Incoherent Scribblings

Finally! May I present my first happy dance of 2010 as well as my first happy dance in almost seven (7!) months… “Portrait of Lauren in Blue” by Nora Corbett. *insert applause here*

Now in addition to this happy dance, something else has been “a long time coming” and I think it is time to address it. For many, many months (probably over a year actually), I have had little desire to blog. My life has changed in the six years that I have had this blog and as a result, things that used to be priorities in my life are no longer so… and yes, the blog is one of those things. However, because I reserve the right to change my mind, I will be keeping my blog parked in its cyberhome, but do not look for anymore updates here.

If you are still interested in my life and stitching, join me on Facebook… Just make sure I know who you are or your friend request may not be accepted.

~rg

As you can see, I have been stitching like mad on “Portrait of Lauren in Blue.” She now has (most of) her hair! There is still a little bit of hair to fill in, but that is around the flowers that I am now stitching.

I have also been working on “Austrian I” but have no picture of that progress because I discovered a mistake that I am going to have to frog (over one on 32 count) before continuing.

I have to say that I didn’t realize how much I missed stitching over the past few months until I had some time to devote to it. I hate just stitching for a few minutes at a time. When I stitch, I want to settle in for 2 or 3 hours and dedicate myself to needle and thread, not sneak 5 minutes at a time dammit!

Well, another year has come and gone and at a mere 12, my finished project count for the year is the lowest I have had since I started my stitching blog. I am not really upset about this though. I had so many other things going on in my life that I simply didn’t have time to stitch this year. So, without further ado, let’s look at what I wrote approximately a year ago in regards to my stitching:

WIPs carried over from 2008:

• “Fairy Flora,” Mirabilia – Finished in 2009
• “Spring Queen,” Mirabilia – Didn’t even look at it.
• “Summer’s Magic,” Dragon Dreams (SAL with Dawn) – Finished in 2009
• “Tapestry Cat,” TW Designworks – Disassembled and abandoned
• “Snowman Wisdom,” Stoney Creek – Finished in 2009

Projects for 2009:

• “Too Cute to Spook,” Stoney Creek (SAL with Dawn) – Finished in 2009
• “Skeleton Crew,” Cross-Eyed Cricket (SAL with Dawn) – No
• “Lady Rose,” Joan Elliott – Started, didn’t like the fabric.
• “Kitty Cottage Sampler,” Little House Needleworks – Finished in 2009
• “EduCATed,” Bent Creek – No
• “Little Ballerinas,” Country Cottage Needleworks – No
• “Choo Choo Train,” JBW Designs – Finished in 2009
• “Princess Parade,” Country Cottage Needleworks – No
• “Robert’s Cats” set, XStitch Happy – No

Now, on to 2010!

I debated about whether or not to make any kind of stitching goals this year, but like Kathryn, I think it is a good idea to at least have some things to think about when planning for the year. Besides, after I looked at my list I realized that out of my 12 finishes, 6 came from this list, so I guess goals can be useful after all.

The main goal for 2010 is to finish all of my WIPs from 2009 except one that I think will more than likely end up as a UFO, so here they are:

WIPs carried over from 2009:

• “Butterfly Bungalow,” Country Cottage Needleworks
• “Castle Sampler,” TW Designworks
• “Austrian I,” Bleu de Chine
• “Portrait of Lauren in Blue,” Nora Corbett
• “The Old West,” Little House Needleworks
• “Spring Queen,” Mirabilia
• “Navajo Style,” Joan Elliott (this may possibly become a UFO)

And of course, I wouldn’t be content with only working on WIPs, so I also have a few projects that I’d like to start this year, although as you can imagine this list is subject to change and expansion as I see fit!

Projects for 2010:

• “Lady Rose,” Joan Elliott (I have the fabric now)
• “Little Ballerinas,” Country Cottage Needleworks
• “R,” Nora Corbett Alphabet Series
• “Celtic Summer,” Lavender and Lace

And now, off to stitch!

Last week I went to Las Vegas for Christmas vacation and while I was there I met Juls for her Wednesday morning stitching group. However, before I could sit down with all the lovely ladies and stitch the day away, I had to get some S.E.X.!

As a little Christmas present to myself I bought some Cresent Colours (no specific colors, just ones that I thought were pretty), “Celtic Summer,” by Marilyn Levitt-Imblum, “The Nutcracker” by Country Cottage Kids, and the letter “R,” and “Portrait of Lauren in Blue” by Nora Corbett. I also bought a swatch of pink hand-dyed fabric and 805 of the Magenta range in Needlepoint Silks.

I bought the pink fabby and the silks for “Austrian I” by Bleu de Chine from the latest JCS and started that while I was at the stitching group. All of the ladies were very friendly to me and I got to see some great projects! Juls brought some of her stitching to show me and I got to see her “Quaker Christmas” in person. All I could think while seeing her things was how much more impressive projects always are in real life…

But as much as I like “Austrian I,” I totally fell in love with “Portrait of Lauren in Blue” and just couldn’t resist starting her yesterday. I guess I was craving a Nora Corbett design because I think that I am enjoying this project entirely too much! And the best part about Lauren? She is about half to one-third the size of a “regular” Mirabilia!

I still have the rest of this week off so I plan on stitching as much as I can and who knows? I may have one last happy dance before the end of the decade!

Once upon a time I used to blog and I used to stitch. And sometimes I would even do both! Like tonight!

Yes, you read right: I’ve been stitching!

I am working on a Country Cottage Needlework piece called “Summer Retreats.” It has three houses and I have chosen to stitch the one called “Butterfly Bungalow.” It’s slow going… I started it last month for Pete’s sake! Normally a piece like this wouldn’t take so long, but in addition to the interference called my life, I’ve had a couple of pretty severe encounters with the frog, and I haven’t been 100% happy with the fabric. Oh, I like the color (it’s 28 count Opalescent “Green Apple” Lugana from Silkweaver), but I don’t think the threads are very even for evenweave. I am pretty close to getting finished with it though. I hope it will be either my last or second-to-the-last piece of the year.

I also have a new small start on deck from the latest issue of Cross Stitch and Needlework called “Snow Pals.” It is a pretty simple design, but I am going to try and work on it in the car when I go on vacation later this month. I have never stitched in the car because I am usually driving when I go on a trip, but this trip I am mostly going to be a passenger, so we’ll see if I can stitch.

And finally, in case you were wondering, I haven’t worked on “Castle Sampler” since mid-October. I know I will eventually come back to it though. I love the piece, I just needed a break from it. Maybe I will take it to work on while lounging in the hotel or visiting while on vacation… Hmm… Now there’s a great idea!