Show and Tell

I just love this piece! "Cotillion" by Papillon Designs. I finished it a couple of weeks ago, but wanted to get it framed before I shared it.

My current project, "The Christmas Quilt" by Emie Bishop of Cross 'n' Patch, is coming along nicely. The foundation stitching for the hardanger barely took a week, but the cross stitch greenery and berries is way more time consuming. I'm ready to finish it off and start cutting!

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Time Flies

It's been pretty hectic around here for a couple of weeks, so I really hadn't noticed how long it's been since I last blogged. But when asked today what I was stitching "because you haven't posted anything in TWELVE days", I decided to post my updated "Cotillion". I love the colors and it's moving along nicely, but I'm ready to do a band sampler with some intricate stitching and some cutwork or pulled work next. Can you believe I'm planning my next project and I'm barely halfway done with this one?

My local shopowner went to the TNNA market in Columbus, OH this weekend and I covered the shop for a couple of days. I'd forgotten how mentally taxing it is for me to be nice to everyone for eight hours, three times in one week! And once I got home I was too tired to stitch which means I didn't get my daily dose of stitch therapy, so it was a double whammy.  I haven't spent any time designing for the Etsy shop in a couple of weeks either so this week is devoted to getting back to normal. My husband has settled into a routine and I've adjusted to doing his little chores (mostly) so I'm no long living on the edge of insanity. (No snickering, please.)

Maybe I'll even have something interesting to blog about soon. I realize my life is pretty boring...and I like it that way.

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So Much FUN!

The last couple of weeks have been a perfect illustration of how I use stitching as therapy. My husband's bike had a structural failure and tossed him over the handle bars. Fortunately, he didn't land on his head. Unfortunately, he suffered a pretty serious foot injury. In my haste to pick him up and high tail it over to the ER, I neglected to grab my stitching bag. I never go anywhere that might involve waiting without my stitching bag! Apparently, I am not very clearheaded during an emergency. But on this particular Sunday morning our small town hospital ER was not very busy and we were only there about four hours. But since that little lapse in thinking, I've taken every opportunity to get some stitching done...when I'm not doing all the little things around the house that he usually does. Not gonna take him for granted ever again!

One of the nurses casually mentioned that she'd broken her arm once and she thought she'd rather have a broken foot. Obviously, she's never been on crutches before. Hellooooo, broken arm --> one hand out of commission; broken foot --> one leg and two hands out of commission unless you're sitting down. So carrying anything is pretty tough unless it fits in your pocket.

While my sweet husband was in surgery (this is NOT the fun part I'm referring to) having his horribly broken and dislocated foot repaired, I was stitching away on the Star Sampler SAL. I'm all caught up and waiting for Part 5! Actually, if I really wanted to I could continue working the border since I memorized it about fifty repeats ago!

But I decided to start "Cotillion" by Papillon instead. This is the fun part! I absolutely love the linen from Picture This Plus. The color is "Phantom" and it is a dark navy with a lot of plum splashed around. There's also a tad of a blue-green in there too. It's fabulous with the Dinky Dyes silk used in the pattern. I haven't gotten far, but it's beautiful and I probably won't be able to put it down until it's done.

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Almost Ready for Something New!

The end is near! No, not Armageddon, the end of the Moroccan sampler.

And of course, the closer it gets to completion the more excited I get about my next project. I finally picked my colors for the Star Sampler SAL from Periphaeria.

I found this hand dyed gold fabric in my stash which, unfortunately, I cannot identify other than the stitch count - 40 cnt. I chose Kelp Waterlilies from The Caron Collection and a deep brown Splendor from Rainbow Galleries. 

I've also decided to start "Cotillion" by Papillon. Since the fabric called for is not available I had to go on a search. I chose "Phantom"  (36 count) by PictureThisPlus and I also got the Dinky Dyes overdyed silk floss (as called for in the design) from PTP. Fantastic service, by the way!

I'm also in the midst of working on version three of "Catrina's Christmas" by Keslyn. My stitch group finally started the class and I decided to stitch the piece along with them, just so I wouldn't forget anything pertinent about the process.  I wrote up about three pages of notes to go along with it. Surely I won't lead them astray with all that guidance. But you never know! I'll have some pics soon.

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