Uneven Weave

Sigh.

2009-02-26T11:51:00.002-06:00

Why the overwhelming need to whine? It must be the gloomy, wants-to-rain-but-won't, weather that's got me in the dumps today. But what's the use of having a blog if you can't occasionally post a good snivel.

Here's my problem: I recently participated in my first "real" exchange. The lady who set it up did a great job - she was really on the ball. And, if you read below you know, I was pretty excited about it. I ran around getting the bits and pieces to send to my partner, packaged it up pretty and even mailed it before the deadline.

So, it has been doubley disappointing that my partner didn't come through - poor communication and no reciprocal package . I couldn't get her to respond to my email correcting my address and, when I did hear from her, she didn't give me any guidance on her likes and dislikes.

I mailed the package and waited expectantly. The mailing date passes (Jan. 31) and I don't hear from her that she mailed her exchange. She emails me the following week that she received min (actually "got it") and "liked it" and that she would mail hers at the end of that week. Then, about ten days later, the lady running the asks that we mail her if we haven't received our end. So I do. And I get a ten word email from my partner saying to expect an envelope.

Two weeks later, nothing. So I'm kind of bummed. Maybe exchanges aren't for me. It would be nice to receive SOMETHING or at least a response more than got it and liked it. Oh well. I'll write this one off as an unfortunate episode. I guess this is a common problem in exchanges. (And I did email the lady in charge to let her know that my partner didn't come through but that I just writing it off).

But I'm still bummed.

I need chocolate.

Sigh.

I was bad - but I have a finish!

2009-02-10T21:52:00.003-06:00

Ok - I wasn't good last week. I just couldn't face another weekend of BAP stitching.

La-D-Da Polly Wolly Doodle - GAST 1 x 2 on 40ct Sand Linen

I didn't start anything new - well not at first. I finished a band sampler I had started last year (HDF on 30ct Legacy Dower Linen - a dream to stitch). It's very long so I'll post a picture when I have sunshine and someone to hold it up for the photo! I was really pleased with the finish.

So, to celebrate, I had a new start! And a new finish! What a wonderful quick little stitch!

I kitted up La-D-Da's Polly Wolly Doodle last summer at a LNS in Minnetonka, Minnesota. Its bright colors and happy little picture was just the thing for winter blahs!

I might even frame this one. (Yeah right).

On another note - I purchased and downloaded Anagram Diffusion's Four Seasons Sampler last week. All their patterns have been discontinued but are available at 1/4 the cost for download. Quite a deal. I'm also expecting another load of Annie's Keepers so I can get all my new silks into storage.

Until I have sunshine for a picture - stay warm!

Chele

Mandela Progress

2009-01-31T13:24:00.006-06:00

I am trying very hard to be good this weekend. I'm trying very hard not to start a new project or pick up another WIP. Instead, I'm plugging away on the Chatelaine Designs Knot Garden.

Chatelaine Designs Knot Garden 2x2 HDF and SNC
on 30ct Legacy Dower Linen Coconut Cream

I really enjoy working on this piece, for all my grumbling. But I think it is more the tactile enjoyment of the quality of the materials rather than being in love with the design. I'm using HDF instead of DMC and the fabric is 30ct Legacy Dower Linen - one of my favorite linens - great hand, soft but not limp - a nice substantial linen.

I'm doing this piece as a companion to the Convent Herb Garden. I'm hoping to frame them as a pair (yeah right - when was the last time I framed ANYTHING?)

On another note, I picked up enough of Kristen Fox's Celtic Letters from Stab and Stash to spell out welcome in Gaelic (Failte).

I have a Failte sign in my front entry but I'd like to put up a stitched on instead. I didn't realize the letters are 150x150 (or about 7.5"x7.5" 2x on 40 ct) bringing the entire sign to 38" - looks like another BAP to me. But I think I will substitute an overdyed silk for the multi-color confetti stitches and do each letter in a different color - I'm thinking I'll use 40ct PTP Relic if I can get a cut that will work. I'll use a dark green overdyed for the leaves and maybe a bluish silk for the circular motifs. Another BAP to kit up - like I need another one!

It's warm and windy here today - one of those odd January days you can get in the midwest - so I'm off to get a little sunshine!

Wintertime Exchange

2009-01-30T14:36:00.002-06:00

Here is my first "real" exchange package - shipped out first class today! The theme was Wintertime Blues (or really, chase away the wintertime blues) so i sent some springy things to my exchange partner. I spent WAY to much time worrying about this package - too much running around! I hope she likes it - I'm pretty proud of how it turned out.

I sent her a Brittercup Springtime Friends chart, the GAST thread and two JABC buttons for the pattern, a piece of 30ct Dower Linen, a green/pink scissor fob, two 1/4 yard spring fabrics and a bar of lavender/sage soap that's made locally. The package should smell really good when it arrives!

