Stitching Therapy

I've really had to delve into the Stitching Therapy the last couple of days. On Saturday I had a busy day working at Angelwing Needlearts.  I stopped at WalMart on my way home for another rug for Lester.  He's having real trouble on the hardwood floors these days. So we have place little rugs about every three feet for him to use as stepping stones.  When I got home, we decided to go out to dinner so I wouldn't have to cook. 

After I finished my flounder and deviled crab, I was sitting there fiddling with my wedding ring (it's getting a little loose on my finger) and I looked down and there was a gaping cavity in the middle. The diamond had fallen out!!! Holy moly. My stomach dropped. Of course, I started looking around, in my coat pockets, on the plate, table, floor... The waitress swept under the table for me. No diamond.  My eyes were glued on the ground as we walked to the car. Have you ever noticed how much glittery stuff there is in asphalt?  We searched the car, the garage and every place I had been since I got home from work. No diamond.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well that night. On Sunday, I was preparing to head over to the shop and search the entire place on my hands and knees. I refused to think about the possibility that it had fallen out in WalMart.  Since it was daylight I decided to check the garage and car again.  Lo and behold, there is was on the passenger side floorboard! I guess I just couldn't see it the night before.  I almost fainted. 

It's now in the hands of the local jeweller, who proudly told me that it would be ready on Thursday.  According to him, wedding and engagement rings get priority because no one wants to be without theirs for long. Amen, brother!

Sooooo, since stitching is my only path to sanity, Margret Gatis has grown immensely this weekend.  I finished the knot garden, so all the over three threads stuff is done. Woohoo! That's almost as good as a finish.  Last night I stitched the name, but I cheated.  I substituted Smyrna crosses for Algerian eyes, for the simple reason that I hate Algerian eyes.  It's too easy for one side to end up bigger than the other and I just wasn't in the mood to fool with it.  Besides, I enjoy Smyrna crosses and as I frequently tell my stitch group, "If it isn't fun, why are you doing it?".

Margret Gatis 02-04-13

on 40 count Sandstone linen with DMC cotton floss

 

 

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First Start of 2013

Did you start the new year off right with a brand new stitching project?  I enjoyed the Dick Clark New Year's Eve retrospective with needle in hand.  The "Starlight Sampler" by Little House Needlework will be my going away gift to my friend, Nancy.  And I don't have to worry that she'll see this post because she doesn't have a computer! 

I was going to incorporate an overdyed floss or two, but decided to stick with the colors as charted.  I'm not really in the mood for a mental challenge on this one since I'm converting the cotton floss to silks on my next project.  Yes, I'm already thinking ahead.

And now that my Christmas decorations are put away, I can spend the rest of today stitching!  Good thing too, because when I visited the Little House web site earlier I found the new Little Sheep Virtues series! Holy Moly, 12 new projects for this year!

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Oooohh, Creepy!

Do you love to stitch for Halloween? I know lots of people do so here's a cute little Halloween freebie from Stitching The Night Away.  And so that it remains a free chart, it is sponsored by TJBdesigns.

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Happy Dance!

I fixed my point driver so The Cranberry Sampler is framed and so is Bands of Pearle, which was my birthday present from my stitching alter ego, Laura. I haven't picked out a spot for either of them yet, because it will require rearranging my dining room and living room. So they may just sit propped on chairs for a while so I can admire them.

I wish you all could see them close up. I love whitework so much, but my photography skills are just not good enough to do them justice.

I've been moving right along on the Red and Black II. The black isn't as boring as I thought it would be, but the red adds so much ooomph that I can hardly wait to get to it. Maybe that's what is motivating me.

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Heaven: A Weekend of Stitching

Well, my annual stitching vacation is over. :(  Two of my long time stitching friends were here for four wonderful days. We've gone way past just being stitching friends, but that's how it all started over fifteen years ago. We all live in different states now, but we try to get together once or twice a year to catch up and STITCH!

My dear husband escaped to visit his brother for the weekend so it was just the three of us and my two spoiled rotten pugs. Let's just say that Lester and Otis got more attention than they deserve. So it was a SES fest...stitch, eat, and sleep. I, of course, worked only on The Cranberry Sampler.

Laura and Vicky aren't quite as anal retentive as I am so they worked on several pieces. Laura's were all gorgeous samplers. Vicky's projects ranged from needlepoint ornaments to a "Quilted Garden" by Blue Ribbon Designs.

