Hang 'Em Up!

It doesn't matter how much I love a piece that I've stitched. Once it's framed it takes on a life of its own and I have to stare at it for a while.  I may go into a trance with this one.

 

I also framed "The Christmas Quilt" by Emie Bishop, that I stitched for my husband for Christmas. Yes, I'm a little behind, but who cares?  I used the same red suede mat behind the piece that is on the front.  It's quite stunning in person. 

Now I'll go back to my little "Bunny Hop".  I'm finishing the carrots and starting the grass tonight.  Of course, the grass takes up about 50% of the total stitched area. 

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Let the Happy Dance Commence!

 

Margret Gatis Sampler

from The Scarlet Letter

Stitched on 40 count linen (color similar to Sandstone)

DMC cotton floss

 

I feel like singing the Hallelujah Chorus! I put the last stitches in this beautiful satin stitch band last night.

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Do NOT Tempt the Juju

Previously on "Bad Juju" (can you hear the Hill Street Blues theme?) the satin stitch band was done and I was in the midst of the boring, yet necessary, foundation stitching for the cutwork.  Things were moving along quite smoothly and I began to cut.  No sweat. 

Not 2 minutes after these words left my mouth..."I'm cruising!" and my husband knocked on wood, I cut the wrong thread. Well, crap.  Not to fear, I fixed it and kept going.  But it just goes to show that, as in most aspects of my life, I should just keep my mouth SHUT! 

So now, the vertical bars are wrapped and I've started on the horizontal bars which include dove's eyes.  No problem. (knocking on wood)  And who cares how perfect, or not, they are because who the heck can see them on 40 count! 

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Bad JuJu

Strike whatever I said before about finally getting to the easy part of Margret Gatis.  Once again, the satin stitch almost did me in. This time it was that pesky little asymmetry problem.  Note the vine where the flowers are growing up from the vine. To the left of the flower stem there are thirteen stitches on the vine. To the right of the stem there are fifteen stitches on the vine.  And of course, I didn't notice until I got to the end of the band and it was too short.  There was not only an unladylike outburst, but much gnashing of teeth.  At this point, my husband asked me to put it away for a while and Otis moved to the other end of the couch.

Do you remember the old Tarzan movies from the sixties where some native jungle tribal member would, in perfect English, tell Tarzan 'do not go there...bad juju'?  Well, my husband says Margret Gatis has 'bad juju'.  He may be right, but I'm too damned stubborn to give up.  So under less than optimal lighting at my mom's house, I did the whole stinkin' band again...successfully, this time. And then I proceeded to the next one which turned out to be fairly uncomplicated.

Now I am in the process of laying the foundation for the cutwork and needleweaving band. I promised my husband that if I had to rip out the same stitches more than once I would lay it aside for a short period of time.  Hopefully, when I have to frog the same stitches a second time I will be able to swallow the swear words so he won't notice that I'm breaking my promise.  Because, as I previously mentioned, I'm too damned stubborn to give up.  Do you see a pattern forming here?

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Hugs and Kisses

Even though Valentine's Day came about as a commercial attempt to capitalize on love, I embrace it. It's a tangible way to remind your loved ones that they matter to you.  Hopefully, none of us take our sweethearts for granted, but it never hurts to say it out loud. 

Here are just a few of the pieces I've stitched for my husband over the years for Valentine's Day or anniversaries.

I continue to work on Margret Gatis. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm picking up speed.  Satin stitch will be the norm for a while, but at least it's over two threads and the pattern is fairly straightforward. 

 

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Stitch Away!

It's hard to remember how much I dreaded working on Margret Gatis just a month ago.  I've made more progress in the last month than in the last 2 1/2 years! It's already 18+ inches long and I'm about 75% done.  But it's smooth sailing from here, until the needleweaving band at the bottom. And I'm looking forward to that one too.  I won't jinx myself by calling that easy because there's the chance that I'll cut the wrong thread and that would definitely put me in a bad mood.  But the fact that everything below the knot garden is over 2 threads puts me in a great frame of mind to continue.

