Incoherent Scribblings

I had a very productive SAT/SAL weekend.

As promised, I spent Friday and Saturday working on “Pumpkin on Gingham” by The Sweetheart Tree from the JCS Halloween ornament issue. I didn’t quite get finished with it on Saturday, so I finished it up last night. Normally I wouldn’t show a picture until I had it made up into a fob (which is what this piece is destined for), but I didn’t want my fellow SATers to think I hadn’t achieved my goal this month… so here it is!

On Sunday, I put “Pumpkin on Gingham” down so I could work on “Summer’s Magic,” my SAL with Dawn. Dawn didn’t get a chance to SAL on Sunday because she wasn’t feeling well, but I since I was a little behind I went ahead and worked on my piece anyway.

With this piece, I think I have entered a new era in my stitching evolution. I have started backstitching as I go along. Like most stitchers, when I learned how to stitch I was given the advice to leave all the backstitching for the end, which I did. However, these days I believe that I have acquired enough experience to know how much backstitching I can do without the floss getting lost amongst the cross stitches and as a result I wonder why I didn’t start doing this long ago.

Guess what I got in the mail today? You guessed it! The JCS Halloween ornament issue! Ever since I heard the first mention of this issue I have been checking my mailbox everyday, just waiting for it to get here.

Of the 13 Halloween ornaments, there are 6 that I would like to stitch, and 3 that I must stitch. In fact, since this weekend is SAT weekend, I think I am going to do start one of those must stitches. (Probably “Pumpkin on Gingham” from the Sweetheart Tree)

As you may have noticed, I also have a finish to share: Bent Creek’s “Cat-o-Lantern.” It is stitched on 32 count Natural Belfast. This isn’t from the JCS Halloween issue, rather it is one of the pieces that I ordered the overdyes for a couple of weeks ago.

Speaking of overdyes… Once they got here I decided I didn’t like the main color for the pumpkin (WDW Harvest… very brown) so I switched it for a different color that also came with the order (WDW Carrot). I also switched the stripes from GAST Brandy to GAST Butternut Squash because GAST Brandy blended in too much with WDW Carrot.

Anyway, I like the way the pumpkin turned out in Carrot (as far as I know, pumpkins are supposed to be orange, not brown ), but now I wonder which pattern I ordered the Carrot for and whether or not I will have enough left when I get there.

P.S. Click here for another cat-o-lantern.

This week I decided to work on my bi-monthly Christmas Ornament commitment for my 10 Ornies in 500 Days Challenge. After browsing through my magazines and my freebies, I finally settled on “A Colonial Christmas Ornament” by Cherished Stitches from the JCS 2007 Ornament Issue.

I don’t think this ornament was originally on my list of things to stitch from this issue but I am glad I decided on it because it challenged my finishing skills a little bit. I doubt you can tell because I had a hard time getting any pictures that accurately portray how it actually looks, but I finished it as a three-sided whip stitch ornament. A three-sided finish was a first for me and it wasn’t until I started whip stitching the panels together that the directions made sense. Once I got the hang of it though, the ornament went together nicely.

There are a few things about this piece that I should mention: First, instead of beads I chose to do French knots for the holly berries. Why? Because I didn’t have any suitable beads in my stash. (Note to self: Really should work on acquiring adequate bead stash.) Second, the date and the holly on the third panel are stitched over one… on 36 count! Third, I am especially proud of the cording that I made. After two or three years of making my own cording, I finally made a length that has uniform tension!

A Colonial Christmas Ornament
by Cherished Stitches (from the 2007 JCS Ornament Issue)
April 14, 2008-April 17, 2008
36 Count Khaki Edinburgh
DMC Fibers, Rainbow Gallery Petite Treasure Braid

P.S. I am not going to say who I originally had in mind when I started this ornament because I like it so much that I just might keep it for myself!

How appropriate that I finished “Winter Love” by SamSarah Design Studio from the JCS 2007 Christmas Ornament issue just in time for Valentine’s Day!

Actually, I stitched this as part of my 10 Ornies in 500 Days Challenge. This will be turned into a Christmas Ornament for a member of my family. At the moment, I think it will more than likely be for my step-mom, but I haven’t decided for sure so I haven’t personalized it yet.

I envision it as a simple pillow-style ornament, though I am hoping to make it a tuck-pillow ornament. I would like to finish it into the ornament sometime soon, but it will really depend if I can find some appropriate fabric.

There isn’t much of a fabric selection out here in West Texas Town, so I am considering looking to see if I can find some sort of fabric shop online. I figure that with all the quilters out there, there are just as likely to be OQSs as there are ONSs, right?

And with this finish, I am afraid I can put it off no longer… “Above the Clouds” must be next in my rotation.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I know it has been a while since I had any stitching progress to show and while I could blame it on all the time I have been spending with a certain someone that is not the whole story.

As anyone who has been reading this blog for a while knows, I am very, very close to finishing “Above the Clouds.” So close, in fact that I thought with a little concentrated effort I could finish Confetti by the end of November. That was my goal and I have tried very diligently to meet it. However, after almost 20 hours I was tired of Confetti and wanted very badly to change projects.

At that point I decided to start working on Outi’s belated birthday exchange piece. It was a good distraction from Confetti and I thought I was on a roll: I would finish Outi’s present in no time flat, get back to Confetti, and voilà! my November goals would be met and all would be well.

Unfortunately, things were not to be that way…

I was about one-third of the way into Outi’s exchange piece when I discovered a huge mistake. Because it was one of those boo-boos that couldn’t be fudged, I ended up having to frog out almost half of what I had stitched. As you can well imagine, by the time I was finished frogging I was so frustrated that I knew that it had to be put away for a while. (I am still going to try and get it to you by Christmas Outi!)

I keep saying that I am so close to finishing “Above the Clouds,” (and I am!) but it is a TW and as a result, needs full attention and unbroken concentration to really make any progress.

However, by Thursday afternoon I thought was ready. So with my tummy full of turkey I sat down and attempted to make some more progress on Confetti. Within fifteen minutes my desire for that after-Thanksgiving-dinner nap had taken over and Confetti was put away for the day.

The next day I tried yet again to make some progress, but I was restless and couldn’t find my stitching groove. After about an hour I gave up and began to wonder if I was in danger of temporarily losing my stitching mojo.

Disappointed at my lack of progress on Confetti, it was then that I started fondling my stash. I wrapped my DMC 100s, rearranged my bobbin boxes with the help of the kittens, and began flipping through my JCS Ornament issues.

I thought perhaps I needed a happy dance: Something simple and fast that would make me feel like I had accomplished something. Soon I was inspired. I found a scrap of fabric and within minutes I had started “Spool Ornament” by Sue Hillis from this year’s ornie issue.

After the errands were done and before the snow started falling on Saturday, my needles were flying. By the time I was ready for bed that evening “Spool Ornament” was (mostly) finished and I knew that I hadn’t lost my mojo, I was just sick of the things I was “supposed” to be working on.

Yes, I would still like to finish “Above the Clouds” before the end of the year, but I have decided that if I don’t it is no big deal. I will finish it when I am ready.