Monday, September 5, 2011

TUSAL and finish, Irene too

In the midst of all the post Irene mess, I have to show off my SDW finish.  Don't think I can get the whole thing in one pic, so you'll have to piece it together from the pics.

SDW Sampler by Scarlet Letter
AVAS fibers
40ct R&R linen


So there she is.  Sorry about the weird joints between pics.  I did manage to get that gold blackwork border finished at the top too.  I'm glad I did it -- it adds a little something.

I'm also late with my TUSAL report, so here it is.


It always looks the same, doesn't it?  Oh well.  I just keep squishing my fibers down.

We're still in the midst of cleaning up from Irene here.  The basement is drying out very slowly.  We did a massive amount of getting stuff up from the basement, both salvageable and non-savageable, this weekend.  We are waiting to see if we get more flooding from the rain storms for the next few days -- a frontal system first, and then the leftovers from TS Lee.  I'm praying that we stay dry down there, but am fearing the worst.  Hopefully if there's more flooding, it won't be as much as from Irene.  

Once the rain is done, we've hired some flood damage people to come with a dumpster to throw out all the water soaked things down there, dry the basement out, and treat the whole basement with anti-microbial treatment to prevent mold, etc.  This is scheduled for Thursday if all goes well.  So slowly but surely.  (Yes, it's an unfinished basement.)

The boy child starts his senior year of high school tomorrow.  Rather unbelievable to me.  And over next weekend, the girl child will be taken back to college too.  She's also a senior this year, which is also unbelievable.

Some of you asked how Mia did during the hurricane.  Truth to tell, she was just fine.  I think she might have been a bit scared once or twice, but overall, she was pretty relaxed and dandy.  lol!  

She was a bit clingy though, wanting to be close to us.  I'm wondering if this is a good sign (keep in mind Mia still hisses and bats at the girl child, which is why this is so bizarre).


Mia also cuddled with the boy child a lot.


Once again, I apologize for not answering your comments for a while, and not commenting on your blogs as much.  Hopefully I'll be back to normal soon.

Thanks as always for stopping by and saying hi.  I hope everyone has a happy, safe, dry week.  (Except for those of you who need rain of course.)


60 comments:

Deb said...

Woo Hoo on your finish Margaret! It looks fantastic and again, I can't believe you finished that one up so quickly considering everything that's going on!! Congratulations!! Now, what's next.

Love the pictures of Mia and the kids. Funny how she looks right at home on your daughter yet hisses at her all the time. She looks quite content laying on your daughter.

And fingers crossed the next round of storms doesn't bring any more flooding. I think that you've had enough already!!

Valerie said...

Congrats on your finish, Margaret! Once again, you have produced a stunner! I am excited to see what is up your sleeve next!

I am glad to hear that you survived Irene. However, I am very sorry to hear about the basement! I know exactly what a major pain in the tookus a flooded basement can be (busted pipe while away from home...not pretty) I do hope that the unsalvagable were things that you were going to take to Good Will anyway. Nothing worse than finding personal treasures that are water logged. I will keep you and your family in my thoughts.

On a lighter note, I was thrilled to see the pic of Mia and the girl child! Maybe this is the beginning of a guarded truce? Hope so!

Take care, dear Margaret! {{{{HUGS}}}}

Bertie said...

Wow, congratulations Margaret, glad to see your were still able to stitch with Irene around. We have seen the devastation and am glad to see you and yours are fine, apart from the mess that is:))

Your children are so grown-up!! and good to see that!

Keep Safe

doris said...

What a sampler! Beautiful, beautiful!

Isabelle said...

Margaret ,your finish is absolutely wonderful : the colors are so joyful! all your pics with Mia and your children are so cute. At the end of your post, Mia feels still afraid : is it true ?
Please, take care of yourself :-)Isa

Deborah said...

What a beautiful finish! I love so many of the motifs. That Mia is the cutest with her kids.

Joy said...

Beautiful finish, beautiful children. So sorry you're having to clean out your basement. Hopefully, this will be the last of the rain. Hang in there!

Leneslines said...

I can't get over the details on this sampler! Love the flowers 'over' the church, and the stars, of course. Amazing work you do. Congrats! Also good to hear you made it through Irene, even with the flooded basement. We are raining away in this country this summer. Sigh. Really love the last picture of Mia. Silly cat:)

marly said...

Wow Margaret, that is magnificent. Is Mia really a stitching helper in disguise? Your accomplishment in such short time is mind boggling. Truly. Hope your weather doesn't create more problems and your hired work stays on schedule. Queen Mia looks pretty comfy.

Annie said...

Your sampler is so fabulous. How on earth did you get that done with all that hurricane mess to deal with!

Hope the weather in the coming days treats you better and lets you get back to normal soon.

Jackie's Stitches said...