Stalking the mailman

2009-01-28T16:18:00.003-06:00

Waiting for the Mail - Grant Wright Christian, 1937-38

Two posts in one week? Well, not really. This is more of a whine. But where better to whine than your blog?

Ok, here goes:

I hate waiting on mail. I have become so spoiled by vendors who ship quickly and shipping companies that get it right out that I can hardly stand it when I know something is on the way but I have to WAIT. And of course, I'm waiting on stitchy stuff. Really good stitchy stuff!

My Christmas gift from my sister is the kit and pattern for the Chatelaine Japanese Mandela. The kit and pattern were available just recently so my sister placed the order. When she checked back, Cindy at Europeanxs told here that one of the fibers was backordered and it would ship as soon as they came in. Cindy usually ships so fast that she doesn't need to send a notice that something shipped. The fabric came last week ( 32ct Star Sapphire linen from 123stitch). The waiting is driving me crazy!

(Ok, I have to admit it - I can't even start this anytime soon. I have WAY too many WIPS right now and I'm committed (or as committed as I can be) to finishing at least one BAP before I start another. I just want to play with the threads.)

AND then I have a linen of the month coming from Shakespeare's Peddler. It's an auto-ship but I know it's on its way because Teresa charged my card last week.

The worst part - I lost my mailbox key (somewhere in the house) so I can't check the mail when I get home. My husband gets the mail when he gets home - which means I have to wait AN HOUR till he gets there and then he knows what I bought (doubly bad!)

Ok, done whining. Sort of. For now.

Chele

Blessing Ball I - Girly and Gaudy

2009-01-26T22:59:00.008-06:00

The pictures are not too great (it's late and I had to use my Iphone to photograph it under my Ott Lite) but you can get the idea of the start of the ball. It's much more "pastel" IRL.

I put the baby's name, birthdate, and weight/height after that, then rolled it up and tied it with an itsy bitsy ribbon.

The Celtic Blessing inside reads:

May strong arms hold you
Loving hands tend you
And love await you at every step.

The blessing and bell were put inside a scooped out 3" styrofoam ball that has been wrapped (temari style) with yarn and thread. The ball was then wrapped with an overdyed silk ribbon in pink/blue/green/lavender and then a 1/2" pink organza ribbon over that to tone down the colors. (The photograph makes the ribbon look much more vivid than in IRL).

The ball has (so far) been stitched with Waterlilies silk to make the vines and then decorated with silk ribbon leaves, 2 kinds of silk ribbon flowers, glass flowers and leaves and petite seed beads in clear and mauve (to make the buds at the base of the ribbon leaves).

I am going to string a bunch of crystal beads to hang in a bunch from the bottom with overdyed pink ribbons. I have embroidered some organza ribbon with the same vines as on the ball then beaded in clear and mauve to make the hanger. I'll probably put some ribbons or beads at the top to hide where the hanger is stitched on. I'm hoping to finish it this week and then get it off into the mail!

It's girly and gaudy (totally not my style) but I hope my friend (who is very girly) likes it. The next one will be a bit more toned down with greens, yellows, white and butterflies.

On another note, I can't resist posting these pictures of our crazy kitten Charger. He's about six months now and such a trip. He squeezes himself into the oddest places and then justs crashes. Gotta love kitty crashes.

(You'll notice that he's sleeping in my stitching corner - notice the scissors - under my Ott Lite.)

Goodies Goodies!

2009-01-23T20:27:00.006-06:00

Lookie what I found at the most wonderful little store today. Overdyed silk ribbons, beads, little flowers, overdyed yarns - oh my! She has the coolest things at that store - ribbons, yarns, beads, and everything you need to crazy quilt (except the quilt fabric). Embellishment heaven!

I drove about thirty minutes to a wonderful fiber arts store in Parkville, Missouri this afternoon. I had spend the morning finishing my youngest son's pinewood derby car (why, in a housefull of motorhead men do *I* wind up making the car every year I'll never know) and decided I deserved a treat.

I have to make two blessing balls for friends who recently had daughters. The balls are like temari balls except they are wrapped in silk ribbon and embelished with beads and bows and all kinds of girly things. Kind of like a ball shaped crazy quilte.

The ball is hollowed out and a bell and a blessing is put inside before it is wrapped. Every time the bell rings, the baby is blessed.

I'm going to do one in pinks and yellows - very frilly, very girly. The other I am planning to do like a garden - all kinds of greens, leaves a few flowers peeping out, little crystal beads of dew and a butterfly or two. Hopefully I will have time tomorrow to get one started. Tonight we finished up the car and my fingertips are too coated with super glue to do any fine work.

Meanwhile, I can gaze at this pile of goodies and sigh happily.

P.S. The store is called Florilegium - if you ever get within an hour of Parkville, Missouri (a norther suburb of Kansas City - you *must* make a visit!

