A Day Late

 This is where I planned to be last night:

I've decided that I have to stop stitching when I start yawning.

The petals need to be filled in with tent stitch over one. I'm saving that for tomorrow. 

Very Bad Language

An hour ago, the vine on the right was about the same length as the vine on the left.

Notice that I said "about the same length." As I was adding the flowers, I discovered that I had omitted two vertical stitches on the main vine. I had already stitched the leaves and the little gold stitches, just as they appear on the left vine--and the leaves are made from rice stitches and the little gold stitches are Smyrna crosses. Neither of them are quick to rip out.

Obviously, the frog came to visit (rippit, rippit, rippit). Very bad language was used. Dearly Beloved was impressed--he said the last time he heard such language, he was in basic training in the Air Force. He felt that I could have increased the vocabulary of his training instructor.

I think I will take a break and wash out my mouth with soap.

 

Another change . . .

I sat down last night and read through the rest of the directions for Tribute.

Holey Moley, I have a lot left to do!

So, for the moment (or until my Stitcher's ADD kicks in), I'm going to focus on getting all the stitching for this project finished. And that means no finishing, no Sampler Sunday, no doodle stitching.

Nope, nose to the grindstone, needles threaded, get 'er done.

At the moment, I need to chart my name.

 Do you think it would be a problem if I just used my initials?

*****

A little note: I read all the comments, but if you're a no-reply blogger, I can't respond to you. Please know that I'm delighted to know that you're visiting my corner of the blogoverse, but I haven't figured out the workaround for this particular problem. Sigh . . . 

Another good mail day!

 Today was another very good mail day!

It's even better in person than it is in the photo on Amy Mitten's site.

I am trying to be strong and not start it. I did cut out templates and iron-in interfacing yesterday, and I practiced double knotted buttonhole--and I really need to get the prework done for my auditing class in July--but this is so cute!

I truly need to have 36 hours in a day. And I thought I would have so much time when I retired . . . 

Making Progress

So I'm still working on Tribute, which has more stitching than I remembered from when I took the class. It's probably a good thing that I pulled it out to work on again if I'm auditing the class in early July so I can review the assembly process.

 I had a chance to work on it this morning at a stitch-in that some of the members of my EGA chapter have started. I've had plans to attend this weekly event for . . . well . . . weeks . . . and something always interfered. I actually made it there today, and will do my best to go again. It's a lovely, supportive group, and I got a good bit of over-one stitching done while I was there.

Harmony has not been ignored. I have my muslin pad assembled so I can work the detached elements for the panel I worked on at the beginning of the year. However, the first bit I want to do is a knotted triple buttonhole stitch. Have I ever done a knotted triple buttonhole stitch? I have not. Can I do it? Not without some practice. Change that--not without a good bit of practice if I want it to look like a knotted triple buttonhole stitch instead of a mess of knots. So I have set up a practice piece of linen and I am slowly and carefully making my way through the diagrams and photos and written directions on how to triple and knot and buttonhole some thread.

But tomorrow, I am going to start putting Carmen's Etui together. I have decided I absolutely cannot start another project until something is put together. Carmen has been stitched for a couple of months--maybe longer--so it's going to move toward a finish.

Of course, starting a new project is one of the joys of stitching . . . 

And temptation is so strong . . .

Getting back in the groove

 There was no Sampler Sunday yesterday. After stitching like a maniac, and having to tightly hold bits and pieces together to assemble Bird in Hand, my hands announced that they needed to take a day off.

So I spent the day playing in the stash. And that resulted in deciding to pull Tribute out of the pile and doing a few more stitches this morning to get that project back underway.

I originally took this class at Christmas in Williamsburg a number of years ago. The class was packed, shoulder to shoulder, which created a less than optimal learning situation. When I reviewed my notes, I realized that I must have missed some things in all the confusion--so I am auditing the class at Sassy Jack's in July. I would like to have all the stitching done so I can zoom right into the finishing as soon as I'm home again. That means I need to work on this. 

I still want to work on the innards for Dear Heart, the last class I took from Jackie, and I'm going to pick up Harmony again, this week, do or die. So I have plenty to do, and I'm looking forward to plopping myself in the wing chair and getting it done.

I have a dear friend who has asked me to stitch the model for one of her reproduced samplers--and I'll slot that into my stitching routine. We had lunch together today--commiserated about elderly parents, solved the problems of the world, and figured out the programs for the next two years in our sampler guild--it was a delightful interlude. The last couple of years without those simple pleasures have taken their toll, and, while still being very careful, it's so nice to have the chance to spend time together. 

It's absolutely worth it to get a needle in the arm to be able to get out and about with fewer fears!

 

What I did this week

Last Saturday I took an online class with Catherine Theron with the Orange Coast Sampler Guild.

Today I finished the project.

 Bird in Hand Sewing Companion

Actually, I started to assemble it yesterday, but after a couple of errors, I figured it probably wasn't the best idea to work on finishing on Friday the 13th, so I stopped and puttered around the house for a bit.

I believe I will press the top just a little more--with all the handling  to get the fiddly bits sewn together, I squished it a little. I'd like for it to lie a little flatter, but other than that, I am quite pleased. Then I need to decide what kind of trouble to get into this evening. I don't think I'll stitch any more today--my hands are telling me it's time to take a break.