I've been a baaaaad stitcher

.... I stashed. Why? Why? Why? Why? I need no stash. Not a bit -- well maybe the occasional floss, but no patterns. So, in the face of needing NOTHING, I got:

Midsummer Nights Designs -- A Patriot's Sampler (I will have to change that top verse.)

I just love this -- I love violets so it had to be mine. Mine. Mine. Mine. All mine.

Possibly I'm attracted to this because it looks so darn peaceful.

I don't exactly know why, but I love this.

As long as I'm doing winter, I may as well do summer, right? Besides, those are sheep in them thar hills!



Midsummer Nights Designs -- Memorial Sampler


Then there had to be:

Of which I have picked my immediate favorites (do you have favorites? What are they? I simply have to know!!!)--



(the Santa and polar bear)

(I absolutely adore the snow globe idea!)



(the bird and the tree)

OMG -- What was I thinking???? How am I ever going to get all this stitching done? Wait a minute. Is it really our intent to get it all done? What do you think? Do you think you'll stitch most of your stash some day?

Also, do you have this problem -- you buy charts (you don't need) and then you are *compelled* to buy fabric for said charts. It's stash begatting stash. Oooo, self perpetuating hobbies are pretty cool don't you think?

I wish you all a pleasant evening/day. I'm about to finish my work week--- unless you count my week by when they stopped paying me for my time -- that was Wednesday evening. That aside, I'm heading out a bit early tonight for Club Sookie. Three of us get together to watch True Blood on TiVo. We're down to the last 3 episodes of the season. There will be bar-b-que and possibly salads and corn on the cob. There will also be dog-bonding time. Our hostess has a new furry friend -- drat I thought I had a picture of Luke, but it'll have to wait for next time.

Quick note

Like Quakers? Like rustic pieces? Then you must go see a new designer I just stumbled across. She's just come out with her second design called "Quaker Silence." for the record, I am totally smitten.

Must see. Go see...

Tree of Life Samplings

be back later..... must commune with research on plastic bag levies and bans.... whopee!

I need some help

While working at the shop this weekend I took along some potential framing, but one of them has stymied me -- Mirabilia's Halloween fairy. No color actually in the piece looks good as a mat. Trust me, I tried them all. Sigh. So I cam e to a camel suede mat and a bronzed frame. Now I can't decide between single and double matting -- see that you think:



or




Who knows, I may switch formats all together. Any other ideas?

I recently joined the LHN Exchange group for their second round. This means I'm about to start an LHN ornie. Wanna see the floss toss? Why do I ask? I'm going to show it whether you nod enthusiastically or not! lol

I so do love Belle Soies! They are like stitching with air.

Oh! I did get some great news while at the shop -- the "belt lady" (ie. the finisher we use for belts, collars, and shoes) arrived and Helped me work out how much of the belt canvas I had to stitch for the finished size I wanted. Turns out I can stop at 33 inches. Yippie-- that's 3 inches off the length it's painted. And this means I'm nearly half done! Hee hee. Here's a shot of it while waiting to have its frame moved --


gotta run -- but finished the 1st book for the 10 Book Challenge-- Pratchett's Wee Free Men. Yes, I love all Pratchett. That said, the Tiffany series isn't my favorite. Although I do so love the Nac Mac Feegle. Some days I could really use a few Feegle. Anyway, it's fun, but as Pratchett says, you can be more overt and do more with young adult novels than with others.

Take care all !

************
Ok, here's my P.S. on the Fairy -- I changed the color of the wings because the dandelion stem that came in my kit was a hideous murky grey-ish color. And I used actual black for the black bits not the overdyed. The upshot of all that is that black looks awful, that chocolate brown on its own looks bad, no orange works, all the greens are too blue, any brown I get that matches a brown in the piece (say the dress) looks awful because it clashes with the other browns (the hair). Ieven tried some peaches for the skin. Yuck. I tried a bunch of gold frames -- urp. The only other frame I liked was a weird antiqued green one, but absolutely no mats went with that. Sigh. Maybe I should look for fabric and make her a box or something. One thing for sure, she's going back on the to-be-finished aging hanger.

