Weekend Progress Report: Sept. 23, 2012

I haven't been working on my serious stitching lately due to the upheaval in my private life.  My two BAPs have been neglected but

 I did finish Primitive Needle's Here Lies Thy Needle.  It was simple and straightforward stitching just perfect for my current state of mind.  A bit boring but I am pleased with the final product.  I plan to sew it up as a knitting project bag.  Now that it's done, I'll have to come up with something different for waiting rooms.  And I'll be back in waiting rooms pretty soon since I'll be driving my Mom to the hematologist this Friday and Bill to both the surgeon and gastroenteriologist the following Friday. And I thought my days of driving Mom's taxi were done when the kids left home!

I have worked on my Encrusted Crazy Quilt Square, finishing up one more section and starting another. The section I completed is embroidered with stylized rose bushes done in fern and chain stitch with cobweb rose blossoms.  And the section in progress is going to be, I think, a satin-stitched sunflower with a raised center filled with beads ... I tend to make things up as I go along.  One of the reasons I picked up the Crazy Quilt Square was because I wanted to practice my cobweb roses before putting the finishing touches on the Mystic Smalls' Stitcher's Pocket which will have three of

them in the center panel.  And, although I used some scraps of metallic ribbon for the roses on the square and I will be using silk ribbon on the pocket, the technique remained the same and I am comfortable that I know what I am doing now.  It's always nice to have a "sampler" piece on which to practice various stitches and techniques and the crazy quilt square serves that function beautifully.  Then there's the added bonus that I will be able to make something practical out of the square eventually ... I am leaning toward a handbag or project bag of some sort, something with a zippered closure anyway.  I have got an idea for embellishing the thin strip of black moire above the cobweb roses: I have two tiny five pointed star charms and I thought I'd use them to stitch a shooting star motif with the stars heading toward one another and with their tails curving in opposite directions.  I plan on leaving the tartan silk unembellished since it is the patch that established my color scheme for the entire block.  I may put just a few more buttons at the smaller edge but that would be all.  So that leaves only the yellow and gold print and the rose patches to embellish.  One more item from the WIPs sidebar close to a finish!

Today I am going to thread up the sewing machine and bind the edges of some linen for the two Town Square SAL ornaments for which I have pulled the threads.  I believe those will be my next projects for the next little while.  I don't feel like I have recovered my equilibrium just yet.  I am still so tired all the time and my seasonal allergies have kicked in with the usual sinus headaches.  All the rain we have had this last spring and summer have contributed to a really bad allergy season this year.  So simple and straightforward stitching will be the order of the day for a little while longer.  The BAPs will still be there next month.  Right now I want something relaxing rather than challenging.