The putti ('the little nekkid men' as a friend of mine calls them) are intentionally left undecorated on the right. A lot of this band was left to the stitcher's discretion. I tried to follow the stitched model as closely as possible because I don't really have much imagination.

The clothed ones on the left are done in detached buttonhole which I enjoy once I get in a rhythm.

The center floral motif was also stitcher's choice of stitches and colors. I used satin stitch, Montenegrin, trellis, and Roman stitches. It was quite an experiment.

The current band is huge and will probably take quite a while, but it is the last one in color. I am anxious to get to the whitework sections so hopefully, there won't be a lot of frogging for the next little while!

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I Want a Day Off!

Okay, this is one of those days where I can't find the motivation to do anything but stitch. But I feel guilty for not doing something 'productive' so I haven't even picked up my stitching. I am such a goon. I deserve to do what I want to, right? Actually, I did go to the grocery, so I think I'll count that as my productivity for the day.

Here's where I left off last night on The Cranberry Sampler. By Monday, you'll be able to tell how self indulgent I really am!

On another note, did you get everything you wanted for Christmas?  Did anyone actually look at your wish list? Somebody looked at mine and I got these precious Pineapple Scissors from UncommonScissors.com.

I haven't decided on a fob for them yet, but you know I will! Feel free to browse my shop for a treat for your new scissors or to spruce up your old ones!  There are some new fobs and counting pins available, like this one in my favorite color combo. Lime Cobalt Beaded Scissor Fob

and Small Lime Cobalt Counting Pins for Cross Stitch and Needlepoint

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Getting Back in the Swing of Things

It's been a pretty hectic and stressful couple of weeks, so my stitching time has been limited. Spent a few days with my Mom and a couple of sisters the first week of August and then came home to make my house presentable for company. One of those sisters and her son came for their usual 'last beach trip before school starts' last week and nothing gets done around here when they're visiting. It's like a whirlwind and a half have moved in! The guest room looks like Hartsfield airport baggage claim exploded in there within 30 minutes!

Then on Sunday I woke up to find that I couldn't raise my arm above my shoulder without excruciating pain. (And lowering it was even worse!) At which point I told my sister I wish she'd specialized in orthopedics instead of pulmonology. However, she gave me her diagnosis and told me to call a doctor. (At least she spared the me two aspirin bit.)

So contrary to my usual tendency to procrastinate, I called the ortho who is currently treating my husband for his "very serious foot injury" (I'm quoting the Dr.) and actually got in to see him right away. Betty was right...rotator cuff impingement. I've endured a rotator cuff injury before when Earl took off after a squirrel while I was still holding onto the leash, but the pain was in a different area of the shoulder. Anyway, one cortisone shot and a super duper anti-inflammatory Rx later and I'm stitching again. I will have to do some physical therapy to build up the supporting muscles in my shoulder, but I'm good at following directions and at least I didn't wait as long to see the Dr. as I did the first time. Hopefully, this will be fixed up relatively quickly.

So, here's what I'm doing. It's a reproduction, "Emily Gorgeina Dixon", from Ewe & Eye and Friends. I have no idea how long it's been in my stash, but who cares? It is still available from at least one source. Just Google it.  I'm using the recommended Anchor floss (which is my favorite cotton floss) on 40 count linen of some handdyed color of which I cannot remember the name.

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Another Fun Finish

Obviously, I've been stitching rather than blogging.  "The Christmas Quilt" by Emie Bishop is done. I laid it on a dark green fabric for the photo so that the hardanger would show up a little better. It was a fun piece to do, except for the cross stitch part. Too much confetti stitching for my taste. Next time I run into something like this I'll take my friend, Laura's, advice and use an overdyed green and an overdyed red and call it good.  The back is a mess and I really hate that.
 
 So, I decided to work on my Star Sampler SAL by  Periphaeria Designs this weekend while visiting my mom. It's an easy project to work on in the car and doesn't require massive concentration. That's the kind of project I like when I'm not in my 'nest'. 

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Show and Tell

I just love this piece! "Cotillion" by Papillon Designs. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to get it framed before I shared it.

My current project, "The Christmas Quilt" by Emie Bishop of Cross 'n' Patch, is coming along nicely. The foundation stitching for the hardanger barely took a week, but the cross stitch greenery and berries is way more time consuming. I'm ready to finish it off and start cutting!

