April Showers, May Flowers

Well, it's a good thing I'm not a comment whore, or I'd have to start continue inflicting injuries on myself! Thank you all for your kind get well wishes. Adrienne's right, used properly, this tool is great; I'm just too careless for it. DD asked how bad it was, and I'm not gonna lie to you: I was too much of a pussy to look. I saw the piece that came off--brought it with me, just in case--but look at the wound? Couldn't. The dude can tell you how bad it is...or I can after I visit the hand surgeon. (But maybe for the easily squicked that should be a private conversation.) Fortunately, it's just a hop, skip, and a jump to The Hand Center where I'll be in good...hands, ugh.

Before Barbara starts rumors that I had some kind of wild college life, first of all, I went to Bryn Mawr where I'm pretty sure rule #32 was No-Crazy-Ass-Drunkin'-Whoring-I-Can't-Remember-My-Name-I'm-at-the-Hospital? Fun allowed. (But maybe I did break rule #32...who's talking?) I'm really the kind of person who does something one day and forgets it the next. (I remember everything I read, though, and where it is on the page.) Like after the squid salad incident, I actually said to dd, "Who knows when I will eat fish in a restaurant again?" while I was eating a fish sandwich in a pub in Oklahoma. So the fact that I went to the hospital sometime between 1984 and 1988 and can't remember 20 years later--totally unsurprising.

I made very small goals for this month:
1. Go to Camp (April 3-6) Done! but it seems so long ago...
2. Bring the finish-finishing of 2008 to six items, not counting the ones Mona is giving me at camp. Um, including the birthday gift I just sent off, I believe I am up to two. Pathetic. three!--I finished the little Quaker fob from camp--still, pretty pathetic.

May Goals
1. Finish My Needle and Floss--how is it that I finally get this pattern that I have coveted, and I chop my finger off?
2. Bring the finish-finishing of 2008 up to eight items.
3. Work on some UFOs
4. Start the dude's anniversary present

Avulsion Revulsion

So, we just spent two hours in the emergency room. I was making dinner, using a mandoline, which I totally shouldn't be allowed to use--now we have medical evidence for that assessment. I have a huge bandage on my middle finger (hard to use the "i" key) and my finger may never be the same. We're throwing away the offending mandoline.

I have to tell you I reacted with calm and level-headed thinking. When the dude heard me shout, he asked "do you need to go to the emergency room?"
Me: Yes
Dude: Where do we go?
Me: Bryn Mawr Hospital.
Dude: Do you need an ambulance?
Me: No.
While the dude looked up directions on the internet, I took the pan off the heat and turned off the stove.

When we got to the hospital they asked if I had been there before. I said no, but it turns out I have. I would be indebted to one of my friends if they had a memory of me going to the hospital when I was in college.

I have to say that breaking my index finger didn't slow my stitching down, we'll have to see what lopping off the top of my finger (and a little bit of fingernail) will do to my productivity.

Mona Lisa Smile

Mona made me smile when I received these in the mail on Saturday. BIG excitement. I'm like a kid--taking them around with me to show everyone. I am having difficulty putting Santa away until November. My cousin's husband says I should keep him out for Christmas in July! He's a clever man.

Heartstrings Jolly Company
Silver Needle thread substitutions on
Betsy Ross linen

Heart in Hand Needlework
Mother's Day Roundabout kit

There's no way that I could have finished this one and had it come out remotely circular. The finishing fabric was something I had in my stash. I think I bought it to finish this ornament. I had a ton left over. It matches perfectly. I'm so happy, and I'm sure my mom will love it! I can't wait for her to get here Friday so I can give it to her. (She'll be gone by mother's day.)

More Friday Photos

Here are two more photos from Friday. I didn't download the "after" shot until Sunday. I'm a lot futher along on it now--she has a head and a boot and more clothes. But I did need to put it aside for the birthday stitching.

Friday morning/Friday evening

I've finished two of the three things I needed to finish for the birthday present. I temporarily lost the piece I was stitching for this exchange. D'oh! I knew it was with the Curly Q Ewe; fortunately I did have a photo of that from Friday (see below). If not for that photo, I would have been convinced I left it at the library. I should finish the stitching on the gift tonight and with any luck it will be in the mail by Wednesday. And then it will probably take six months to arrive. That's about my average. Too bad my MIL is coming after the birthday. She could take it home and it would be there in a minute. Okay, that's too much information, isn't it? Here's the thing. I HATE SURPRISES. Once I buy (or make!) your present, I want you to know! I want to tell you and show you photos... I am seriously eight years old. Between the surprise problem and the addiction to cherry sour balls (and other plastic candy), I seriously cannot be in my forties. Cannot.

Documenting the Day

A random day can be quite boring. Here are some of my photos from the 25th.


Up. Dressed (new $10 skirt from Ross). Breakfast. Bus. Pedicure (Opi Black Cherry Chutney). Lunch (Eggplant Parm, Top Tomato). Shopping for a new top for Saturday's Campaign celebration (H&M, black sweater with a tie at the waist). Dinner (Spicy Cashew Chicken, Cheesecake Factory).