January Blahs

2009-01-03T14:10:00.012-06:00

I started my first blog post with a picture of our dog Winston who looks perpetually depressed. So, in the interests of equal time, I am starting the new year with a picture of one of our Maine Coons - this is Franklin (get it? - Winston (Churchill) and Franklin (Roosevelt)). Franklin is the most mellow boy - he only gets exercised when our new kitten - Charger - decides its time to annoy the big brother. Isn't he a handsome boy?

Seems like the holidays just slipped by this year and we're back into the winter doldrums. Usually I start a new project right after Christmas, but this year I have so many BAPs working that I thought I should just keep plugging away on them.

HDF and SNC 2x2 on 30ct Legacy Dower Linen Coconut Cream

I am now working on Chatelaine Designs Knotgarden Mandela. I'm always a bit torn when I do a Chatelaine Mandela - I'm not always fond of the individual bits but always in love with them all put together. So I'm reserving judgment on this one until I get a bit more done.

Chatelaine Taj Mahal Mandela - HDF, Dinky Dyes,
and Waterlilies on antique blue 32ct Jobelin

I finally got the Chatelaine Designs Taj Mahal Mandela kitted up. It took almost six weeks for some of the threads to arrive. Some ONS seem to have a problem letting you know if there is a back order - you just wait and wait and then they seem offended when, weeks later, you ask about the status of the order. I think I've become spoiled from the super-fast shipping at 123Stitch and Hand-Dyed Fibers.

Finally, Friday I photographed some of my older finishes. Some of them are on my Webshots page (link at right) but here are a couple that I really love. The first is Theresa Wentzler's Peacock Tapestry, probably my largest finish to date. I had started it, and was working on it, when my father died about eight years ago. I had put it away for a number of years and, last year, took it out and finished it. I still need to get it framed but here it is . . .

Theresa Wentzler Peacock Tapestry - DMC on linen

This is the piece I did in remembrance of my mother - she absolutely loved hummingbirds. After she passed away, I did this piece from Dimples Designs. I still love how it turned out.

Dimples Designs Zippy's Favorite Flower - DMC 1 x 1 on 28ct evenweave

Think warm thoughts! Til later, Chele.

Some small progress . . .

2008-12-05T16:30:00.012-06:00

(I'm scattering the latest photos of the WIPs in my Hopeful Box -- that is, hopeful I will actually finish them someday-- throughout this post even though they have nothing to do with the text!)

Is it weird when you don't really mind frogging, and might actually enjoy it sometimes?

I decided to rescue a piece of 36ct Rue Green Linen (love the color and it's no longer made) from a Marjolein Basten start that I would never finish. I had maybe 2 x 3 inches of stitching to take out so I sat on the couch with my seam ripper and picked out all those stitches. I wound up tearing the linen (a distinct danger if you use a seam ripper - quick but dangerous) but it was in the middle so I have two good size pieces still.

Permin Museum Celle 1826 - HDF Black Iris series 1x2 on 36ct LL Vintage Sand.

Then, I started Chatelaine Designs Knot Garden last week. I don't know what I was thinking stitching 1 x 2 on 30ct Dower Linen with HDF (not a real "big" fiber). On the plus side - it had a nice delicate look. On the not-so-great side - it looked washed out and it lost the contrast between some of the thread colors. So, the other night, I took my trusty seam ripper and frogged out eight hours of stitching so I could restart it with 2x2. And I kind of enjoyed it.

Drawn Thread Three Friends, first panel, HDF 2x2 on 32ct PTP Legacy (I think).

Must be the destructive side of my nature. If I can confine it to ripping out threads then I'll be doing good! (grin).

Cross-Eyed Cricket Be Ye Thankful - GAST and DMC 1x2 on 32? ct greenish linen.

Since I didn't finish this in time for Thanksgiving, I imagine it will sit for another year. Sigh.

On a more positive note, I am feeling very virtuous this week. I managed to grant three wishes from the 123 message board the last couple of weeks. I sent one lady a skein of SNC I had from another project, another lady in England a box of DMC, and a third a chart. I even managed to get them all packaged up and to the post office. For me--that's progress. I even made a wish of my own -- not very hopeful it will be granted but that is to be expected - it's a wish!

Elegant Needle Showers of Blessings - HDF 2x2 on 30ct Coconut Macaroon Legacy Dower Linen.
I really need to finish this one - it's really lovely.

And a finish! This little piece is a gift for my youngest son's teacher if I ever manage to get it framed or finished!

Lizzie Kate Flip It Encourage - SNC, HDF, and Gloriana 1x2 on 36ct PTP Willow.

Stay warm and positive!

Six months later . . .

2008-11-17T19:22:00.008-06:00

Ok - it's taken me six months to update this blog. Sigh. I could claim that I was furiously stitching away during the past months - although that's not the entire truth. The truth--I was lazy -- and stitching!

