Incoherent Scribblings

Chart Collecting

This week’s SBQ was suggested by Carol and is:

Do you collect charts by one particular designer, yet have never stitched anything by that designer? If so, which designer and why do you collect the charts but have not yet stitched any of them?

Well, for me I suppose it depends on what is meant by “collect.” If it means that I make sure that I have every design that one particular designer releases no matter if I like it or not, then the answer is no.

I like many of the designs by certain designers but not necessarily all of them and I just don’t have the desire, finances, or space to collect charts that I know I will never stitch in a million years. After all, what value does a chart that I will never stitch really have for me if I know it will just sit on a shelf and gather dust?

May Recap/June Goals

Since May is just about over, I decided to go ahead and post my June goals today.

First, however, I wanted to draw your attention to today’s picture. As you can see, except for the backstitching, today I finished Anna. I didn’t think Anna had much less stitching than Jane, but apparently she did because it took me 16 hours less to stitch her than it did Jane… Or maybe I just enjoyed stitching Anna so much that I stitched her faster, I don’t know.

Anyway, next week I will finally start Mary and as a result, the beginning of the end of this wonderful project. I will, of course, be happy to finish it, but I think I will also be a little sad when I do because this piece has been (and continues to be) such a joy to stitch.

And now, for the goal part of the post: As a reminder, my May goals were to:

1. Finish Dawn’s SBSRR and mail it back to her as soon as she sends me her new address. ** Yep. **
2. Get back to my daily rotation. ** Yep. **
3. Lay out my fabric for the new SBRR and stitch my square (First post date July 1) ** I have my fabric ready and have started my square. **
4. Start Friendship Exchange (Post date June 16) ** It is already finished! **

My June goals are to:

1. Finish putting together Ash’s package for the Friendship Exchange and mail it. (Post date June 16)
2. Finish my round robin square. (Post date July 1)
3. Start Recipe Exchange piece. (Post date July 15)
4. Because it is working so well for me, continue my daily rotation.
5. Give “Stiefmütterchen” a little extra attention in the hopes of finishing it by July 1.
6. Participate in the FGBB June Stitch-a-thon.

BBQ Days

Another Memorial Day has come and gone in the United States and though it is officially a day to remember those who fought in various wars, it is also unofficially the first day of summer. Countless Americans spend the long weekend traveling from one destination to another and, more often than not, attend at least one barbeque.

Barbeque is one of those words in American English that has a variety of meanings. It can refer to the specific style in which meat is prepared and the type of sauce that covers it, it can be a social gathering at which barbequed food is served, or it can indicate the act of cooking meat over hot coals or a revolving spit.

For example, in Texas barbequing refers to what others call “hot smoking:” Sliced brisket, sausage, and pork ribs are cooked with both smoke and low heat for hours over woods such as oak, mesquite, or pecan. And in Mississippi, most barbecue is pork shoulder and is slow-cooked in a smoker (either a drum, or a converted shed), though special events call for open-pit barbecue. *

Barbeque in Iowa tends to resemble the Missouri and/or Kansas City styles of barbeque, but can also simply mean a social gathering where actual barbequed meat may or may not be served and is probably more accurately called “grilling” instead of “barbequing.”

Iowa barbeques revolve around beef and when a bacon-wrapped filet is seared for a few minutes on the grill and served a perfect medium rare, it would almost be considered sacrilege to add any type of sauce… BBQ or otherwise.

Now as we all know, I love good steak and memories of Memorial Day Barbeques past sure had me drooling for a thick filet this past weekend. However, as we also know, beef in Germany has a long way to go before it can even come close to measuring up to my high Midwestern standards.

And then as I was pining away for a thick cut of Iowa beef yesterday, I abruptly remembered a suggestion that my step-dad had when I was back in the U.S. a few months ago: Perhaps I could order some quality Midwestern beef from Omaha Steaks. If so, even in Germany I would never have a beef emergency again.

I got all wound up and started browsing their website before I realized even if they did ship all the way to Germany it wouldn’t do me much good anyway… because I can’t properly grill a steak to save my life!

* - BBQ Information via Wikipeida

One-Winged Dragon

Behold my latest progress on “Above the Clouds!” Confetti now has a wing!

I had to fight temptation to just chuck the pattern aside and randomly place all those darn confetti stitches where I felt like it the entire time I stitched today, but the result is so worth the effort!

I knew all along that there was a method to the confetti madness because I looked at the model, but I didn’t really get the entire effect until I finished stitching. Once I stepped back and looked at the piece as a whole I was pleased to see that Confetti now has scales on his wings.

In other news, I finished my Friendship Exchange piece today. I have done this finishing method before, but each time I do it I find new “tricks” to make it work smoother and the finished product looks better each time. I am quite pleased with the way everything turned out and I hope that when she receives it Ash likes it as much as I do!

Weekend Report

So this is how I spent my weekend:

On Friday I started and finished Pansy #10 on “Stiefmütterchen.” This pansy didn’t impress me all that much. I like the colors, but the shape of the flower seems rather peculiar.

However, with only 6 more pansies to go I will have a happy dance soon! In fact, if I give it a little extra attention I might even get finished within the next month.

Of course, the prospect of finally finishing “Stiefmütterchen” has me thinking about what to put in my Friday slot when I am finished. (Cart before the horse, I know!) Currently TW’s “Tapestry Cat” and Mirabilia’s “Shimmering Mermaid” are both calling to me, but I am leaning a little more toward “Tapestry Cat” because I already have the fabric for it. However, I always reserve the right to change my mind if something else tickles my fancy between now and then.

On Saturday I worked a little on “Celtic Spring,” but not enough to warrant a progress picture.

Today I worked on my Friendship Exchange piece for Ash. I finished the stitching and prepared it for the actual finishing. It is a bit late to pull out my sewing machine tonight so the plan is to finish it first thing tomorrow.

I know tomorrow is Memorial Day in the U.S. so I hope everyone has a safe one… and if someone happens to have a barbeque, could you throw a steak on the grill and think of me?