This too shall end................

Just don't ask me when! lol I've been pretty quiet on the stitching boards of late, but it's just because I'm working to get Angel of Healing done. Though I have been putting in some solid hours, the progress is less than encouraging. I'm at the bottom part of the dress where a ribbon hangs down....it's a beautiful effect but quite the amount of confetti stitching. Not sure if it is the confetti stitching that is getting me down, or just that I'm so close to the finish line.

I know it's silly, but it is really depressing for me to finish a project. Quick ones don't seem to have any effect; but the ones where you have spent so many long hours on.....they are the ones that I struggle with myself.

You should see the rainbow beads on this piece.....WOW, what an impact. That alone nearly took 2 steady days to get done.....I was being particularly persnickety that they follow a specific order I had in my mind. Took some finangling, but I am pleased with the effect once I got it to where I wanted it.

Okay, now back to the task at hand.....getting her finished.

The sounds of beads dropping all over the floor

herald the fact that I am once again working on my Angel of Healing. Today I managed to get about 6 hours work done on it. Now I have completed the backstitching on the wings.....the pattern doesn't call for it, but the contrast between the light fabric and the white/cream of the wings was not substantive, so a little DMC 932 seems to have worked in that regard.

I just love the rainbow beads on this piece, though it does get a bit tricky on keeping identical colours from being clumped together as I work around those lovely swirls. I still haven't decided if I am going to stitch her hands over 1 or just go with the pattern's over 2. Tomorrow I'll make that decision.....right now I just feel too lazy to chart it. Amazingly, there is not as much left to do as I had remembered ~ must be another senior's moment!! The day dawns early, so I best be off to bed, but it was a good stitching day and I feel quite happy about getting back to my ufo's.

The Young Lady loves pink......

so pink it is!!! This little square will be part of a quilt for a dear friend whose daughter has been ill for quite some time. Her daughter, Hannah, is a real sweetheart, and it is a shame that she has to go through so much at such a young age (11). So another friend wrote to me suggesting a quilt and that her favorite colour was pink.

After going through my stash and freebies, I found a cute little piece called Oiseau fleurs that seemed a perfect fit for a young girl who loves the outdoors and animals.

I started this on the weekend, I think, and finished it just a few minutes before 11 pm tonight. Hopefully, I'll be sending this little fella on his way to spread a little hope and cheer.

This piece is copyrighted by www.carinne.hst.st and was stitched on jobelan 28 count from Silkweavers in a colour they call Honeysuckle Pink. The floss is DMC #3733 and that is definitely pink!!!

This now makes 8 projects completed out of the 50.

Shovel snow or stitch? Yeah, there's a hard

one to decide, eh? LOL

Actually, I did do the shovelling.....it's not my fault 60 mph winds decides to blow it hither and yon. Once I made it to my stitching chair, it was all over but the crying. I have now completed 8 and half pages of the 17 for Angelic Greetings. Man, this thing is going to be bigger than I realized.......not exactly like this is the first time I have miscalculated a pattern size or how long it will take me to do!

Visited the bulletin boards looking at all the lovely work being done and I can tell you, I am downright impressed. There are now designs on my wish list I would never have considered, but after seeing them stitched, unbelievable!!!! I realize designers have to be careful, if the photographs are too good, some enterprising rip-off artists then scan the photo to make illegal charts. But if the photos are really bad.......it makes you hesitate on spending your money to buy the thing to begin with. Really a vicious cycle, not sure if there is an answer, but I am thankful for all the stitchers who have shared their work so many of us could change our minds.

Well, there's a sink full of dishes waiting, might as well get those done now that the girls are off to bed. If my eyes will cooperate, I might even manage another half page on my chart before I fall asleep. Oh to have the stamina of a 20 year old.........

Just can't stop myself.............

Ahhhh the joys of being addicted to a single design where all else just falls by the wayside! There is something about the combination of the Enchanted silkweaver fabric and this particular design that just won't let me put it down!!! Dust bunnies are roaming my home in wild abandon and dog hair has nearly coated every surface that is not exposed to a 20 mph wind......and that includes us!! LOL

I probably should feel very guilty about letting my chores go. Yet, no matter how many times I dust, how many times I vacuum, how many dishes I wash, how many trips to the basement for load after load of laundry, there never seems to be an end to it. No sooner have you got it all done, simply turn your head left or right to see it stalking you from all angles.....talk about your job security! At times like this I am reminded of that tongue-in-cheek rhyme, "A man works from sun to sun, but a woman's work is never done." Don't get me wrong, I love a clean house....I just wish it would co-operate a tiny bit and let me enjoy the fruits of my labor for even a single day before looking like a bomb blast site.

