The Land of Not-Quite-Finished-Projects Part 5: Samplers

Ahhh samplers...you just can't stitch without seeing patterns for samplers everywhere - every magazine, needlework shop, stitching group.  Any antique shop that you go into has at least a couple hanging on the walls.  Originally designed as a way to teach different needlework techniques and motifs to young girls as well as the alphabet and numbers, samplers have been around for hundreds of years.  It's no surprise they are still popular today.

I don't do a lot of samplers myself but I still find myself drawn to some of them.  For example, the Chatelaine Mandalas, like Knotgarden, are a type of sampler, and I'm looking forward to starting Long Dog Sampler's Scarlet Ribands.

It should be no surprise that there's a stack of samplers in my "Not Quite Finished" pile either.

This one is from 1996, when I was going through a Celtic design phase (there's more Celtic themed stitching but that will be in another post).  I know I found the design in a magazine, but am not sure which one - it's long gone at this point.   I still really like this design and might have a go at framing it myself sometime.

From 1997;  no idea where I found the pattern.  Not surprisingly we see a rose/floral theme here, which is consistent with my general tastes.

From 1998.  I seem to remember this being from a very popular designer but couldn't tell you who. It's a bit primitive for my tastes now, so I don't know that I'd do anything with it at this point.

And finally, four individual pieces that are a "set"  - not exactly a sampler per se but it's got the same feel.   No date on these but they're done on aida, so probably pre-1998 at least. 

Parmesan Crusted Chicken with Dijon Cheese Sauce

I was looking around for something to make chicken breast more interesting, and came across this recipe.  I tweaked it a little to suit my own tastes.

Parmesan Crusted Chicken:

2 chicken breasts cutlets, pounded into an even thickness
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme

Mix the parmesan with the sage and thyme.   Line baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and give a spritz of cooking spray.  Dip the chicken cutlets in the melted butter, and then into the parmesan cheese.  Bake at 425 until the chicken is cooked through and the parmesan is browned. 

Dijon Cheese Sauce: 

3 oz grated montery jack cheese
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup mayo
1 teaspoon grainy dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried sage
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
fresh ground pepper to taste

In a medium microwaveable bowl, stir the cheese and heavy cream together.  Microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes, until cheese is melted.  Whisk in the mayonnaise, dijon, herbs and pepper to taste.   The sauce will appear a little lumpy but whisk until it is smooth and thick.   Microwave for another minute and then whisk again.
.
Serve the chicken with the dijon sauce and a side of broccoli and cauliflower.

On a Budget? It doesn't have to be all starches and processed foods.

Normally I don't post much about this on my blog, but I'll make an exception. 

So, I eat low carb, and have been for nearly a year now.  This means that, except for rare occasions, I do not eat:  flour or other grains, sugar in any form, or other high starch foods like potatoes or corn.  I mostly eat whole, unprocessed, fresh foods like fresh vegetables, chicken, fish, beef, some dairy, some fruit, some nuts & seeds.  There are a wide variety of reasons I eat like this but the bottom line is that I've lost nearly 40 lbs (and am still losing), it keeps my blood sugars on a nice even keel, it's cleared up several health issues I had, and I feel fantastic.  If you're interested at all in low carb, I'd encourage you to put aside whatever you think you know and read authors like Robert Atkins, Michael and Mary Dan Eades, Mary Enig and Gary Taubes with an open mind.   You might be surprised at what you learn.

Ok, now that is out of the way....

I read this article the other day:  Money College: How to eat on less than $35 a week and it really irritated me.  The menu it suggests is appallingly bad.  High fat, high carbs, high salt, loaded with processed foods, very few veggies, very little nutritional value. Bologna/hot dogs/chopped ham as your primary sources of protein?  Not one fresh vegetable?  Come on!  If it followed the food pyramid or some other health guidelines, I could respect it even if I didn't agree with it.  It does not - it's simply all filler food with little regard for nutrition, no matter how you cut it.

I wanted to show a comparative low carb menu with salads and veggies and non-processed proteins (other than the tuna) that was still under $35 a week.   Costs listed may vary by geographic location.  I based the prices on a combination of prices listed on the original article (butter, mustard, ground beef) and prices I paid myself for groceries last week and this week.   Like the original article, it does rely on buying things like store brand mayo and tuna, and catching things like ground beef and tuna on sale.

