Stash Explosion

Sometimes I wonder what is wrong with me.  Just look at the charts I've amassed during the past couple of months.  Will I ever stitch them?  How long will it take to stitch all of these?  Am I being realistic?  But see how pretty they are!  All the lovely colors, the dreams of pleasant stitching time, all of the possibilities of thread and fabric combinations.  Ahhhhh, the bliss!

Are all of us stitchers alike in this?  Even when we're contently stitching one project, in a little corner of our minds lies an image of a new chart we saw.  We can't get that image to go away.  For instance, just this week my friend in stitching and Facebook friend, Jenetta, posted a photo of the chart "E Pluribis Unum" by Summer House Stitche Workes and now I need it.  I can imagine this hanging in our office - it would look so good there. 

Does this kind of "collecting" go across crafting lines?  For example, do scrapbookers have to have that cute new rubber stamp or embellishment even though they already have boxes of stamps and embellishments?  Do crocheters and knitters purchase skeins of the coolest yarn even though they have no idea of what they would create with it?  I'm pretty sure they do.  I don't think stitchers are the only ones with this collecting affliction. 

In the meantime, I'll have to ask Terrie at The Stitch Store if she can get this for me.  And then organize my charts.  I do have a funny feeling that some other recent acquisitions may turn up when I do that!

TUSAL-a-Rama!

It's time for Daffycat's TUSAL (totally useless stitch-a-long), and Mr. Peanut is a little disappointed in me this month.  I didn't add much to the ort jar.  Sorry, Mr. Peanut, I'll do better.

The Cats Are Back In Town!

I'm heading into a working weekend, so I made up my mind that I would take one day beforehand and make it a stitching day.  Today's that day. On a normal Stitch Day (at the Stitch Store), I would not be distracted by laundry and cooking dinner, but I'll take it.  I felt I needed a little change and brought out the Kitty Kalendar to work on.  I hadn't forgotten how darn cute it is, but it is a change from working on the black fabric of Folk Eggs. 

There hasn't been a lot of stitching progress lately.  A lot of stuff has been happening to distract me from my favorite hobby.  And then there is the thumb.  That's right, the thumb.  My right thumb has been popping at the joint for the past few weeks.  It kinds of gets a little locked up in one position and then I have to pop it to get it to bend.  No popping sound, but a jerky kind of stuck movement, if that makes any sense.  When I showed it to my doctor at my yearly physical, she said "Ew".  I'm not kidding about that.  I had done self-diagnosis via the internet and came up with "trigger thumb", but she wasn't convinced that's what it was and gave me a referral for a hand surgeon.  Although I can still stitch, my stitching rate is slowed down.  Which means that this slow stitcher is now a VERY slow stitcher.  I haven't made an appointment with the surgeon yet, and I'm a little scared that the remedy to this might be something that is going to curtail my stitching for a while.  But we'll see.

Meanwhile, Folk Eggs is moving right along.  I did manage to get some done on egg #5 at Stitch Day and am happy with the way it's turning out. 

Sheila and I will soon embark on a non-stitching project that requires something called Ice Resin.  I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do with that and will document our progress! 

Now I think it's back to the Kitty Kalendar and some junky TV.  And believe me, on a random weekday afternoon, there is plenty of junky TV!

Sisters In Stitching

Yesterday was a day I particularly look forward to each month - Saturday Stitch Day at the Stitch Store.  It's the day that ten devoted stitchers show up at the store for a day of uninterrupted stitching.  The day is hosted by Terrie, the owner of the Stitch Store, and also includes time for eating, talking, laughing and a fun gift exchange.  It's not always the same ten people.  Sometimes one of us can't make it, but there is always someone to fill the empty seat!  The fun is in being together, working on something we all love.  And as Thea says, one of the great things about Stitch Day is getting affirmation from each other about our stitchy endeavors.  I was thrilled when everyone agreed to have their projects photographed and posted on my blog!

Thea is working on Prairie Schooler's Santas - all of them!  She plans to use these to make an afghan.

Above is "Bethlehem" by Imaginating, which was stitched by Laurie.  I only had room for a portion of it, but you can see how beautiful it turned out.  In fact, Laurie finished it yesterday!

Pat showed off a lovely finish - "Blessed Liberty" by Homespun Elegance.  I liked this so much, I bought the chart!

This is "17th Century Irish Garden" for Creative Needlework, and it's Peggy's current project.  Love the colors and the cats!

Marti was working on "Mary Margaret - Four Girls" by Carriage House Samplings.  Beautifully done on 40 count fabric!

Sheila is using perle cotton on 10 count fabric for "Daily Life: Garden Daily" by SamSarah.  The combination of floss and fabric give this a unique and pretty look.

A true labor of love by Terrie:  Miribilia's "Mediterranean Mermaid".  This will be quite a finish with its beads and sparkling threads!

Jackie's current project is "Simple Joys" by Little House Needleworks.  The colors LHN uses are so pretty.

Renee's rustic-looking Santa is being done on large count fabric.  I love the way this is turning out.

It's fun to be able to showcase the stitching projects of my friends.  It's all about them in this post!  I'll post an update of mine soon.  So here's to another enjoyable day in the company of good friends.  Looking forward to the next one!

A Flock Of Bunnies...Or Is It A Herd...?

Bunny is ready for his closeup.

Easter is the holiday I get to have at my house each year.  That's good because I like Easter and the beauty of the new spring.  I'm making our Easter dinner special with a menu featuring a couple of Polish dishes from our childhoods.  So I thought our table should look pretty too, and then remembered some instructions for cool folded napkins that I saw last year but never got around to making them.  Here's what I came up with.  You can quit laughing any time now.  I think they're cute.  Each place setting will have a little bunny napkin. They actually only took under two minutes each to create.  Adorable, no?  Instructions can be found here.  Mine lean forward a bit, but still stand up ok.  I didn't use the brand of napkin that sponsored the instructions, but any kind of nice paper dinner napkin will do.  You know, the kind of thick big quality ones, and they should be square when totally unfolded. You can probably even use cloth napkins.

So when you stop snickering, get to work!  Delight all of your guests with your paper-folding talent! 

Have a very Happy Easter!

And This Is What I Did With It!

In my last post, I showed you the little thread catcher that I had made.  Here's what I did with it.  We have a gift exchange on our Saturday Stitch Days and Starbucks cards are always very popular.  So the thread catcher became a gift card holder!  Sheila picked my gift and became the owner of this cute little ort catcher.  Now she can stitch and enjoy some good coffee too!  My fellow stitchers gave the thread catcher good reviews, so I'll be whipping up more of these for sure. 

Flowering Cherry Tree

Encore Azalea

Spring is in full bloom here and the pollen has actually abated.  Yay!  The temps here are more like mid-May than early April.  All of our perennials are showing signs of new growth, if not already blooming.  It seems really early for some of them, but it's so beautiful that I'm not questioning it too much.  Both of these blooms are from my backyard.  The flowering cherry tree was a total surprise to us during our first spring here.  We didn't know what kind of tree it was until the pretty pink flowers appeared.  It's just a wonderful springtime treat to see it.

Not much stitching or craftiness of any kind has been happening here lately.  Mark and I went on a mini-spring-break trip to Florida last week.  It was a busy kind of trip, so I didn't even take my stitching.  And now I'm back to work and using my free days getting caught up with laundry and house cleaning.  We're having our family and some friends over for Easter dinner.  And wait!  There will actually be some creativity involved with that!  I'll include photos on my next post.  Have a Happy Easter!