It’s been a very productive year for me, needlework-wise, all spurred initially by a rebuke over my consumption of the dataplan while waiting in line to pick up the kids from school. Clearly I needed something else to do! I started with some of the Mill Hill ornament kits I’ve had around for quite some time and after making about 20 of those
realized I really should not be afraid to do something bigger while I sit in the car. Finding-or making-time to stitch has always been my struggle in this hobby, and now I think I have it between the school pick-up line and the nightly tv hour. Having regular finishes deserves a blog! So here it is. And here they are, what I’ve gotten done this summer, along with their stories. Because nearly every piece has a story, right? Trials and triumphs.
Here’s a triumph- Just Nan’s Let It Snow humbug-though in all fairness, I finished it last year and just never put it together until this year-I felt intimidated putting my first little objet together like this but it was so easy, I will really enjoy making more humbugs. I know I have a few wanting to be made…
Just Nan’s Bee Blossoms. The story on this one starts with a coup de coeur. I loved it right away. I had to have it. I was lucky to get a complete kit a while ago but then it hung out being admired as my favorite thing I would someday make. Finally I started it last year. I started in the middle (being new to band samplers but I wanted to make sure the middle ended up in the middle) So the 2nd or 3rd row I did was the variegated silk crossed corners stitch. It was tricky to see the mulberry floss on the mulberry ground (I didn’t have my Ott Light yet). I decided to save it till later. I worked the rest of it. I did it in the car, it travelled a lot. It was very nearly done. When I went to go back and finish that tricky band, lo, the limited edition special mulberry silk was GONE! It had fallen out somewhere, gotten stuck on me and been dropped, it was lost forever! I got up the courage to go to LNS to make a match. I guess I am naïve but…neigh impossible. I picked a good cotton substitute and even convinced myself the sub was better. It was a bit bolder, but still almost perfect in the color family. It would work. But I hesitated to put it in. It didn’t feel right. I am very committed to doing projects according to the designers’ directions-my fatal flaw! And in the end, it is a good thing I did because-you would not believe-that floss had fallen into the molded plastic pocket of the driver’s side door and gotten buried under all kinds of stuff. It wasn’t until we cleaned the car out thoroughly before a vacation that I found it! Whew! I stitched it right in, it was the last thing I did so no fussing about running out, I was just generous with the areas of floss color I wanted to show. I think it came out wonderfully. I will have it framed. I need more framing budget.
It is ok about that replacement floss-it didn’t go to waste-I used it later in another finish I will explain next week.