Here's my big finish! By the end, it was only grim determination that got it done!

Quaker Virtues - 1x1 on 25ct Platinum Jubilee with thirty different silks.

See my webshots site for detail photos at:

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/568739575wGuHBF

Here's my fiber list:

Au Ver a Soie - 1711, 1712, 1713, 1733, Creme Blanc, 3422, 3423
Belle Soie - Fern Frond
Dinky Dyes - Mint
Gloriana - 071 Winter Brook, 132 Lavender Ice
Hand-Dyed Fibers - Examplar Salty Sea, Magpie Twitters, Steelies 2449, Velvet Midnight 2149 and 2151
Silk'n Colors - Aqua Clouds, Pearled Blues, Heirloom Blues, Green Tea Leaves, Surf & Sky, Slate Blue, Blue Cotton Frocks, Blue Sage, Sea Heather
Waterlilies - Ice

The whole piece only measures 14 x 11 - there's a whole lot of stitching in that small piece! And a whole lot of frogging - that little round motif above the EQ of Equality was stitched and restitched at least four times.

This was the first piece I did in my own colorway and I thoroughly enjoyed picking out the colors (if not the indecision about whether I should use a dark one or a light one here or if the left side was "heavier" than the right.)

I am really pleased how the piece turned out. I really love the look of the two-color pieces people are doing - very dramatic - but I like the more subtle effect here as well. I think it turned out much better than I thought it would!

Now, off to finish the other dozen BAPs in my WIP list!

June Weather

2008-06-11T17:36:00.002-05:00

I promise I will not complain about June in Kansas ever again.

We are in vacation in Duluth, Minnesota, where the WIND CHILL today was 36 degrees. WIND CHILL - IT'S JUNE 11 for goodness sake!

Brisk isn't the word for it. The wind is sustained at 20mph with gusts up to 40mph and a driving rain off the lake. Unbelievable - and miserable if you're out in it.

Instead of the outside activities we had planned with our friends, I'm taking the little boys to a movie while everyone else huddles around the fireplace in the lodge trying to stay warm.

At least I'm getting in lots of stitching!

Four States, Four Storms

2008-06-08T22:12:00.004-05:00

Kansas, Missouri, Iowa and Minnesota - nothing but wind, rain and storms. Who thought June could be this windy and wet? (Well, I should expect it after three decades in Kansas).

We headed out of town for our June vacation this morning - Kansas and Missouri had consistent 30-40 mph winds with a severe storm forecast for the afternoon. Iowa had the severe storms. Minnesota - just rain but great clouds.

Looks like Duluth is going to be windy and rainy all week. Hopefully we can find lots of fun stuff to do indoors!

I did manage to get some serious cross stitching in, though - except when it got too dark because of the storms. Here's my progress on Quaker Virtues (the photo's not great but it's what you get when you're taking pictures in a vehicle!):

Tomorrow: the Mall of America, Stitchville USA in Minnetonka, and then off to Duluth.

2008-06-02T17:25:00.002-05:00

Here's a lovely upside down and backwards photo of my first day's progress on Quaker Virtues. I decided to start June 1 with the SAL and I'm really enjoying this so far.

The colors so far are SNC Heritage Blue, Sea Heather and Green Leaves Lt. and AVAS Blanc 1 x 1 on 28ct Platinum Jubilee.

2008-06-01T23:03:00.007-05:00

The usual summertime stitching slump seems to be in full swing. I am trying to rehabilitate the back garden - now "Weed Central" since it was so neglected last summer. We spread 30 bags of mulch last weekend and only managed to cover half the beds around the deck. So, between the rest of the beds around the deck and the beds that run all along the back fence and the sides, we'll be spreading many, many more bags.

I did manage to get some stitching in this week, however. I am still plugging away at Permin's Museum Celle 1826 - somehow I can't seem to do anything in monochrome. Here's my progress as of this weekend. The picture is very washed out - the colors are much more vibrant in person.

I finally received the chart for Ink Circles Garden Stars this week and, of course, just had to get that started as well. I am using Vikki Clayton's May Floss of the Month assortment over one on 28ct Waterlily linen (one of my favorite linen colors). I am really liking how it looks so far - if only linen weren't such a pain for over-one stitching!

And today I started Quaker Virtues using Silk'n Colors in about six shakes of pale blues and greens on 28ct Platinum Jubilee. I'm using the excuse that the Quaker Virtues Stitch-A-Long started today but the truth is that I just wanted to start it! I haven't done enough to merit a picture but I'm sure I'll be posting as I make progress.

I also made more progress on my never-ending stash organization project. My second order of Annie's Keepers arrived Friday and I spent Friday night and Saturday morning getting all my silks on the keepers, the keepers labeled and put into storage slides. They fit nicely into a plastic file box. I used almost 500 keepers to get my AVAS, HDF, Caron and Silk'n Colors organized but I really like the system! Here's a picture of a finished slide on top of the plastic file box of storage slides.