It sounds like the basement being unfinished is a very good thing. Glad to hear that cleanup is underway and hopefully finished soon.

Congratulations on your finish! It's a big one too! What's next for you?

Cathy B said...

Feel so bad that you have such a mess to clean up after Irene. I hope all goes well this week when the experts come to help with the basement.

Your sampler finish is great! Congrats!

Penny said...

SDW is amazing, such pretty colors! That's a lot of beautiful stitching!! Hope you don't have to deal with a flooded basement again for a very long time. So hard to believe that behind that sweet little face lurks the heart of a wild cat.

Babs in Alabama said...

Does it get any better than this beautiful finish and Mia peeking out? I LOVE candid cat pics
Happy dancing for you and praying all this rain doesn't affect you again.
hugs,
babs

Karen said...

I'm glad to hear that you guys are safe after Irene! Beautiful finish...absolutely beautiful!

barbara said...

Wow, two seniors! That must be so hard to grasp .... Sometimes they can't grow up fast enough to suit me, but most of the time I wish I could just freeze the clock.

Laurie in Iowa said...

Congrats on finishing SDW. She looks fabulous. I think the gold blackwork adds a nice touch to the sampler too and I'm glad you stuck with it.
It was wonderful to see Mia and the girl child relaxing together. Maybe there is hope that they'll be buddies one day.
Keeping my fingers crossed that you won't get any more water in your basement.

Zlata said...

Another beautiful finish!!! Looks wonderful!!! So nice, gentle colours!! I'm in love!!! )))

Mia is so cute! Very interesting to see how she grows!

What will be your next design for stitching?

Glenna said...

Very pretty! The blackwork at the top DOES add something. Can't wait to see what you do next. Best of luck with the possible rain and getting the basement all dried out.

Natalia said...

SDW is absolutely, stunningly beautiful, Margaret. Congratulations !!!
Mia is just as darn cute !!

krayolakris said...

Congrats on your finish...that sampler has always appealed to me too. Love little Mia with your seniors! You could send some of that rain down to NE Florida if you don't mind. Glad you are able to dry out!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri Malinovich) said...

Wonderful finish, Margaret! I am always amazed at how quickly you finish them. Another beauty to add to your collection.

Stay dry and good luck with the clean-up; not fun, I'm sure.

Hazel said...

What a fantastic finish. Love it. The border looks amazing. Sorry to hear about all the flooding. Eeeek. Hopefully no more will come your way. x

Melissa said...

I love the pictures of Mia. She's a cat alright!

Congrats on your humongous finish! I'm just starting my first BAP and boy, I don't know how you do it, but I will find out...on a much slower pace!

valerie said...

Congrats on your SDW finish! She looks gorgeous!

Love that last pic f Mia peeking under the quilt. Too cute!

Hope the cleanup continues to go well!

Susan said...

SDW is absolutely amazing!! Could you do a post on how you manage to stitch so quickly? Any special tricks that help?

Sorry you have so much clean-up after Irene. Hope you didn't have any stitching things in the basement. That happens to be where I keep my stash, but our basement only gets a little bit of water in heavy rain and all my stash is in plastic tubs. Perhaps one of these days, I'll finally make my older son's room over into a guest/sewing room and get everything moved upstairs.

Liz said...

That sampler is amazing Margaret, just lovely. Glad you're drying out a little, I'm keeping my fingers crossed for no more rain for you for a while..
Lizzie
xxx

Patti-Rocky Mtn Stitcher said...

The sampler us fabulous. I just love it.

BrendaS said...

Beautiful finish Margaret. Something wonderful in the hurricane mess. Sounds like things are headed in the right direction and I hope you don't get any more unwanted rain.

Have a good week

Sherry :o) said...

I am so glad you are finally making some progress from the Irene aftermath. Your finish with Margaret is stunning and awesome - what a huge stitch!

I love how Mia lays on the backs of those laying down on their tummy! My sweet Sagebrush used to do that - she's been gone for quite awhile - we miss her.

Hope getting the two seniors off and running for school goes smoothly for you this week!

The Scarlett House said...

Hey M, wow, I have no words to compliment your latest finish. It is spectacular. You never cease to amaze me.
You know that I wish you could get a break from the flooding and weather woes. This too shall pass, my friend.
Love the peeking Mia photo.
BTW, what the heck is a Tusal?

Catherine said...

Fantastic finish!!

I hope that the next bouts of rain don't affect you as hard. It's raining pretty good here now.

Love the pics of Mia and your children!

Cari said...

WOW OH WOW Margaret...your sampler is FABULOUS!! That is one HUGE piece of work. Excellent ... I love seeing all of your work.

I hope you get the basement dried up/out. What a mess..I can only imagine.

Love the pics of Mia and the children. So funny that she rested on the girl child...too funny these cats of ours. Hugs to all of you.