The suggested meals are a little repetitive because I just wanted to show a rebuttal example menu and keep it simple.  It's also realistic - if you buy chicken parts cheap, it's usually in a large "family pack".  When you cut out "convenience" foods, you create your own conveniences by cooking extras and eating the leftovers for another meal.  For example, I never roast just one piece of chicken - I cook 3-4 and it reappears in meals later during the week in some form.

So, here goes: 

The shopping list:

1 lb butter: 1.89
32 oz jar mayo 1.49
Bottle yellow mustard .69
8 oz bottle salad dressing (2 carb or less per serving) 1.29
2 dozen large eggs 3.98
Family pack chicken leg quarters (6 pieces)/ 79 cents per pound: 5.00
2 lbs 80/20 ground beef/1.99 per pound 3.98
4 cans chunk light tuna 2.00
3 8-oz blocks cheese 4.50
3 lbs assorted lettuces 5.00
1 lb tomatoes 1.50
Bag shredded cabbage 1.00
1/2 lb yellow onions .40
2-1 lb bags plain frozen veggies (cauliflower, broccoli, green beans, etc) 2.00

The Menu:

Breakfast daily: 2 eggs, 1 oz cheese, cooked any way (fried, scrambled, omelet, etc) in butter

Day 1:
Lunch: Tuna salad wrap (1 can tuna with mayo wrapped in lettuce leaves)
Dinner: Roasted chicken leg quarter with skin, cooked veggies, side salad w/ dressing
Snack: 2 oz cheese

Day 2:
Lunch: Roasted chicken leg quarter with skin; salad w/ dressing
Dinner: Crackslaw: 8 oz ground beef cooked with onion, cabbage
Snack: 2 oz cheese

Day 3:
Lunch: Tuna melt: 1 can tuna with mayo on top of tomato slices; top with 1 oz cheese and put under broiler until cheese is melted
Dinner: 3 egg omelet with cheese and veggies; small side salad with dressing
Snack: deviled egg (1 hard boiled egg with mayo/mustard)

Day 4:
Lunch: Roasted chicken leg quarter with skin; cole slaw (cabbage, mayo)
Dinner: 8 oz hamburger with cheese; cooked veggie with butter; side salad w/ dressing
Snack: deviled egg

Day 5:
Lunch: Tuna salad wrap (1 can tuna with mayo wrapped in lettuce leaves)
Dinner: Crackslaw: 8 oz ground beef cooked with onion, cabbage
Snack: 2 oz cheese

Day 6:
Lunch: 8 oz hamburger with cheese; cole slaw (cabbage, mayo)
Dinner: Tuna melt; side salad w/ dressing
Snack: deviled egg

Day 7:
Lunch: Roasted chicken leg quarter with skin; side salad w/ dressing
Dinner: 3 egg omelet with cheese and veggies
Snack: deviled egg

You blow through all the eggs, beef & tuna; by my calculations you should have leftover at the end of the week 2 chicken leg quarters, 1/2 a block of cheese, mayo, mustard, 2 sticks of butter and about 1/2 a bag of frozen veggies.

So yes, you CAN eat low carb, get in your veggies in AND do it cheaply. Cereal and pasta are NOT necessary.

Ahhh...that's better!

So with the Mermaid of Atlantis finish on hold for now, I'm back working on Midsummer Night's Fairy.  This is a "before" picture;  I have to say, the whole gaping mouth thing has been freaking me out when I look at this picture LOL  It's very blow-up-doll-esq.  Obviously that needs to be taken care of ASAP  LOL

So the first thing I did yesterday is finish her face off.  I still need to backstitch the lips, but don't have that thread color in her "kit".   I'll either scavange some from another kit or pick up the floss later this week.    But she's not giving me that apocolypse look anymore so it's all good for right now LOL

I also made some good progress on her wings, which are done entirely in Kreinik metallics.  Ugh.  NOT my favorite thread to work with but it does give a really lovely effect.   I tried Thread Heaven for the first time with this project, and it's been a huge help.

Just for Fun...

....So I've come to the conclusion that I enjoy planning future projects almost as much as I enjoy stitching current ones.   I'm always looking to "what's next" in the pipeline.  If you look at the links on the side of the blog, there's "Boudoir Projects" with links to what the finished project will will like of all the ones I'm working on and ones that I have kitted and want to start soon.  There is also the "Boudoir Wish List" of projects I would love to do:  I may or may not have the pattern and I might even be in some stage of kitting it up. 

Whenever I get close to finishing a project, the urge to get started on something new is always really strong...lol....not that it's never not there.  (Yes.  I am a cross stitch junkie.  I'm ok with that.)