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At Least I'm Stitching

 I may not be very good at blogging, but at least I'm stitching. The Lily Sampler is slowly coming along. Some of these stitches are a bit much for 40 count, but at least I don't have to worry about coverage. LOL.

For instance, these flowers are done in cross stitch and arrowhead stitch, which has 3 legs so they're pretty dense. And that last dividing band is more of the French stitch that I complained about before...except this time there is a THIRD row! Every time I think I have it down and try to stitch without the magnifier I end up frogging! So back to the Dazor. Finally finished that band last night. I'm afraid to look ahead and see if there is any more. 

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Are you a Gadget Person?

Just wondering. There are so many great gadgets available to stitchers these days. I remember when I first got a Boo Boo stick. Hated when I had to use it, but loved how it got out all the fuzz from ripped out stitches. There are cute little painted magnets for keeping those loaded needles handy (and not in the couch cushion). And don't forget chart magnifiers and line markers...all very helpful in making your stitching time more efficient. And we all know that's important because we have a pile of projects lined up until doomsday!

Of course, I'm partial to scissor fobs. Even before I started making beaded ones for my Etsy shop, I collected and stitched them for my scissor collection. Besides being pretty, hopefully when you drop your scissors, the fob hits first so the points are damaged. Counting pins are helpful too. Even though counting is the easy part for me, it's still helpful when you're starting a row of 200 stitches to mark every 50 or so. That makes me not so paranoid about miscounting that I count the entire row 8 times! Because you know you'll come up with at least 4 different counts. LOL And if you are doing a big bargello area on canvas large counting pins can be used to mark the top of the row and the bottom to ensure that you don't get carried away with the ups and downs of the pattern.

Now, I've added beaded laying tools to my shop. Great for canvaswork since you are usually making larger stitches with more strands of fiber. So many opportunities for them to get twisted. Laying tools or stilettos are a big help.  They're also helpful on cross stitch project because it's amazing how easily two strands of floss twist just as they slip through the linen. I'll be adding more on a regular basis, but I'd love to hear your thoughts on them.

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Quaker Hornbook Noir is Really Finished

It took me a little longer to finish than I anticipated, but there was a lot of stuff going on this week. "Quaker Hornbook Noir" by A Mon Ami Pierre is in the finish column! I said that the first time last night to my husband and then I started proofing it.  Oops, left out a letter. A few minutes later, "okay, now it's finished...oh, wait".  That border motif on the left wasn't quite done. "that's it!".  But no, I hadn't signed or dated it yet. Finally, twenty minutes after the initial "Woohoo", it was really done.

So he says to me "Do you have the next project ready to start?".  You'd think after 28 years of marriage, he wouldn't have to ask such a dumb question.

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Another great stitching blog giveaway

You have to check out this amazing end-of-the-year GIVEAWAY at Hooked on Stitches blog.

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Whew! One more finish

So, I took the day off from Etsy...well, I quit before noon...to stitch and watch football and NASCAR. And it was a very productive endeavor. I finished the hardanger Christmas tree, Philip Rivers, QB of the San Diego Chargers and NCSU alum, led a last minute drive to beat the NY Giants, and Mark Martin finished fourth in Texas and picked up a lot of points on chase leader, Jimmie Johnson. Now I know most of you don't give a fat rat's ass about Philip Rivers or Mark Martin, but it made a great afternoon for me. And finishing the Christmas tree made a small dent in the mountain of stuff I still have to do in the next six weeks.

And I even managed to get about halfway thru one of those angel ornaments. I'm on a roll! Unfortunately, tomorrow real life intervenes. I'll be cleaning, grocery shopping, doing laundry, and finishing a custom order scissor fob. (That part is good.) So I'll be back to stitching after supper only. What a life!

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Counting Fiasco

I know it happens to everybody sometime in their stitching life, but it just doesn't happen to me very often. Thank heaven. I'm very fond of telling people that I am very left-brained and the counting part is the fun part for me. Well, not last night!

It started at stitch group so I could blame it on the distraction of stitching in a group, but I've been doing that for about 15 years. I ripped out approximately the same 30 Italian cross stitches FOUR, yes I said four, times. Shoot me now! After I got home, I ate some dinner and picked it up again. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment. Apparently, my brain needed food. Got it right the first time. (Do you hear the Hallelujah Chorus right now?) Then I went on a tear. Finished both flowers, a dividing band and started a satin stitch band. Woohoo!

I'm almost scared to stitch tonight. But I will persevere.

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