Incoherent Scribblings

Today’s SBQ was suggested by Dawn and is:

If you had to choose, would you rather spend money on overdyed floss or hand-dyed fabric?

Eegads! What a question! What a choice! The short answer to this question is that I can’t choose. However, in keeping with the spirit of the SBQ I will try.

Let’s start with hand-dyed fabric. I love hand-dyed fabric. I have dyed my own and since January of this year I have belonged to Silkweaver’s FOM club. However, as much as I love those pretty pieces of fabric, I have to admit that when I start a new project I seldom choose one of them.

As for overdyed floss… Well, it seems to have grown on me over the past couple of years. The first time I tried overdyed floss I wasn’t that impressed, but I gave it another chance and after that I was hooked. I don’t have a complete set of any of the overdyed flosses so one problem I have right now is when a pattern calls for WDW, GAST, etc., I don’t necessarily have all the required floss at my fingertips. I love that my lack of overdyes give me a reason to order stash, but I hate that when I want to start something that calls for them I have to order the floss and then wait for it to arrive.

That said, at this moment in time if I had to choose I think I would probably spend money on overdyed floss rather than hand-dyed fabric… that way I could at least complete my collections of WDW and GAST.

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.

Ta Da! Here is “Kitty Cat Row” all finished! I finished it late Monday night, but wanted to wait until I had washed and ironed it to post the happy dance picture.

In case you were wondering, I made a couple of minor changes near the end: First I altered the last two kitties’ collars from bark to brethren blue (2nd to last kitty) and mulberry (last kitty). I did this for no other reason than I thought they looked cuter with more colorful collars than with dull greenish-brown ones. I also changed the last kitty to oatmeal instead of onyx because I already had an onyx kitty and thought an oatmeal one would look nice with the mulberry collar that I had planned.

Though this is not the first project I have stitched with overdyed floss, it is the first “large” one and I think I can now say that overdyed floss does have its charm if you can use enough of it to actually see the color variations.

And now, because it is Wednesday, it is time for the SBQ! This week’s question was once again suggested by Nancy and is:

Do you do anything special to your threads before putting them through your fabric to make them more manageable?

In a word, NOPE!

Every time I went to the quilt shop with my mom last year I would look at “Thread Heaven” and wonder if I should try some though…

Tonight I passed the half way point on “Kitty Cat Row.” I am enjoying stitching this so much. It is fun and easy, but will look spectacular when finished. What more can you ask for in a cross stitch pattern?

In the spirit of my ten hour rotation though (I have reached 11 hours on KCR), I should put it aside and work on something else next time I get a chance to stitch. The question is, am I ready to tackle Outi’s belated birthday present again?

Last week after I admitted that I was no longer having fun stitching on “Above the Clouds,” I allowed myself to finally start “Kitty Cat Row” using the recommended overdyes and the suggested fabric.

Even though I have to remind myself that because I am using the overdyes I need to complete each stitch as I go, I am having a really good time stitching this and think it was just what I needed to prevent me from going into a stitching slump. I don’t know what December has in store for me, so I will refrain from predicting that I will finish it before the end of the month, but it is stitching up fast enough that it is a definite possibility.