The aftermath

Delicacy and common decency prevent my airing all the gory details but my husband decided to share a particularly nasty stomach virus with me and I stayed home from work Wednesday & Thursday.  Between mad dashes to the restroom, I have caught up on the laundry and managed to put in a goodly amount of time on Black'd Skie.   As you can see, I have gotten all of the text done on block 5 and have stitched the outline of the angel.  With any kind of luck, I'll finish Block 5 and make a very good start on Block 6  by this time next week.  I am not entirely sure which BAP I will pick up next: The English Band Sampler from SANQ [Parts I and II are now published] or Teresa Wentzler's Woodland Angel Christmas Stocking [I'd really like to have this finished in time for this Christmas].  Both are in the optimistically labelled Current Stitching Bag.  Perhaps I shall simply alternate stitching on one then the other.  I believe my own variation of the annual crazy challenge involving class projects and WIPs has influenced me and converted me to a very nearly one-at-a-time sort of stitcher.  Oh, I still need the occasional zing of instant gratification given by a new small; but for the most part, steadily working on a project till it's done has been very satisfying.  It must have something to do with another aspect of my personality: I just love making to-do lists and crossing off items as they are completed.   So the act of marking some of the items in my Class Project and WIPs sidebars "FINISHED" with a date has been a gratifying experience.  Of course, I have a short day trip coming up with my husband doing the driving  both ways and for that I will be pulling out the Tooth Fairy Pillow as my car project.  It's stitched on a very soft 14ct aida ... a fabric I rarely use.  The only advantage of 14 ct aida, or so this linen snob believes, is that it doesn't require magnification and can be stitched easily enough in a moving car.  My mother gave me this kit and my oldest grandchild will be celebrating his 5th birthday soon ... which gives me two years to stitch the piece and sew it into a pocketed pillow before he's due to lose his first tooth.  That seems about right given the fact that most stitching finishes languish in the sewing basket for a at least a year or so before seeing a final finish.