Some Stitchy Thoughts!

I'm just taking a little break from working in my craft room and some thoughts starting invading my mind. I was sorting through a pile of patterns I've recently acquired (some free, most of them purchased) and it occured to me that I have more stash than I can ever stitch in 2 lifetimes! There must be a zillion (ok, not a zillion but a whole lot) of free patterns on the Web. Some simple, others that I would pay for, they're so good. Why do I feel the need to buy more when I could stitch all the free ones out there and never finish them? I have patterns out the wahzoo that I plan on getting rid of and still I buy. Some I know I'll never stitch but I can't bear the thought of getting rid of them, I like them so much. Same with threads and fabric. I do like the idea of going to my stash and pulling fabric and threads, but more times than not, I end up buying new stuff. It's a sickness, I tell ya. I could blame it on working in a LNS and seeing so much new stuff coming over my desk. I'm so weak. I tell myself you don't need it, but then I find myself at the register checking out new stash. It's like the invasion of the body snatchers. Some addicted little alien is inside me making me buy all this stuff. That's my excuse and I'm stitcking to it.

Starting Anew!

Well, I've started a new project last week. This is one of the new line of kits from Anchor. My friend, Don, from work loves poppies and has had several people stitching needlepoint projects for him. I decided he needed a cross stitch project to go along with them. So I found this online and ordered it. I started it last week and boy, is it weird. After spending almost a year working with one strand over one thread on 25 count lugana, I'm now using 2 strands over 14 count aida. It felt so bulky at first. It was just so wrong. Now I'm not someone who won't stitch on something if it's not linen. If the kit has aida, then that's what I use. I guess I'm too thrifty (e.g. cheap) to spend this much money on a kit then throw half of it away. But it's so different. It is a quality kit. Has Anchor threads (which I really prefer over DMC) and a good quality of Aida. It's stitching up quickly but I'm NOT going to say when I'm going to have it done by. I learned my lesson on the China piece. It'll will get done when I finish it.

Oh Happy Day! It's Done!!

It's done, it's done, it's finally done!! I can't believe it. It took me a year longer than I originally estimated but it's really and truly done. I finished it up earlier this week and just now was able to get the picture uploaded. Let's see, this was supposed to be a Christmas gift for my son and his wife last year. Then it was going to be a birthday present in January for him. Then it was an anniversary gift for them. So I guess we've come full circle on this and it will be a Christmas present for this year. With the exception of the scene in the middle, it really was an easy stitch. But oh boy, was that scene a bear! If I had just taken the time to really examine the pattern, I would have seen all the quarter stitches and would not have chosen to stitch it over one. But, nooo, I had to plunge head first into it and by the time I realized the problem, it was too late. But I am very pleased with the way it turned out. Hopefully they will like it as much as I do. Now to get it framed. I was thinking of stitching the pattern by the same designer called It's All Greek to Me (both Chris and Annette majored in Biblical languages in college). I'm not too sure if I want to tackle it though. If I did, I'd want to do it over one as well (to keep them the same size) but I just don't think I'm ready to give that a go.