. We don't know what humidity is, but was raised in South Dakota so know how it feels and it's not fun! Have a great 4th! Judi in Phoenix

Robin in Virginia said...

Congratulations on your Ort Basket finish! I do agree with you on the overdyed threads. Glad you enjoyed the theater productions you went to. Stay cool!

Anonymous said...

Love your ort basket! You are so very talented. Great job. Dorrie

Deb said...

Beautiful ort basket! Hope you get your shows arranged to where you can see them all.

Katie said...

Yes this heat has been crazy! I'm glad you were able to see both shows. I always love shows like that but never get a chance to see any. Love the basket. I agree with you that would be nice. I try to look to see if it's worth the special threads or not.

Carol said...

Sure hope this heat wave lets up soon, Meari--today does seem a bit better and the weekend is supposed to be much cooler. I totally agree on the specialty threads--very frustrating to have colors that only require a teeny piece.

The basket is beautiful!! Such a cute way to store your orts, too :) I will have to remember this one.

Hope you have a relaxing 4th of July tomorrow!

Faith... said...

The ort basket turned out beautifully Meari. Love the design and the painting of the basket.

Anonymous said...

Great job on all of your smalls, and I love the Quaker mail art. Yep, Of Mice and Men is a disturbing story. I don't remember if we read it in school but I do remember watching the movie in class.

Take care,
Karin

rosey175 said...

Yuck, I think we're in a similar neck of the woods with those heat index temps. I'm a bit tired of all the warnings... or wish someone would warn the grass to stop growing!

Your Ode to the Ort basket turned out great! Well worth the time spent painting it. It looks perfect. :D It's a shame about the threads though. Can you even tell a floss is a fancy overdyed if it's only three stitches?!

Anonymous said...

Hey Meari!

I really enjoy your blog :-) I don’t camp BUT anytime we go out of town I do take some stitching with me. I usually take a Secret needle Night kit (from The Silver Needle store in Tulsa) because these are done on a large count fabric, usually a 10 count and have all sorts of really cool speciality thread. Since it is a kit, I can do this on the plane since all the threads are already cut (no scissors on the plane). If I don’t have a SNN kit I will take an ornament to stitch - easy and can be completed in a couple of days.

We just got back from Banff and this was the first trip out of town where I FORGOT to take any stitching - yikes! At least I didn’t forget my book I was reading, Refguee by Alan Gratz and I got through that while on the plane.

The Ort box is cute and I feel ya when you write of hot temps. I live in Texas and the heat index has been like 107 in the shade! We all were glad for the trip to Banff in Canada where the high was 58 degrees - wonderful. :-)

Jenn

Meari said...

Meari,

I've had my eye on that ort basket project. Yours turned out so lovely!

Marina

Grandma Luvs2DP said...

Beautiful finish!! Try to stay cool we baked in Upstate NY too! I have found another new craft too Diamond painting it uses DMC colors for the colors of the diamonds!!

Anonymous said...

Love your finish. 40 count??? Man I wish I could even see that anymore. Love your blog. Still catching up but yes I am one of those that drags my stitching with me to camp as I noticed your Memorial Day post. Thanks for such an entertaining blog. Have a great week!!

Patti

Pamela said...

Adorable little finish!

Elfie said...

Such a pretty Small, and your finishing is great.

Mary said...

Your basket is beautiful.