Joining in and other things

Here's what I should be doing--






My sister and BIL's stockings. My sister go the "fiddly bits" done and now it's my turn. In case you've looked closely at how much is left to do on the tree/Santa stocking (the sister's) you can probably guess that that one won't be ready for 2009. The BIL's might. I have to do the top and order the fabric for the finishing. That might work out. Cross your fingers!

What I have been obsessed with instead:


the belt.... I'm actually more done than this, but I haven't uploaded those pics. I have become completely obsessed with this. It apparently has the perfect balance of color changes and color blocks so nothing ever gets too tedious. I like that in a canvas! I like it a lot!
Oh and I got needlepoint startitis and bought and started this:

I rationalized this as my trip to NYC momento. The ability to rationalize stash and starts is a talent all stitchers should have.... right?

I've even done some xs instead of working on the stockings --
Beatrix Potter got some time--


in case you were wondering, that's a lot of beads in that there flower....


Because I got xs startitis one afternoon, I began work on Ursula Michaels We the People--



Now, about the joining -- which is kinda like startitis, just not with needles. I am joining Vickie's 10 Book Challenge! The idea is that you make a list of 10 books you want to read by the end of the year. You don't have to stick to the list, but it gives you some place to aim. I mean, you know me. I'm even more of a "mood reader" than I am a "mood stitcher." One of my happiest moments is finishing a book because what I do next is pull down a whole bunch of books I think I want/need to read and surround myself with them on the bed. Then I start picking them up one by one and reading the beginning. When I get to the one I am reluctant to put down, that's the winner. This kind of joy-in-choosing pattern does no bode well for lists (witness the fact that what's it been? 2 years that there's been a reminder on the side bar of this blog that I want to read Smilla's Sense of Snow? lol).

Anyway, I'm joining. I was wanting too sign up even before our friend, Shelleen chided me for not talking about reading even though I torture you all with pictures of authors at scifi cons. But I might not have gotten around to formalizing the joining if it weren't for Shelleen's prodding -- thanks, Social Butterfly!

So here goes. My "list:" [in no particular order and, because I'm me, in pictures]

1. Sharyn McCrumb's St. Dale
2. Marilyn Robinson's award-winning Gilead (Afterall, I should read something that won something other than a Hugo occasionally. lol)

3. Sean McMullen's Souls in the Great Machine
4. James White's The Watch Below

5. the anthology Mean Streets (how can I resist Simon R. Green and Jim Butcher in one volume?!)
6. Barbara Hambly's Redfield

7. the anthology Enchantment Place (I love short stories.)
8. the anthology The Wizards of Odd

9. Zakour and Ganems' The Plutonium Blonde
10. Simon R. Green's Nightside -- the first is Something from the Nightside which I have already read, but I should probably re-read to get started on the 6-10 subsequent volumes (yeah, I'm behind.)

10.1. the anthology Night's Edge Charlaine and Barbara Hambly vampire stories, yeah, I could like that!
10.2 George R.R. Martin's Wildcards

10.3 Florence's The Perfect Machine
10.4 Rolt's Victorian Engineering

10.5 an old fav -- Steve Perry's The Man Who Never Missed -- a re-read so I can get on to the other volumes in the series.
10.6 Yarbro's -- A Flame in Byzantium or any of the many St. Germain's I haven't gotten to.

10.7 Vaughn's Kitty and the Midnight Hour
10.8 the anthology Space, Inc (did I mention I really, really Love short stories?)

Lest you think I'm spoiled for choice:

there's the McDevitt and McKillip collections

and the Shinn collection
And still, those are the merely the snowball on the tip of the iceberg. Heck maybe I'll actually read Smilla's! lol

Here's to finishing.... SOMETHING!