I am very proud of my labels - the little circular labels that came with the system just didn't work for me. I couldn't find 1/2" x 1/2" square labels, so I bought 1" x 1/2" and print 2 thread labels up, slicing them apart with an Exacto knife.

This will be a crazy week for us. We're going to an indoor water park - Great Wolf Lodge - overnight on Thursday for Taylor's birthday. Taylor is inviting a friend and my oldest, Quintin, and his girlfriend are going along as well. Ian is still a little young to invite a friend but he usually has no trouble finding new friends wherever we go. Hopefully the weather will hold out - they're predicting severe storms again for Thursday and Friday.

My husband is taking Friday off so he'll stay overnight with us and then help set up for his club's car show at Cabela's - just across the street from Great Wolf. We'll be at the show all-day Saturday and Sunday morning and then are leaving around noon to head up to Lake Superior for the national meet of another of his clubs. (I'll have to find time to pack and load the car sometime!) On the way to Duluth, we're taking the boys to the Mall of America and detouring to Minnetonka so I can go to Stitchville USA. I'll post pictures when we return!

Have a great, safe, and productive week!

So much for good intentions . . .

2008-05-20T19:42:00.015-05:00

This week I tried to be so good.I inventoried all of my non-DMC floss and Mill Hill beads. I ordered more of Annie's Keepers and storage slides to use for the silks and printed out my label sheets for them.

In the face of 40+ WIPs and UFOs, I vowed not to buy anything more till I finished some of them. Yeah, right.

My downfall was the autoship of Hand-Dyed Fibers' May Regular Floss-of-the-Month assortment. Look at them - don't they just scream STITCH ME?! NOW!

And then a badly behaved little voice said: Ink Circles Garden Stars would be perfect! That's it! Order it now! Oh, and order a few more patterns to make the shipping less unreasonable! Yeah, that's it!

Because I have no willpower at all, I ordered Garden Stars, Nostalgic Needle's Strawberry Thief, and Fingerwork's Playful Day Necessaire from Wyndham Needleworks. Just to spread out the shipping charges. Really.

Now, I just need to go buy some 36ct White Linen or maybe 32ct. white evenweave to go with the pattern that I bought to go with the silks. And maybe a few more Silk'n Colors to justify the cost of the gas to get over to my LNS.

Oy.

New Blog Design

2008-05-20T16:07:00.001-05:00

I'm trying for a cleaner look and pledge shorter posts and more photos. That means, of course, that I'll have to figure out how to photograph my needlework. (sigh).

A little masochism never hurt anyone

2008-05-13T22:59:00.003-05:00

I guess discovering I had over 30 UFOs and more than 40 kits ready to go just wasn't enough masochism for one week. So, I dug into the cedar closet and pulled out the Rubbermaid bin full of charts and decided it was time to inventory the lot. The 300+ lot. What was I thinking?

So I broke out the Excel, decided on the bar minimum of information I would need and pulled out the first four inches of books . . .

As much as I dreaded this voyage of self-discovery, the cataloging was not nearly as awful as I thought it would be. I've been stitching since I was 13 and used to frequent the few good local cross stitch shops and buy charts by weight (sigh). And some of those charts were like old friends - and I made a few pleasant discoveries.

First off, I think I've purchased just about every Just Nan pattern and about half of the Shepherd's Bush kits and patterns available. I had a long flirtation with Paula Vaughan - and actually stitched a number of her projects. I still love the La Broderie patterns (are they even available anymore?) I found I had already purchased Permin's Dutch Beauty and was very thankful that I hesitated in hitting the "purchase" button on that pattern a few weeks ago. I also discovered I didn't need to buy the Donna Vermillion Giampa fruit pillow patterns since I had them in my old issues of Just Cross Stitch and a sampler I was having trouble finding was actually first published in another magazine I had purchased many many years ago.

You may be wondering how I could have been so completely out of touch with my stash. Well - I didn't stitch for five years between 2002 and 2007 - kids, law school, my husband's new business and my perpetually dirty house pretty much precluded any hobby. So I had accumulated and accumulated and stuffed everything in the cedar closet for five years.

So - along with the 11 WIPS (and I still think there are a couple more around here) and the 50+ kits/kitted projects ready to go, I have a whole bunch of unkitted charts I really, really want to do. I also have 200+ charts, 8-10 kits and about 30 magazines for which I need to find new homes. (I just have to figure out how to sell them or give them away - and if anyone would want them)

All in all, my voyage of cross-stitch self-discovery has not been as painful or as guilt-inducing as I feared. I think I need this kind of "sort, keep or trash activity" every few years otherwise I find I accumulate much too much baggage - both physically and emotionally.

And, of course, I have so much more room for new stash!!

