Night Owl with Scout Patches

[toggpine]

I just can't seem to say no.
This morning I helped sew on Cub Scout patches and hem pants before our annual Veterans Day assembly. The boys all looked so smart in their uniforms. For some of them this is one of the only areas in their lives where they are given encouragement and a sense of self worth.
Wellllll, after the other Moms inspected the work, I was being asked if I would do other patches. One Mom ran home to get the baggie that had about 2.5 years worth of patches for her son's vest for me to start working on. When I took a look at it, there was a patch half sewn with a broken needle dangling from the thread. I can't begin to imagine trying to sew through those things by hand. Yikes.
I want these boys to be proud of how they look in their uniforms, so I will stitch them all if I need to. At least my vintage Boy Scout hubby can't complain about my time at the sewing machine!

No school for the kiddos tomorrow. Emily and I have some baking and cooking to get done. We are going to my Mom's to celebrate my sister's birthday. Vegan lasagna, French bread, and salad, followed by birthday pie. It works.

What's up in your neck of the woods?

[kimsophia]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

I've been redoing a tree on a Christmas embroidery sampler. I got it partially done and realized it was supposed to be done with a single strand of embroidery floss and not two. Luckily I was able to seam rip all that thread out without cutting the linen fabric. So it has taken several days to get ahead of the spot I was at before the mistake. It was all backstitched. Whew.

I feel sad for those boys who are given no praise except in the Scouts. It's very kind of you to help them.

It was DH's 64th birthday yesterday. We had lobster. I made him brownies instead of cake, per his request.

[toggpine]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

I got the mom's go-ahead to sew them down. So I'm working on them now. I turned the vest over to snip the threads and this is what I found! It's a pinewood derby car driver giving the "thumbs up". That isn't quite what it looks like as an outline! (I hope the stitching shows in the photo of red thread on red felt.)
I do have to say, that whomever designs these patches, needs to be the one that sews these weird shaped things on. The itty bitty wedge-shaped ones are fun too. Thank the sweet Baby Jesus for repositionable glue sticks. There is no way pins are going to work on these.
Kim, I'm sorry that you had to frog your tree. That is pretty depressing to have to undo and then rework it. (I'd have probably left it with two strands!) I hope it goes better from here.

[Judy, USMC]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

Congratulations to you both for being productive. Sorry to hear about frogging the cross stitching. I also probably would have continued with the double strand too. And I can appreciate sewing on patches. I know how difficult it is to get them positioned correctly. Unfortunately there was no repositionable glue when I had to sew my chevrons on my uniforms.

Finally home in NC and things will quickly settle down into a regular domestic rhythm. The next week will be dedicated to unloading the van, unpacking, doing laundry and sorting my purchases from the Birthday Bash in Hamilton. I so wanted to sort it all out in Chicago - but for some reason when I bring it back to NC it makes it harder to incorporate into my stash.

So I'll probably be participating more in the night owl thread - at least for a couple of weeks.

[ncmphoy]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

Patches are not fun!

[mischiefkat]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

Toggpine,
Bless you for what you do.
Kathy

[Andrea F]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

Cathy, it's so nice of you to sew on the patches for the boys so they can wear their uniforms with pride. All of the members of my son's martial arts community have patches on their fighting suits, too, identifying their club and oftentimes they have extra patches given to them if they came in best in a test. Espescially for the younger ones that's a great reminder of what they achieved and can be proud of.

Kim, sorry for the frogging. I may have kept the two strands, too.

Judy, won't you miss being on the road?

It's already afternoon here by now. I wasn't productive at all so far. I admit, I had a nap at noon. I need to clean the house and get the laundry done. My cleaning help dumped me without warning right after we were back home. That's a major bummer. I have to sew a small christmas themed pillow case for a swap that's due for mailing on Monday. I will have to do it today because tomorrow my older son has a martial arts tournament and in the evening we finally can go to the airport and pick up the younger one coming home from France. I'm happy that he stays a while before going back in his appartment.

[Judy, USMC]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

Andrea - So good to hear the family will be together in the same country soon. Sorry to hear about the help leaving you. Won't be home very long. End of November to mid-December I'll be on a personal retreat about 35 miles away. Just me and my machine - Steve will come up to visit on Wednesdays. The key to our happy retired marriage is separate vacations!

[kimsophia]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

I would have left it as two strands except the needles looked "blurry"...this is how it looks if it is done right

http://challengeforkaren.blogspot.com/2011/04/heirloom-christmas.html

[Andrea F]

Re: Night Owl with Scout Patches

Judy, I hope you're gonna have a fabulous time. Separate vacations with your sewing machine sounds very nice. I believe not being together 24/7 when retired is a good approach to a happy life. lol

Kim, I admire your patience. Cross-stitching is not for me...