The right hand margin is not even on this piece, but because the knot garden band is so big, it's not noticeable.  So my anal retentive self is letting it go.

I was going to stitch all afternoon, but I had a request for a custom laying tool and fob that took precedence. But I'm ready to go now.

By the way, I got my wedding ring set back from the jeweler yesterday and it's so shiny and bright I almost didn't recognize it. Now my hand doesn't feel naked anymore. :)

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Stitching Therapy

I've really had to delve into the Stitching Therapy the last couple of days. On Saturday I had a busy day working at Angelwing Needlearts.  I stopped at WalMart on my way home for another rug for Lester.  He's having real trouble on the hardwood floors these days. So we have place little rugs about every three feet for him to use as stepping stones.  When I got home, we decided to go out to dinner so I wouldn't have to cook. 

After I finished my flounder and deviled crab, I was sitting there fiddling with my wedding ring (it's getting a little loose on my finger) and I looked down and there was a gaping cavity in the middle. The diamond had fallen out!!! Holy moly. My stomach dropped. Of course, I started looking around, in my coat pockets, on the plate, table, floor... The waitress swept under the table for me. No diamond.  My eyes were glued on the ground as we walked to the car. Have you ever noticed how much glittery stuff there is in asphalt?  We searched the car, the garage and every place I had been since I got home from work. No diamond.

Needless to say, I didn't sleep well that night. On Sunday, I was preparing to head over to the shop and search the entire place on my hands and knees. I refused to think about the possibility that it had fallen out in WalMart.  Since it was daylight I decided to check the garage and car again.  Lo and behold, there is was on the passenger side floorboard! I guess I just couldn't see it the night before.  I almost fainted. 

It's now in the hands of the local jeweller, who proudly told me that it would be ready on Thursday.  According to him, wedding and engagement rings get priority because no one wants to be without theirs for long. Amen, brother!

Sooooo, since stitching is my only path to sanity, Margret Gatis has grown immensely this weekend.  I finished the knot garden, so all the over three threads stuff is done. Woohoo! That's almost as good as a finish.  Last night I stitched the name, but I cheated.  I substituted Smyrna crosses for Algerian eyes, for the simple reason that I hate Algerian eyes.  It's too easy for one side to end up bigger than the other and I just wasn't in the mood to fool with it.  Besides, I enjoy Smyrna crosses and as I frequently tell my stitch group, "If it isn't fun, why are you doing it?".

Margret Gatis 02-04-13

on 40 count Sandstone linen with DMC cotton floss

 

 

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Did I Wake You?

Did you hear it? ...last night...the Hallelujah Chorus? I finished the satin stitch band from Hell about 11 pm Friday night! I would have done the Happy Dance, but I was too tired.  Actually, it got easier the more I stitched, but I'm still glad to be done.

I did manage to start the next dividing band in the right place and with the correct color. So let's see if the knot garden will be as much fun!

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Get Thee Behind Me, Satin Stitch!

I can see a light at the end of this tunnel of satin stitch over three threads!!  Four whole days of not stitching on it slowed me down, but I'm back on a roll now.  This one requires a lot of concentration, so when I only work on it at home. Besides, the lighting is just not conducive to stitching over three on 40 count at my mom's house!  Not many places are. LOL

The plan is to finish this band and move on to the knot garden by the weekend.  Cross your fingers.

I've seen some baby frogs, but not enough to make me put it away and never look at it again. Besides, I'm still waiting on some linen for "Virtue Outshines the Stars". So, as long as I'm still sane, I'll keep working on MG.  Because as soon as that linen shows up, MG goes on the back burner.  Just sayin'...

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I Love a Challenge But This is Ridiculous!