An intervention over here, please.

2008-05-09T21:23:00.005-05:00

My name is Michele and I'm a cross-stitch addict. Or maybe a "start a new project" addict. Or a "I'll kit up one more project, just in case" addict.

After spending a small fortune at Cecilia's Samplers in Branson, Missouri, last weekend (including the linen for And They Sinned and another six or seven charts, some fabric, etc.) I just had to go to my local LNS for some AVAS for one of the charts I bought in Branson and while I was there I just had to buy six skeins of Silk'n Colors for the Quaker Virtues. Then, of course, I had to do some online shopping for the fabric for Quaker Virtues (see a pattern here?).

Feeling a bit guilty, I decided to go through my WIP rotation and see what I exactly I am working one. And then, I decide I should see exactly what I have kitted up. Which led me to pull out the two Rubbermaid bins in the cedar closet (one of UFOs, and one of kits) and list all of those, as well.

And here's the damage:

WIPs in my current rotation: 11 (see right)

Projects I've kitted for near-term starts: 19

UFOs - at least for now: 28 (cringing)

Kits kitted for the future: 35 (really cringing)

Most of what I have kitted are BAPs - most are silk on linen. I don't even want to know what I have invested in those alone!

On top of all the kits and WIPs and UFOs, I have 186 charts, many with fibers or beads, in my "really want to do someday" box. These charts are wholly separate from the large storage (file) box of three or four hundred charts I still have in my cedar closet. And I know there are at least three or four more WIPs/UFOs around here somewhere.

Most disturbing is that I found a number of charts/kits in my boxes that I currently have on my Wishlist. That would explain my habit of buying duplicates. (Well, at least I'm consistent with what I like!)

So, an intervention is required, I believe.

And, just because I can - here's the entire list. No joke!

(see right for my WIP rotation)

Kits and Kitted (in the pipeline for a near term start)

Blackbird Designs – I Thee Wed

ByGone Stitches – Quaker Virtues

Dinky Dies – Summer Breeze Biscornu

Donna Vermillion Giampa – Orchard Apples Pillow

GPA – Seasonal Biscornu

La-D-Da – Five Fine Roosters

Long Dog Samplers – All Things I

Long Dog Samplers – All Things II

Lorri Birmingham Designs – Shamrock Scissor Fob

M Designs – Name Trees for Quintin and Taylor

Nora Corbett – Silver Dragonfly

Plum Street Samplers – Give

Shepherd’s Bush – Christian’s Stocking

Shepherd’s Bush – Harry’s Stocking

Shepherd’s Bush – In My Garden Scissor Fob

Sweetheart Tree – Cherry Blossoms Biscornu

Teresa Wentlzer – The Guardian

The Drawn Thread – Three Friends

The Elegant Needle – Showers of Blessings for You

The Sampler House – Field of Berries Sampler

The Silver Lining – Summertime Blues

UFOs (I'll finish these someday. Really. I will. Absolutely.)

Alma Lynn Designs – Angel Heart Sampler (DMC/perle on even weave)

Bucilla Kit – Things Worth Keeping (rekitted with DMC on evenweave)

Color Charts - Steve Polomchak’s Wrapped in White (DMC on Aida)

Color Charts – Haruyo Morita’s Weeping Wisteria (DMC on linen)

Dimensions – Linda Gillum’s Romantic Roses (DMC on Aida)

DMC – Wildflowers (freebie) (DMC x 2 on 32ct Confederate Driftwood linen)

Earth Threads – Jeffrey’s Baby Sampler (DMC and GAST on linen)

Heaven and Earth Designs – Keltic Mandela (Jen Delyth Keltic Designs) (2007)

Imaginating – Snow Likely (DMC on Quaker Cloth?)

Just Nan – Peacock Majesty (DMC on 32 ct Sapphire linen)

Lizzie Kate – Flip It October (DMC on linen)

Lorri Birmingham Designs – Come and Share a Pot of Tea (DMC on linen)

Lorri Birmingham Designs – Heirloom Birth Sampler (DMC and Perle on 32ct white linen)

Mirabilia – Stone Roses (DMC on 36ct linen)

Shepherd’s Bush – Beekeeper’s Cottage (AVAS on linen)

Shepherd’s Bush – Blackberry Sampler (AVAS on linen)

Shepherd’s Bush – Peter’s Stocking (Perle on linen)

Shepherd’s Bush – Saint Peter’s Fair (AVAS on linen)

Shepherd’s Bush – Shepherd’s Spring

Shepherd’s Bush – Thanksgiving Needle Roll (DMC on linen)

Shepherd’s Bush – The Earth Gatherers (DMC on linen)

Shepherd’s Bush – Welcome Baby Needle Roll (DMC on linen)

Stitch with Sudberry – Sewing Mice II (Donna Vermillion Giampa) (DMC on linen)

