What Happened to February

I was sitting here minding my own business when all of a sudden I realized that there are only nine days left in February - NINE DAYS!  What happened to the month???  It seems to be true that the older I get the faster time passes.  This was the year that I was going to get my needlework organized, lose weight, yada yada yada.  As I sit here on February 20 I realize that I have barely made a dent in all those laudable goals.  Perhaps with the coming of Spring and the promise of additional daylight (during the Winter I leave for work in the dark and get home in the dark), I will be motivated to try a little harder.

World of Charity Stitching

This year I joined the World of Charity Stitching Yahoo group.  This group stitches quilts, tote bags, therapy pillows, and bookmarks, as well as other items, to give to children in need and the elderly in nursing homes.  Since I spend a lot of time stitching, I decided that I could use that time to help make something for others.  I just finished my first contribution - two squares for a quilt that one of the other members will put together.  The design is a bird that is stitched in DMC thread on 14-count white Aida.  Each stitcher picks her/his color choice resulting in a veritable rainbow of birds.  Since I am not a sewer by any stretch of the imagination, I sent coordinating fabric along with the squares to the talented lady who will put the whole quilt together.  The design was downloaded from the blog Gazette94.

Bird
Gazette94
Design Size 4" x 3" (approximate)

Other Stitching

I don't have too much else to show on the stitching front.  I am working on a few unfinished class pieces.  I thought I would finish Birds on a Cherry Blossom Tree by now but I ran out of the thread for the background.  I only have a few stitches to complete the darn piece so I'm waiting for my LNS to put in an order.  In the meantime I have picked up my Patterns of the Orient, which was a class last year with Tony Minieri.  I love this design but it does require some concentration.  It is stitched on 24-count Congress Cloth.  As you can see there is a lot of "spaghetti" with this piece.

Patterns of the Orient
Tony Minieri
Design Size 11.5" x 8.5" (approximate)
Overall Progress 02/20/12

I am currently working on Area 9, which is an adaptation of a Japanese obi design.  The pattern is developed by couching two strands of Au Ver à Soie silk over Kreinik #8 braid.  It is really testing my eyesight!

Patterns of the Orient
Tony Minieri
Close-up of Area 9 02/20/12

Despite my best intentions, I did sign up for two cyberclasses through Shining Needle Society.  On March 1, I will be starting Anasazi Spirit by StitchPlay Designs, LLC (Carole Lake and Michael Boren), which is stitched on 18-count French Blue canvas.  I've already finished Carole's Anasazi Dream and have Anasazi Song waiting to be stitched.

Anasazi Spirit
StitchPlay Designs, LLC
Design Size 6.2" x 11.3" (approximate)

And then on March 8 I will start Jane Zimmerman's Moorish Splendor.  (What was I thinking?)  I am going to do it in both the Paprika (my favorite) and in Wine (my DD's choice). 

Moorish Splendor - Paprika
Jane Zimmerman
Design Size 10" x 10"

Moorish Splendor - Wine
Jane Zimmerman
Design Size 10" x 10"


House Renovation

I know that I have not mentioned that we are living through a major house renovation.  And I mean major - new siding, roof, windows, kitchen, bathrooms, and HVAC system.  There is not a room in the house that is untouched.  We are coming up on two years with this construction and I can't wait for it to be over.  Aside from the fact that we will basically have a brand new house (this one was built in 1960), the really good news is that I will finally have a needlework room!  The room is the original family room (complete with fireplace).  At some point in the past, a screened porch was incorporated into the house and it has become our family room.  So the adjacent family room will now become my space.  I have been poring through magazines and websites for ideas for this room.  Stay tuned for what I finally decide.

Until next time, happy stitching!