Recently, one of the Facebook stitching groups that I follow started a once a month WIP stitch-in for those pieces that you really can't seem to get going on again. Most of the folks in this group have waaaaaaay more UFOs than I do.  That's not saying a lot since I generally work on only one project at a time until it's finished. However, occasionally I start a piece that is so involved or difficult or frustrating that I have to put it down to ensure that I don't pull all my hair out. "Margret Gatis" by Scarlet Letter is one of those pieces.

Make no mistake, I love the sampler. I love the various stitches and the colors. I use the sewing motion and work in hand rather than on a frame which, over time, has led me to stitch by feel to a large degree. I can just tell when I've picked up one or three threads instead of the usual two threads.  But stitching over three threads is tedious, time consuming and hurts my brain. You have to actually count threads and the vertical thread concept* is useless as a counting mechanism. Even more confounding is the fact that some bands on MG are stitched over two threads and some bands are over three threads! It makes the chart confusing and I have to constantly remind myself that each square covers three threads. And don't even get me started on satin stitches motifs with angles and turns over three threads!

Anyway, I chose MG as my WIP for this monthly exercise in futility. Thank heavens, it's only one day for whatever time period one can handle! I worked on some satin stitch motifs for a few hours then had to pack it up. The frogs were starting to scare Lester and Otis!

And now I'm back to the challenging, but stunningly beautiful, Cranberry Sampler. Although I'm in random stitching hell right now on this one too. The directions are pretty skimpy and leave a lot of the stitch and color choices to your imagination. I tend to follow the model stitcher's choices with a few exceptions. And there's nothing like a mountain of double running stitch to make you skip that last cup of coffee. You can't afford twitchy fingers when trying to keep a smooth and straight line going.

* as explained by Carol Leather, needlework designer and teacher

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Pulling from My Stash!

I'm claiming a finish since I decided to consider each band on Margret Gatis 1711 a distinct project. Sunday afternoon while watching the third horriblly played NFL playoff game of the weekend, I finally found all the little things I'd missed and filled them in. It's quite an eclectic band of stitches, motifs and colors. Quite interesting, as a matter of fact. Therefore, you'd think I would move on to another start with some reluctance. NOT.  Of course, if I continue this way, I won't be done for eons! This isn't even one third of the complete sampler!

 

 "The Lily Sampler" by Amaryllis Artworks, not to be confused with the equally lovely "Lily Sampler" by Pat Rogers Collection is next on my list.  I've had it for close to 20 years and have always loved it. And this is the year I decided to stitch it for reasons that will become clear later.



I'm using the Anchor floss colors that the model was stitched with, but I did change the fabric. I chose a 40 count hand dyed linen from my stash. I believe it is from Lakeside Linens, but I cannot remember the color name. If I figure it out later, I'll let you know. It's a pretty medium green that I think gives the piece a more vintage look and will enhance the floss colors. The finished size on 40 count is approximately 8" x 12.5".  I haven't made a lot of progress yet, but here's the start.

 

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Time Management

You thought this was going to be some New Year's resolution thing, didn't you. Nope. It's all about stitching.  This week I've managed to find time to do some real stitching...not that ornaments are real stitching, but I love working on big samplers. And I have really enjoyed work on "Margret Gatis 1711".  She definitely falls into that category. All the over two parts of this current band are done.

The center motif is over three and that's what I'll be working on for the rest of the weekend, I'm sure. Then I'll probably put it down and start on something else. "WHAT!?", you say. I know, I'm a one-at-a-time girl. Well, since MG is for me and it's huge, I'm considering each band a separate project. Clever how I justified that, huh?

I managed to do a little, very little, housekeeping and now I'm off to watch football and stitch!

And in the category of 'TJBdesigns Shameless Plugs', drop in at Great Finds and vote for my red heart bookmark! CLUE: It's in the center almost halfway down and the poll is on the left. Feel free to ooh and aah over all the fabulous things Anne selected for this week's poll. There are some amazingly talented people out there!

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