Teresa Wentzler – Dreamscape Carousel (DMC on Aida)

Teresa Wentzler – Night (DMC on linen)

The Cross Stitch Pattern Gallery – Claude Monet’s Garden Flower (DMC on evenweave)

The Drawn Thread – The Prairie Garden

The Silver Lining – Audrey (DMC x 2 on 36ct linen)

Whiskey Creek – Main Street Box (DMC on perforated paper)

Kits/Kitted (for the future)

Bucilla – Celestial Pillow

Charland Designs – Angelic Band Sampler

Charland Designs – Bedford Sampler (DMC on linen)

Charland Designs – Bee Hive Sampler

Charland Designs – Moon Sampler (1996)

Charland Designs – Plenty and Grace

Dimensions Gold Collection – The Snow Leopard

Elegant Needle – Believe in a Cure Needle Roll

Elsa Williams Heritage Collection – The English Garden

Just Nan – Pansey Cameo

Lorri Birmingham Designs – The Irish Needle Roll

Mill Hill – Spring Series V Bee Square

Shepherd’s Bush – Blackberrie Sampler (duplicate)

Shepherd’s Bush – Easter Needle Roll

Shepherd’s Bush – Fair Philomel

Shepherd’s Bush – Folk Heart Needle Roll

Shepherd’s Bush – In My Garden Needle Roll

Shepherd’s Bush – Joy (1997 )

Shepherd’s Bush – Long May She Wave Needle Roll

Shepherd’s Bush – Love

Shepherd’s Bush – Snow Fall Needle Roll

Shepherd’s Bush – St. Nicholas Needle Roll

Shepherd’s Bush – Sunflower Sampler

Shepherd’s Bush – The Potting Shed

Textile Heritage Collection – Celtic Spiral Bookmark

Textile Heritage Collection – Tartan Thistle (sachet)

The Drawn Thread – Lily of the Valley

The Drawn Thread – The Acorn Sampler

The Drawn Thread – The Alpine Garden

The Drawn Thread – The Wildflower Garden

The Drawn Thread – Winter Into Spring

The Victoria Sampler – February Needle Roll

Whiskey Creek – Cozy Valley Box

Whiskey Creek – Sunday Drive Box

Stitching away in 2008

2008-01-13T17:06:00.000-06:00

I have been terribly derelict in keeping up with this blog. The past few months just flew by - now that the holidays are over, it seems like a good time to take a deep breath and catch up on everything that has been untended during all the festivities.

I have been stitching like a madwoman lately. I complete my first piece using Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers this afternoon (while mourning the Colts loss to San Diego in the AFC playoffs. Here it is: Blackbird Designs - Loose Feathers: Their Song.

I did my own conversion to HDF from DMC (and wound up changing a couple of the colors after I received the order and saw them against the fabric). The fabric inspired me to do the project - the pattern calls for Apple Brown Bindy, but I had just purchased a piece of R&R Sea Fog and just loved the colors the pattern called for on this fabric. (The fabric is actually much more sage green (with a gold overdye) than the scan shows.

I was amazed how quickly this piece stitched up. I started it late Wednesday night after we returned from my oldest son's 16th birthday dinner. I had just received the silks in the mail that afternoon and couldn't wait to get started! After stitching like crazy (in between work, kid activities, laundry, cooking, cleaning - you know the drill) I finished this afternoon. Wow! Now, off to the framers

This little sampler was a nice diversion from my larger WIPs. I'll pull Cirque des Cercles (Ink Circles) back out and get that finished. I am so close to finishing that piece. I love the Rum Cherry on the Cappuccino Weeks (the lighter floss is Burnished Cranberry - all silks from HDF).

I have a bunch of projects kitted up but I'm in a "must finish a UFO before starting anything new" mood - so who know what will happen next.

Stitchy mail has been wonderful. I have been on a mini shopping spree in 2008 - makes that trip to the mail box all that more exciting. I only have one order outstanding - I took advantage of the sale at Elegant Stitch to order HOHRH and VOHRH. Now I just have to save up the money for the silks for that and the materials for Chatelaine Designs Taj Mahal Garden. Sigh.

On an entirely different note: my sister was visiting over the Christmas holiday and asked for a couple of recipes that were handed down from my mother. A local restaurant, the Plaza III, has a wonderful steak soup - the recipe has circulated around Kansas city forever. But it is so good (and so quick and easy) If my sister forgets the recipe (again), I'll just refer her here!

Plaza III Steak Soup

2 lbs ground beef - browned and drained
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables (green beans, carrots, peas) - thawed
1 package frozen baby lima beans - thawed
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup + flour
7 cups of water
7 beef bouillon cubes

Melt butter large pot and add 1/4 cup flour. Add additional flour until you have a good bubbly roux - not clumpy but not runny either. Stir constantly over medium heat until the roux takes on a nice dark golden brown. Quickly add the seven cups of water and the beef bouillon cubes. Stir until bouillon is dissolved. Add ground beef and simmer for 1/2 hour. Add vegetables and simmer for another twenty minutes or so until heated through.