Sharon said...

Gorgeous, gorgeous finish! Congrats!

Katrina said...

Huge congrats on your finish!!!! Completely gorgeous piece.

Cute pics of Mia and the kids, glad the hurricane didn't upset her too much. Hope you don't get a lot of rain!!!!

samplerlover said...

Another wonderful finish Margaret. SDW looks really lovely. You have finished it so fast.

I hope that the weather is going to be kind to you and not flood out your basement. To much water is a bad thing - Sandra.

Jenny said...

Oh Margaret, that is such a gorgeous sampler! It is just perfect. I love the motifs, the colors, your stitching - everything is just a joy to look at! Can't wait to see how this huge baby looks all framed up!

Good to see that Mia may be warming up to your daughter. I would assume that this is a really good sign. Let's hope! :-)

purple24 said...

Wow! That is a beautiful peice. I absolutely love it.

(((HUGS))) to you and your family. I hope you get your basement dried out and that there will be no more flooding.

Take care...

Siobhán said...

Mia is too cute. LOL at the pic of her on cuddling on your daughter when she still hisses at her. Talk about fickle felines! LOL

CONGRATULATIONS on such a gorgeous sampler finish!! WahOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!

I hope the clean up goes smoothly and that this is the last of the rain-that-causes-flooding for you for a loooong time. Thinking of you!

Carol said...

Congratulations on another delightful finish, Margaret! I adore those giant birds :)

I sure hope this next round of storms avoids your area--we're due to have nothing but rain all week here--ugh! I know how frustrating flooded basements are to deal with. Ours used to flood quite often until we put a larger drain pipe in from our pond out to the street. I hope you can find a way to get the problem under control, too :) Hang in there...

Marjorie said...

lol cats are so strange. My older cat has taken to drinking out of the toilet. Beautiful finish, I don't know how you find the time...

Anne said...

Congrats on finishing!! Wow that is one massively long piece!! I adore all the parts! That little Mia is too cute for words. I love how she cuddles!! Hopefully the basement will be cleared of mold and dampness and you don't get anymore tropical storms!

Juels said...

SDW looks great! Congratulations! Glad you made it safely thorugh Irene and hope that is all you have to go through. And the pics of Mia are darling, Margaret.

Poussy Stitches My Love said...

very very beautiful stitching my friend, I love the cat ....
bisous bisous

Lois said...

Sorry to hear that you'd a flooded basement and all that that's going to entail to get it fixed up. Glad you all survived the hurricane though! Fantastic finish and what cute pics of kids and cat!

Giovanna said...

Great finish, congratulations! What's up next? Nice pics of Mia and the kids - and a happy new school/college year to them.

trillium said...

Love the peacock on the sampler! Hope your house is dried out by now and things getting back to normal.

Melanie said...

Gurrrrl, it's totally awesome!!! Congrats on finishing!!

Berit said...

Gosh, love your finish!

Mia looks so happy with GC as well as BC; strange to me that her aggressive behavior continues sometimes.

Glad to hear that things were not any worse than they were for you during the storm! Here's hoping they leave us alone for the rest of the season!

Melody said...

Mia reminds me of our white cat, Simon. They could be from the same litter with such similar markings.

Glad to hear your storm damage from Irene isn't any worse.

Congrats on your beautiful stitching!

Mary said...

So pleased that you have survived Irene. It must have been very frightening for everyone and so glad that your damage is something that can be rectified.
Your sampler is awesome - I can't imagine doing something that size - and it doesn't seem to have taken you very long to do either.
Mary

Mindi said...

Yay! What a fantastic finish! Amazing that you stitched it so quickly with all the other "stuff" going on.

Poussy Stitches My Love said...

HELLO I hope you are well? I kiss you

Sally said...

Congratulations on your stunning finish Margaret!

Love the photos of Mia and your children.

Paulette said...

Margaret, your SDW is stupendous! I LOVE the way you pieced the sampler together in photos - what a fantastic idea!

congratulations, and I sure hope you all are holding up okay. :( I'm sorry about the flooding. :(

Paulette

Berit said...

Beautiful work; visiting your blog is always such a treat.

Dona said...

Wow! You finished it, Margaret! Congratulations on such a beautiful finish, which I don't know how you managed during all the weather you've had in your area.

I love the pictures of Mia with your children. You can tell Mia knows she is well loved and welcome anywhere!

Sherry said...

Yea for you on the finish and what a stunning piece! You really do get things done quickly.

Don't kids grown up quickly? I hope you get the waters cleaned up with no problems. Enough is enough on all these storms lately!

Sue said...

Wow, what a gorgeous sampler/finish. Congratulations!!

Michelle said...

SDW is gorgeous!!! I do think that gold band at the top adds something - glad you decided to do it. Congrats on the finish!!