Assessing July's Goals

I got a new camera and will be playing with it for the purpose of posting pictures here today. So, if the pictures lack a certain something, be tolerant and know that I will practice, practice, practice till I finally get right.

Crabby All Year is done: Well, I need three more buttons. I have been in contact with Patti A. about an alternative for buttons for the December box: she has agreed to make a piggy bank and a hammer which makes better sense to me than the wildflowers that came in the button pack. Sheesh, we're talking about bills here folks, not a stroll through some pristine meadow! And what's with the smiley face sun in the October "zombies" box ... I'll be replacing that with a moon button. But otherwise, all four charts are finally done and I have sent them on to Debbie in Canada as a PIF.

Just because I couldn't resist a super quick and easy stitch, I worked the I Love to Shop... chart that came as a bonus with my Silver Needle order earlier this week. It was a one-day stitch. Gotta love that instant gratification. I just need to go diving into my fabric stash to find some coordinating material to turn it into a tote bag. I suspect I won't find anything quite right and, oh horrors, I will have to make a trip to The Happy Quilter to purchase some coordinating fabric. Once there, I know I'll just have to make the trip worthwhile by buying many many fabrics for future use as well. That shop is just the best place to browse. I have assembled the Love Ewe that I stitched [I have a sudden quite terrible need for the gratification of quick finishes] as a pinkeep. I'll be giving it as a thank you gift to the organizer of a retreat I'll be attending in the fall ... appropriate since the fabrics came from last year's goodie bag and the chart came from my doorprize: a free subscription to online magazine Gift of Stitching. The other interesting thing about this piece is that I trimmed it in some dull gold flat braid that came from my grandmother's stash which she gave me some 30 years ago. It gives a perfect vintage accent to this folk art piece. Since my grandmother had retired from her job as a sweatshop seamstress some 20 years before she passed her collection of odds and ends to me, I estimate that the braid is somewhere between 50-60 years old. I only have one more piece of flat braid, a few yards of crocheted lace and one dress length of fabric left from Grandma's stash at this point ... but you can imagine how very much I had at one time. I also finished the dreaded "duty stitch" for my sister-in-law ... one of those oh so cute [I am rolling my eyes here] cat charts ... a tabby kitten wrapped in toilet tissue with the message "My name is Stop That! What's yours?" I have to have it framed in time for her birthday by Aug. 26. I have no dignity left, folks, I have been stitching toilet paper for Pete's sake! I have gotten back to stitching the Prairie Schooler Santas ... also relatively quick stitches ... finished the 1995 Santa and started on the 2004 Santa on 7/26.

Then startitis hit yet again, upsetting the planned goal-oriented stitching. I got this really intriguing SSS skein called Jellybean from my Secret Sister this round and ... while I wouldn't ordinarily buy a rainbow over-dyed thread my-monochromatic-self, I have seen so many pictures of finishes or WIPs using wildly variegated floss that look so very lovely that I just had to try this out myself ... the result is this biscornu using the About Cross Stitch Rose Window freebie and augmenting the SSS Jellybean with DMC 502 & 503.

There was a bit left of the Laguna after finishing up the biscornu, so I stitched a real quickie [1 1/2 hours]: an adaptation of Elizabeth's Needlework Designs Peace, meant to be a companion piece to Old Stone Church. I eliminated the word "peace" and the flowers that appear to be suspended in mid-air, surrounded the whole with a border of rice stitches. I plan to finish this off as a floss ring.

Well, one thing led to another! While stash diving for the 25ct mushroom Laguna for the biscornu, I pulled a number of odd scraps of fabric that would be great for small designs. I am using a small piece of country cream overdyed linen [left over from the My Name is Stupid project] to stitch the Time for Tea complimentary chart from Chatelaine Designs, which may be found at http://lachatelainedesigns.homestead.com/teatimechart-ns4.html. I have made a few modifications as is my habit and used GAST Black Crow to give the overall effect of those Victorian style silhouettes.

I also found two pieces of tan and white gingham check linen and a long narrow piece of Zweigart antique teal linen. I am used the smaller piece of the gingham linen for a LHN Small House Sampler Complimentary chart [c2005] and I stitched it with Rainbow Gallery Mandarin floss.

Then I resurrected a UFO, Cross Eyed Kat's Jolly Roger Cat, which may be found at http://www.crosseyedkat.com/ . I had abandoned this soon after starting it because I sufferred eye strain working on the black linen but I seem to be okay with it now. The other pieces of linen I netted in my stash diving will soon be assigned a project: the gingham linen will probably be used for a biscornu with a stitch count that is a multiple of six [the width of the gingham stripe] and the antique teal linen will be used for an angelic cat to be the flip side of the Jolly Roger Cat ... the two charts will make a door knob hanger to warn my daughter's visitors of the moods of her six cats on any given day. I know I have seen charts of angelic cats in the various JCS Christmas ornament issues I have on file. Sooooo, I see more bouts of startitis in the near future ... especially for small and easy finishes.

That's it for the pictures ... no point in photographing the remaining WIPs since I didn't get to stitch on any of them since the last photos earlier this month.

No progress on these July Goals:

--The Peacock Biscornu: Actually negative progress since I have to frog back to an error made early in July before continuing.

--Sean's Name Tree: no progress at all this month. While this project may technically be a small as to size, it feels and stitches like a medium sized one since it is over one and concentration is needed to keep the mirror image perfect.

--Sewing finishes: I haven't touched the backlog but at least I did finish the Love Ewe and the Rose Window biscornu thus avoiding adding to the backlog.

And, no progress on my two serious BAP

--TW's Autumn Faerie ... I haven't stitched on this at all.

--The Mystic Stitcher's Hideaway projects.

And just to round things off, I fell off the wagon when it came to ordering new charts. I just placed an order with Deer Hill Farms Cross Stitch for some fabric for my secret sister's package, the Man in the Moon buttons for Crabby All Year, the floss I needed for the the Lizzie Kate Housework Never Killed Anyone and three of the Jane Austen series of samplers from The Stitching Parlor: Mr. Collins Humble Abode, Rosings, and The Daughters of Longbourn. The floss, the fabric and The Daughters of Longbourn arrived within 24 hours of placing the order. The rest are on back order.