Now how can that compare to this? :

With the advent of scanners and digital cameras, I can SEE the progress even when I don't necessarily feel it. The design itself is wonderful (especially as I have it earmarked for the Angel Quilt Project), but I think it is the fabric that is holding my interest. The color plays that are happening as the design develops is intriguing to me. By some lovely stroke of chance, the tops of the wings have entered into the larger lighter area, as well as the face. And I do mean chance....I simply started in the middle of the fabric and let the chips fall where they may.

This design is large, will probably end up a good 12x14 inches for the design area alone. I would love to try this in a reverse....dark fabric with a white, ecru or very light grey but stitched over 1 instead of over 2. The entire design is whole stitches and would lend itself beautifully to that method. Maybe another time....at 17 pages for the pattern, this requires some serious time allocation. Considering the number of UFO's and WIP's I have on the go......I really should show some kind of restraint. (though constraint would probably be more appropriate when I get off on my tangents.) Now that 6 pages have been completed, I am even more enthralled with working on it. Guess the dust bunnies and dog hair will live in peace for yet another day. (wink)

Shame on me................

I'm supposed to be working on a UFO for this coming week, but just can't put down my new start. I told myself I would stop after I put the face in...then, just a little around the neck, oh and that little area around the head, and on and on. There are a few times when being a serial starter has definite disadvantages......like finishing something! LOL

Actually, as I was stitching away on my new love, I gave some real hard thought to my 'block' when it comes to finishing. Though finishing is a happy thing, I find it kind of a let-down and tinged with sadness. I truly LOVE all my projects and when they are done, it's like a friend moving away....I'll never see them again, (ie I will never stitch on them again). I know this sounds totally inane, after all, the purpose of stitching something is to finish it and either display it or give it away. Well, that may be true, but not for me. Weird though it may seem, it is the emotional bond that I have with a piece that makes me want to stitch it to begin with. And that bond is what keeps me working on it, at least, til I see the end is near. Then I procrastinate, start new ones, do other projects, read, heck, I'll even do housework!!! Once that final stitch is placed, the bond is irrevocably broken.....there is nothing left to do on it. Stitching is cathartic for me....it restores balance in my little world. My mind enters this wonderful little void where neither sight nor sound penetrates beyond the chart and the fabric.....we become one. A little fanciful in the description here, but the analogy is bang on. Many of my cyber stitching friends talk about what they are thinking about and reviewing things in their minds as they stitch.......I do that all day long, no matter what task is occupying my hands. But when I sit to stitch, it really is an empty place. Now that may sound terrifying, but it is more like a cocoon, a special place my mind visits where it can rest from its endless worries, concerns and demands. This is probably the equivalent of an adult's version of a child's blankie. (I had one as a kid, still remember the color, and feel of it! LOL) Telling myself there are others waiting doesn't work either. Each are unique in why I am drawn to them, so even though two designs may have many similarities, it is the subtlety of their differences that engage me.

What to do with this new found information, I have no idea. Not sure if there really is anything I want to do with it. Just one of those lovely little tangents I went off to trying to understand why I do or don't do something.

Now to get back to the endless loads of laundry, dirty dishes, vacuuming, dusting and cleaning. And I wonder WHY I want to retire one day so I never have to leave my stitching chair!

Greetings of the Angelic kind.............

I love doing pieces for the Angel Quilt Project, it gives me such a wonderful feeling and I like the idea that there's a bit of my needlework somewhere out there that brings a little joy or comfort to someone. The reason for this ramble is that I was taking a tour of my patterns, bits and bobs and was actually looking for a piece to do a February SAL with some stitchers on the Pals Delights BB. Now I didn't find what I was looking for, but I did find a piece from the Artecy site that is called Angelic Greetings. It's an effect that is like silhouette/blackwork but all done in whole cross stitches. Then I remember seeing a beautiful Silkweaver piece in my stash called Elegance which is shades of purple mottling with white and cream that has a "late evening" kind of feel to it. For my mind, the two were just made for each other. So I have started it and have done about 2 days stitching on it. As it appears on the fabric, my gut just tells me that this is 'so right'. Right now I have about a 6 hours stitching time on it and this is how it looks:


This is a 28 count Jobelan being stitched 2 over 2. The pattern is 17 pages plus 2 pages with additional information. The original was stitched using black, but I've opted to use DMC #3740 to compliment the purple without being too stark. There are no 'repeat sections' between the pages, so counting requires a little more concentration for me, but I am thoroughly enjoying it.
I just love the effect I am seeing. Well, this will be it for now until March as I need to get to work on my other angel.