Right now, I'm trying to finish up a couple of projects since I somehow ended up with seven large in-progress projects.  Mermaid of Atlantis is nearly finished;  of the other projects I have in progress, Meeting on the Turret Stairs and Midsummer Night's Fairy are probably closest to being completed.   Although I liked my experiment last year with working on one project every week then moving on to the next, I would really like to finish some of the "in progresses" so I can start adding in some of the kitted projects up.

Beyond those?  Grand plans, always grand plans. 

There's always a long list of Mirabilias and Silver Linings that I want to do.   They're by far my favorite designers and I will always have a couple of them going.   I have several Miras in some stage of kitting:  Garden Verses, The Kiss, Christmas Elegance, and Queen Mermaid, and two SL's - Broadway and Purple Perfection.   Beyond that, more Miras are calling to me:  Venetian Opulence, Rose Celebration, Rose of Sharon, Enchanted Mermaid are probably up next to be kitted.  Others I would love to do include Sabrina, Bluebeard's Princess, Lady of the Mist, White Christmas, Petal and Bliss as a pair, Lilly of the Woods, Titania, Queen of Peace, Adia, Deepest Love, Christmas Flourishes, Stone Roses, English Roses, My Lady's Garden.....and the list goes on and on.  Some of the patterns I have, but not all.  I wouldn't even know where to start with Silver Linings LOL  I haven't done nearly as many of them as I have Miras, but they stitch up faster in general.  I love the botanical feel of his designs, the details, the fact that he features my favorite two flowers so often (roses and irises).  It would probably be easier to list the ones that I do NOT care for LOL  ah well.

There's the Chatelaine series plan - I'm already working on Knotgarden, and I definately will be doing Alhambra Garden and Watergarden.  There will be at least one more of the garden mandala series added to that, but as the designer keeps adding new ones, well...we'll have to wait and see which one that will be :-)

I will, someday, tackle Flower Power.  It's a huge project - to do it on 28 count fabric (necessary because the bugs and the hummingbirds are done over one) requires a full yard of fabric.   Since I stitch with a hand held Qsnap frame, doing it as one piece is problematic - lots of excess fabric to hold back.   The other issue is where to hang it when it's framed  - again, it's a huge piece and will weigh a ton.  (ok ok I *know* that I rarely worry about where a piece will go or how it fits in when I stitch it....) Because of this, I've been tossing around the idea of splitting the whole design into three panels - the flowers will just be "cut" at the third mark so they will overlap onto the next panel, and if I need to move the bugs & birds around to fit better, then that's fine.  I'd frame each piece to match then I'd have the option of hanging them as a series or individually.

I've also always loved the Celtic series from Lavender and Lace.  I always loved Noel; and of course there's the four seasonals now as well.  Of course, I have the four seasonals done from Mirabilia and am working on Royal Holiday....do I really need two sets of seasonals?  And really, what does need have to do with it?

I've come to the obvious conclusion:  I need to hit a big lottery.  A BIG one.  I can't work because I need to spend the time stitching, I need to be able to afford all the supplies AND all the framing, plus I'll need to buy a huge house in which to hang it all.

Off to buy a lottery ticket.....enjoy your weekend and make sure you dream a little about something beautiful.

Naked Mermaid

Well...naked in that she has no beading as yet!  So I have as much done as I can at this point - all the beading needs to go on (6 packets of Mill Hills) and I'm actually short once color of floss for backstitching.  Gets me every time when there's a color of backstitching not used elsewhere - I never remember to add those colors onto my floss list.   I'll pick that up this week, and I should get my beadbox and beading needles next weekend (the folks are coming to visit and bringing up more of my stuff). 

So Atlantis is getting packed away for a week or so.  Irritating, isn't it, to get this close to a finish but not be able to have it done??

Fish!

Just missing a few beads.

Scrollwork Close Up

Getting close!

I decided I probably do have enough of the Espresso Waterlilies to do the border, so we're going with that.

What I do NOT have is my bead box - it wasn't in the last batch of moved stuff, and I wasn't able to find a replacement.  Grrrrr.  If I get the stitching done soon (which I should be able to do), she may have to be put away until I have the proper equipment to bead. 

I'll post a picture of it, but it's just a 95 cent box I got from Walmart.   It's got 14 individually locking compartments and it's perfect to work out of when beading a Mira or other large project.  Unfortunately they don't seem to carry it anymore (but then, the craft section of my local Wally World is usually a trashed mess).

But even if I didn't move ALL of my cross stitch stuff as yet, I did bring all of my "in progress" project boxes, so never fear, I have plenty of other things to work on.