In my part of the world we say you are a fool if your passion for a pursuit overcomes all practical sense. I am a stitching fool, and I stitch foolishness.

Monday, October 30, 2017

Catching Up

There have been things going on in my little corner of the needlework world.


I took a class from Sherri Jones with the Carolinas Sampler Guild. The scrims are for the Winter Garden Workbox. I did a tiny bit of stitching but we spent most of the time going over the design and the finishing.

Sherri's classes are always fun and I always learn something, and I picked up some of the tools that she recommends for better finishing since I need all the help I can get.

And why is there a walnut shell, you ask? We had a mini-class on Friday before the main event on Saturday. We're going to make a pin cushion with the shell as a base.

Sherri gave us the chart for a monogram and I was all set to stitch that--but then she showed us other ideas for things to do, including making a little basket with Mokuba ribbon as the handle. I should not be given too many options--now I can't decide what I want to do. And should I get the ribbon before I do anything in case that affects what I stitch? And what should I stitch? All something to consider when I wake up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.

Mary Otter has not been abandoned. Her verse and attribution are now complete and I don't have to do cross stitch over one thread for the rest of the sampler.  Yeeeeeee----hawwwwwwww!

(You may get the impression that I am not enthralled by cross stitch over one. I'm not. I much prefer tent over one. Any time.)


Poor Mary isn't going to get much time for the next few days. Tomorrow is Halloween. Wednesday is sampler guild meeting. Thursday is Dearly Beloved's birthday. Per his request we are not celebrating (remember, he doesn't do birthdays) but we are going out to dinner. I'm not sure how that doesn't constitute a celebration, even if it's a low-key one, but even after forty-one years married to this man, I have given up on understanding his logic.

Thursday, October 26, 2017

Gloom and Doom

Well, here's another gloom and doom verse on a schoolgirl sampler.


It seems like all of them have a variation on "life is short so you may as well be miserable."

Just once I'd like to find one that says something like:

Life is short.

Misery is optional.

Take joy in the time you have!

This has been interesting to stitch, though. Because of the time period, some of the s's look like s's and some look like f's. And the t's and r's look very similar. And on the third line, Mary definitely had to cram a longer line into a smaller space than allotted.

Mary is getting a day off this weekend. I'm going to a workshop with Sherri Jones, and I am SO looking forward to it. Sherri is teaching her Winter Garden etui at my sampler guild, and I've been looking forward to this for a long, long time.


Saturday, October 21, 2017

It's a Bird! It's a Plane!

It's a . . . dragonfly . . . ?


There's a bunch of these little critters flitting around Mary Otter's sampler. Some look possibly like butterflies, but this one looks like a dragonfly to me.

The beginning of the teeny little floral border is stitched:


It took longer to stitch than the bigger border above it.

I think that's going to be the story of this quarter of the sampler. With very few exceptions, it's stitched over one, either tent or cross over-one. 

I've decided to go ahead and stitch the verse--letters, you know--not my favorite part of a sampler to stitch. Then I may get the Queen stitch borders on the sides worked in, and then go back to the floral border that twines around the saying.  And then there are the parrots on each side.

Oh, didn't I mention that there are parrots?

There are big honkin' parrots in this part of the sampler. Just wait and see. . .

Tuesday, October 17, 2017

Diversions

In the last twenty-four hours, my mail carrier has done his best to provide me with diversions.


This beautiful assortment of lovely stitching things will eventually become Racheal Kinnison's limited edition ornament for 2017.  I am absolutely craving to start this and to work on last year's ornament as well. I'm also trying to avoid drooling all over the silks.

And then more diversions:


A new Marvel movie and a new Virgil Flowers book from John Sandford.  Hmmmmmm . . . I can stitch with a movie on but I haven't figured out how to read and stitch at the same time--at least not with the printed page.

But I am remaining faithful and true to Mary Otter.


The next vine is started and I'm having to watch it like a hawk.

For one thing, there's a leaf that looks sort of like a dirigible.


Well, it would if the picture weren't quite so blurry.

For another thing, Mary got a little distracted and the vine doesn't exactly follow the same pattern from one curve to another.


I choose to believe that Mary wanted to go out and play rather than stitching away on her sampler because she was all over the place on this. Some curves go up, some go down, some meander off track just a tad.

I guess I'll just meander with them.

Sunday, October 15, 2017

Poor neglected blog

I feel like my blogging mojo has flown out of the window.

But it has been a little bit hectic around here . . .

The first quarter of Mary Otter is stitched!!!


The second quarter is all over one. I think it may take awhile to see much progress.

Then I spent some time in the dentist's chair getting my teeth cleaned AND a permanent crown installed, all on the same day. My jaw felt like it was unhinged. It still does, a little . . .

Then we had trouble with both cars, which is never a good thing for the budget . . .

And then we went to W Va for the week-end to help celebrate The Flash's ninth birthday. He had a tremendous birthday party and lots of goodies and he may come down from the excitement in about a  year when it's time for his next birthday.

However, we have discovered the trick for at least a temporary calming effect. We gave him a book. And like his parents and grandparents and Aunt Baby Girl, he can be mesmerized by the printed page. And he was.

And I am now going to bed very early since tomorrow is Monday and I need to rise and shine. And hopefully have a somewhat less active week.

Friday, October 6, 2017

Whew!!!

I didn't think I would ever get this part of Mary Otter stitched.


I like Queen stitches, really I do--but there are a lot of them in this border. The vine isn't so bad but the strawberries and their little leaves involve a lot of starting and stopping. A LOT of starting and stopping.

Normally I do all of the borders on schoolgirl samplers, just to get them out of the way. Mainly it's because, after a while, they get boring. Really, really boring.  And I like getting them out of the way before I start the fun parts in the middle--sort of like eating all your peas and carrots so you can have dessert.

However, at the moment, I think if I have to do another Queen stitch, I might start frothing at the mouth.

So I'm going to do some of the fun stuff in the middle before I go back to more . . . and more . . . and more Queen-stitched strawberries.