Now, just serve with some fresh bread and butter and a green salad and you have a quick, tasty, hearty meal.

Off to feed the troops and catch the end of the Dallas/Giants game (go Giants).

The Morning After

2007-10-30T10:58:00.000-05:00

Speaking of the Packers - did you see the finish of the Denver v. Packers game Monday night? I was so disappointed when the Broncos tied up the score with 8 seconds left in the game! But, leave it to Favre. With one spectacular throw on the first play in overtime, he hits his receiver who runs for a touchdown! Just like that it's over!

My cheering woke the kids!

Sports Fan with an Agenda

2007-10-29T21:33:00.000-05:00

I am becoming quite the sports fan in my old age. Football, NASCAR, drag racing, baseball, even poker. If it's on TV, I'll sit and watch it. Why? Hours of uninterrupted stitching in a house full of men!

I have three boys, all of whom play multiple sports and a husband who is a major motor head. Being conversant in sports terms, rules, and players is pretty much a requirement around here. But I'm finding I probably watch more sports than anyone else - just so I can sit and stitch!

Most televised sports are good for about three hours of uninterrupted stitching. I only have a problem when my teams are playing (Go Jayhawks! 8-0 for the first time in 98 years!) because I tend to get a little excited. I can't stitch during Kansas basketball games. I once threw my stitching at the television (Bad Call!) and had a heck of a time finding the needle that fell out!

So, right now, my fifteen year old and I are watching (or rather listening to) Brett Favre (always worth watching just because he does something spectacular every game and you can catch it on replay!) and the Packers play Denver (Go Packers!) on Monday Night Football. My stitching is waiting expectantly on the couch - I already managed to get in one hour tonight, a minor miracle around here.

My only problem - Kansas plays Missouri (both vying for the Big 12 North championship) the weekend I am going to my first stitcher's weekend. Since my sister is also a Jayhawk fan, we may have to sneak off to a sports bar to watch the game. I can just see it - two middle aged women complete with their cross-stitching sitting in some Oklahoma sports bar, cheering for Kansas. We'll probably be lynched!

The face of doggie depression

2007-10-22T22:12:00.000-05:00

Poor Winston. He had a posh life in the suburbs but threw it all away to chase other dogs (loves people, hates dogs). He had six weeks in a four-week bad-doggie bootcamp before he could come home. Now, he has to go to the salvage yard every day with Dad instead of lounging around the house watching soaps. He's been reduced to enduring a white-trash dog house (two camper shells stacked on top of each other) out at the yard. How the great have fallen!

The good news is, he's too tired to misbehave when he gets home at night. So he lays on his doggie pillow and gives us reproachful looks.

I've hit the wall!

2007-10-22T21:33:00.001-05:00

I have been madly stitching on my Chatelaine Designs Convent's Herb Garden (see right) for a month now. The piece is almost 2/3 done and I've hit THE WALL.

You know, the "Geesh this is getting boring;" "Maybe I'd enjoy this more if I put it down for a while (read: months, years) and worked on something else;" or (with appropriately whiny tone) "Can't I just start something new?"

So, where is the love? the anticipation? the thrill? (Yes, I'm talking about cross-stitch, not marriage). I studied the Herb Garden pattern before ordering the fiber/bead pack from European Cross Stitch. I thrilled when the little package arrived so quickly with each luscious silk in its own little bag and all the beads in cute little bottles. I pondered my fabric choice for days, if not weeks, finally settling on 30 ct. Legacy Dower Linen in Coconut Macaroon. And finally, when everything arrived via my own personal Santa Claus (the UPS guy), I made myself wait until I finished the little project I was working on before permitting myself to start the Herb Garden.

And now, just a few scant weeks later, I find my attention wandering. Oh, there's Long Dog Sampler's All Things I and II (and a whole cadre of fabulous Vikki Clayton silks).

Or how about the Heaven and Earth Design Keltic Mandela.

Yes, I'm being unfaithful to my Convent's Herb Garden. Do I feel guilty? No. Ok, a bit.

So now, all I'm left with is the grim determination to justify the vast sums spent on the materials for the piece (Chatelaine Designs are fabulous but they are not cheap to stitch!) before haring off on another project. Of course, my resolve will probably only last until I finish the stitching and am faced with all the d*** beads.

And yet another temptation looms on the horizon - a stitcher's retreat with my sister and ladies from The Silver Needle down in Tulsa. The thought of a few unrestrained hours in that needlework shop has my checkbook (and my husband) cringing in horror. So, I better stop whining and get stitching so I won't feel quite so guilty buying a few, just a few mind you, new projects at the retreat!