Stitchy Resolutions!

When my Dad came to live with us 5 years ago, I went into a real stitching slump. I really didn't have the time to stitch with the exception of a small amount of time in the morning. After he passed away a year later, I thought I would get back into my cross stitching with no problems at all. It hasn't happened like that unfortunately. I also have a project that I was stitching for a friend and I really do not like stitching on it at all. But I feel guilty if I stitch on anything else so I haven't stitched on much of anything. So in the past four years, I've finished maybe six projects. The two years before that I finished an average of 50-55 projects a year. Well, this year I decided that things have got to change. My friend at work who's in the same place as I am and I have decided to report to each other our progress on what we really need to finish. In other words, hold each other accountable for our actions. Yesterday some new yarn came in that I really liked. Now I need more yarn like I need a hole in the head. Before I had a chance to grab a bag out of the box, she closed up the box and told Don to take it upstairs. It was exactly what I needed. Today I realize that I didn't need that yarn, that I have plenty in my craft room, family room, garage, well you get the picture. So I thought I would post my stitching goals here so I can hold myself accountable for what I am going to finish this year.

1). Finish Poppies for Don
2). Finish Midsummer's Eve Fairy
3). Finish Don's naked male angel (the project from you-know-where)
4). Work on the Monet for Chris (doubtful I can finish it this year but I can make a good sized dent in it)

Some of my non-stitching stitching goals are:

1). Organize my file cabinet in my craft room
2). Set up a rotation for smaller projects (I need some reward for working on my other stitching goals)
3). Catalog all my cross stitch fabric and threads
4). Catalog all my yarn (and cull out what I really won't use just like I did my cross stitch patterns last year)

I know this sounds pretty ambitious but if I'm going to get back into stitching like I want to, I really need to start somewhere. Hopefully this journey will take me well down the road to stitching nirvana.

Merry Late Christmas!

Well, I may be a little late with my Christmas Greetings to all but they come with no less feelings. I've been a little lax with my blogging lately but I have a good excuse, really I do. I spent the month of November writing a 50,000 word novel for NaNoWriMo. I've always loved writing and that sort of lit the fire in me again. The point is not to write a novel that's publishable (at least, not without a lot of work) but it does get you in the habit of writing. I was cruising along and then 2 days before Thanksgiving I hit a speed bump in the form of a hospital stay for my atrial fibulation. I wasn't sure if I could get back into the writing routine but I had written enough ahead that I was able to catch up.

We had a wonderful time at Christmas. My son and his wife flew in for the weekend from Minneapolis and we also had my mother-in-law with us for the holiday. It was the first time in 7 years that we had all the kids together for the holiday. Hopefully it won't be so long again between visits. BTW, Chris in the middle is the one who received the China picture for Christmas. He and Annette loved it! They planned on going home and having their pastor (Chris is a youth pastor at the Chinese church in Minneapolis) translate the characters since I couldn't remember what they meant.

Next week is New Year's resolutions. I have a few ideas for that and maybe by putting them down in writing, I'll be better able to keep them.

In All Its Glory!

Here is China in all her glory. I picked this up from the framer's today and I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The spot of glare is from the camera flash (couldn't help that, I'm not the greatest photographer around). The mat on the bottom is gold metallic matching the gold in the stitching. The red mat on top is actually silk. It really cool and matches the red perfectly. The frame is black, shiny on the outer edge and a matte finish next to the mat. I thought about a shinier frame but it was just overwhelming. I really like how this turned out. It is almost worth all the agonizing I spent over it. The really neat news about this piece is that Chris and Annette (the lucky owners of it - they just don't know it yet) will be here at Christmas. So I can can wrap it and have it under the tree for them. Both David and I are so excited. This is the first time in about 7 years where all our kids are home for the holidays. And David's mom will be here as well. We'll have a full house and are really looking forward to it.

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.

Happy Dance Part 2!

Oh happy day!! I finally finished the middle section of the China piece. Once I started backstitching on it, it went really fast. As hard as it was to stitch, I'm really glad I stuck with it. I think it turned out really well. Now that the middle section is finished, the rest of the cross stitching is going really well. I can honestly say I see the end. And getting so close to finishing this is making me excited about stitching other pieces. Maybe I'll dig out another UFO to finish.