Archive for April, 2009|Monthly archive page
Jumping on the bandwagon
Comments (14)Well, the bandwagon nearly passed me by, but at the last minute, I managed to jump on and finish this:
Designer: Blackbird Designs
Pattern: Petites Lettres Rouges (freebie)
Stitched 1/1 on 32-count white Belfast linen using Caron Waterlilies Cherry silk floss.
I didn’t think I could finish this in time to enter the contest offered by Barb and Alma of Blackbird Designs, but I couldn’t resist trying. I swear that every stitcher in Blogland seemed to be posting about this design, so in the end, I just caved and stitched it up as quickly as I could.
To finish it in time, I literally had to stitch it **in** the bandwagon (i.e., car) as it traveled down the highway. I opted not to include the schoolgirl mistakes, but not to worry. Since I stitched it over one while in a moving vehicle, I managed to introduce many of my own original mistakes instead.
[shrug]
Believe it or not, I finished and framed another piece since my last post, but I failed to get a picture of it. Honest! I know, I know, it sounds like I’m making this up, especially since I’m claiming to have finish-finished a project, but I’ll try to dredge up some proof for my doubting readers posthaste . . . right after I catch up on the blog-reading I’ve fallen behind on while I’ve been stitching.
An open letter to Annemarie
Dear Annemarie,
Hello, my friend. It’s Thursday, and you know what that means, don’t you? Of course, you do. Thursday means it’s time to feature my progress on the Carriage House Samplings stocking I chose to do when I voluntarily signed up for your guilt-free SAL.
Yep, it’s time to post my “progress.” On my stocking. Because it’s Thursday.
[crickets chirping]
OK, I admit it!! I don’t have any progress, unless you count this:
Pattern ready? Check.
Floss purchased? Check.
Scissors ready to go? Check.
Favorite needle at the ready? Check-a-roo!
So why haven’t I started? Well, you might notice, if you read carefully, that what is missing from my checklist is FABRIC!! You see, I have a generous cut of R&R 40-count Crème Brûlée linen that’s the perfect color. I also have a generous cut of 40-count Sheep’s Straw linen that’s quite the perfect shade as well. Either would suit this project to a T . . . assuming they were just a teensy weensy bit more generous.
Yes, I have the perfect linens, only neither of them are the perfect size. You see, I calculated the finished length of my stocking at 22.3 inches. Are you ready for this? The Crème Brûlée linen measures 23 inches. And the Sheep’s Straw measures 23 inches. I haven’t stitched a project without at least 2 inches clearance on each side since the mid-1980s, when I stitched a cutesy Santa design to within approximately 2 THREADS from each side, then threw it away. (It was OK. The double border didn’t meet when I got out to the masking tape at the edge anyway.)
So, you see, adding the required additional several inches to either end of the linen might be, uh, shall we say, noticeable, which means I have yet to start my project.
[sigh]
So here’s my “progress”:
(See, isn’t that linen exquisitely beautiful?? . . . if impossibly SHORT??)
I still have good intentions of starting this project. (And no, I don’t want to discuss how impossibly large it is and how in the world I think I could ever find time to work on it when I’ve been working on the same 3-inch by 3-inch July block from Prairie Schooler’s “Prairie Year” book for nearly a month without finishing it. I’m in cross-stitch-project denial, and I fully intend to remain there.)
So now you need to decide whether, in light of my confession, you will allow me to remain on your list of participants.
But I hope you will.
Your friend,
Linen
(Stitcher)
a.k.a. Carol
P.S. Your progress on Noah looks great! And your linen looks nice. And long enough. I’m impressed.
