Incoherent Scribblings

In case all five of my readers are wondering what has happened to me, I should tell you that I flew home (as in back to Germany) on Tuesday/Wednesday. I think I am just about over my jet-lag (finally!) and I have been jotting down all of my witty stories from the US so that I can entertain you in the coming days. Please stay tuned…

Well, after six fun-filled weeks with my family and friends, tomorrow I will board a plane and fly back to Hubby and my three fur-babies. I have had a wonderful time and wouldn’t have missed the birth of my nephew for the world, but I must admit that I am really looking forward to going home and sleeping in my own bed!

And amazingly enough, I managed to get quite a bit of stitching in when I wasn’t stash shopping! I finished both Melissa’s Birthday Exchange and my nephew’s sampler; I got some hours in on “Catch the Wind;” and I even started on both of my round robins that are due in March! (Except for a little backstitching Jo’s robin is complete and I got a good start on Laurie’s.)

In addition to that, I also managed to get photographs of some stitching that I gave away as gifts during my first year as a stitcher. I showed my mom and step-dad’s wedding sampler a couple of weeks ago, but among the other pieces were a pillow that I did for my stepsister and of course, my niece’s baby sampler. I am not going to post pictures of all of them in this entry, but you can see them in my gallery under “Early Works.”

This will be the last entry that I post from the US, so as I said six weeks ago… See you on the other side!

Yesterday Melissa got her birthday exchange piece in the mail, so now I can show a picture of my first happy dance of 2006!

I started this lovely little wheelbarrow by Donna Vermillion Giampa for Melissa in December and was about half done with the stitching before I left Germany back in January. I finished the stitching almost exactly one month ago today, but didn’t get around to finishing it until I visited Dawn during the first week of February because I had a hard time deciding how to finish it.

As you can plainly see, I ended up making a wall hanging and according to Melissa I managed to finish it with colors that go well with her living room.

Melissa, I am so glad you liked your little birthday present. Have a happy birthday tomorrow!

Now I have to start another exchange piece for the third person in our group (Cathy). I have decided what I am going to stitch and how I am going to finish it, now I just need to get everything together so that I can do so.

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Heather and is another one that is about blogging instead of stitching.

Comment on your comments (giving and receiving): Do you love comments or hate them? Do you check them every day, never check them, or find them helpful? And finally, are you convinced no one is reading your blog if you don’t get any?

Ahh, comments… Ever since I have had a blog I have had a love/hate relationship with my comments.

I remember how excited I was to get my first comment on my main blog. It felt so good to know that someone was reading my blog and had something to say about my writing.

Then came comment spam and comment moderation. I never had too big of a problem with comment spam, but I think it was because I turned on comment moderation quite early.

Eventually my main blog got popular enough that I was receiving comments that I didn’t appreciate so I decided to turn the comments off. After all, I decided that I was writing mainly for myself anyway and I was tired of subconsciously censoring what I wrote because of the comments that I was getting, so I figured if someone really wanted to say something to me about an entry they could email me. (And they do too!)

I have now had the comments on my main blog off for about six months and I will admit that from time to time I think about turning them back on, but in all likelihood I probably won’t.

However, the commenting feature on this stitching blog is completely different…

First of all, since I run the SBQ I need to have the comments on this blog “on” so that everyone can tell me that they have answered. And since I moderate all comments (SBQ or otherwise), I normally check in several times a day so that I can approve them as soon as possible.

But to be honest, I love to show off my work and when I get comments on my stitching I think it keeps me motivated to stitch more.

And finally, even though I really like getting comments on this blog, I probably don’t comment on other people’s blogs as much as I should. After all, it is only fair that I should “return the love” so to speak.

And with that, I am off to comment on some blogs!

So today Mom and I went on our last shopping hoorah before I go back to Germany next week and we stopped by Hobby Lobby so that I could get one more fistful of DMC. And what do you know? They were having a sale on their needlework items!

Yep, you guessed it… I have some more stash to report. I bought some needles and some more DMC, but my big haul was on the charts, some of which were on my wish list.

Check it out! I got:

Cinderella: Just-a-Chart, Janlynn

Sleeping Beauty: Just-a-Chart, Janlynn

Needlework Shoppe : Just-a-Chart, Janlynn

Queen Anne’s Lace: Lavender and Lace

The Quiltmaker: Lavender and Lace

Fairy Flora: Mirabilia

Dragonflies, Ladybugs, and Bees, Oh My!: M Designs

Sun Needle Roll: M Designs

Irish Chain: Pam Kellogg

Victorian Boot: Pam Kellogg

I got the Just-a-Charts for $1.49 a piece and the L&L’s for $2.49 a piece, but the best bargain had to be the Mirabilia. I got “Fairy Flora” as a kit that included fabric, floss (with blending filament), and the beads for $14.00! A lot of times those charts by themselves cost that much!

The only thing I didn’t get on sale was “Irish Chain” by Pam Kellogg, but since I got such good deals on everything else I didn’t really care. This is a chart that came with Kreinik Silk Mori Milkpaint Threads for $14.00. I really wanted this mini-kit because it is an advanced design that will not only allow me to use silk threads, but practice my one-over stitching. (It is supposed to be stitched one-over on 32 count!)

So now, on my Scout’s Honor, I promise that I will not buy anymore stash before I go back to Germany. (Please pay no attention to the fingers that I have crossed behind my back.)