I love how the first photo of the day came out. I took it from bed. If only it came out a little blurrier to represent my bleary eyes. We took photos at dinner like we had never seen food (the dude had fish tacos) and we took photos of each other. I kept blinking so there were about 5 pictures of me. The teenagers at the table next to us thought we were nuts. The good thing about being 40 and not 18 was that I didn't care what they thought. I took about 30 photos of the day, but there aren't many people pictures. I was pretty shy about photographing the woman who gave me the pedicure and our waitstaff. Maybe next time.

Craft Circle

I haven't yet reported on Thursday's craft circle, but it was pretty good. I arrived late because I had to gather everything for My Needle and Floss. When I walked in the room this older woman was describing the case of peritonitis for which she was treated in Mexico. I had a hard time imagining the circumstances under which this topic came up, but there you go. When I arrived it was one woman from last week's pair, the old woman with peritonitis, and a woman writing thank you notes. I introduced myself and got the name of the one woman I had met before wrong. But at least I called her her friend's name and not something totally random. Then the organizing librarian from last week swept into the room with a pile of cross stitch books for, oh, let's just call her Peri for short. Peri wanted to stitch snapdragons, and they began to search through a fairly impressive sampling of cross stitch books from the library. The thank you note woman usually scrapbooks, but she needed to get the notes out since her daughter's christening was last week. She has three children under four. She seemed nice and was interested in what everyone was doing. Our conversation ranged from patterns to polygamy, as you tend to. Peri was sad for the kids in the Yearning for Zion Ranch case because they'd never had "crowns." It took me a second, but then I remembered that's how Philadelphians say crayon. (When I was telling the dude this story, he couldn't understand my pronunciation of crayon (cran) making the whole story pointless.) It turned out that mom3's sister was married to a guy in a crazy-ass religion where she is virtually homebound. Which just sounds like torture to me. Also, since I was the only one not from Philadelphia there was a lot of talk of "what's not there anymore" like the automat and the children's clothing store that had a slide to the basement. Conclusion: shows promise.

When I returned home, I was flipping through the Needlecrafter's Travel Companion, and the dude was reading over my shoulder. We were making fun of some of the shop names because, well, it's like they don't understand how language works so the puns were meaningless rather than funny. (Also Stitch Niche doesn't work for us because we both say "neesh" which is French and therefore better and more correct.) We marveled at the number of stores that have substituted "stitch" for "hitch" prompting the dude to decide my hypothetical shop should be called "Alfred Stitchcock" which just sounds dirty. Then we came up with shop names:

• Get Stitch or Die (Dye?) Trying
• Quit Your Stitchin' (although it's a nice play on "bitch," I told the dude he had to be less negative)
• Get Stitch Quick
• Floss Leader
• Knitters and Stitchers (although it's almost always pitchers and catchers linked together)
• Relief Stitchers featuring the Wool Pen (for the cross-stitch/knitting shop)
• Mme Defarge (good idea for a knit shop if you want to be on the FBI's watch list)
• The Floss Floozy.

The last three were our favorites. There were lots more like Get Stitch or Dye Trying but I've spared you.

Barbara's Curious

Barbara wants to know our answers to these Five Ws.
Who taught you to stitch, and were there any special circumstances or memories surrounding this? My mom taught me embroidery when I was small. It was one of the things I did on rainy days when we were at the beach for the summer (paint our nails was another, and lots of card playing). I must have been about 6 or so. I did crewel which is why I have no French knot fear. As I got older, she and I had a harder time learning from each other. I never knew about cross stitch until college when bestpal was making things for the girls she babysat. When she got engaged (so young!), I took it up to make something for her wedding.
What’s your favorite thing to stitch? (A project, a kind of stitching, etc.) I like stitching all sorts of things. As in all parts of my life, I have eclectic tastes.
Why do you stitch? Relaxation. A sense of accomplishment.
When is your special stitching time? The only time I don't stitch is when I am at work or if I am in the car after dark.
Where is your special stitching place? I don't know how special it is. (Photo to come.) You can just see the Ott light on the end table where I drop my orts. Yup, right on the table.

{25}

You may have heard me occasionally claim to scrapbook. If you cast your memory way back, you'll even remember that I've shown you a thing or two that I have done (okay, just one, but it was a double book). I read Shimelle Laine's blog because she makes some beautiful stuff, and I hope that someday I will too--you know, with paper and page protectors instead of linen and fiber.

Shimelle recently announced that the 25th of every month will be "Scrap Your Day" day. When I first read about this, I looked to see what the 25th of every month will be: Friday, Sunday, Wednesday, Monday, Thursday, Saturday, Tuesday, Thursday (and Christmas!). I thought this would be an interesting way to document the everyday which was, well, the point. She has a few pointers available. More here. Even if I don't get around to putting these photos in books, won't it be nice to have the pictures to remind myself that I exist on days that don't include cake and ice cream or aren't preceded by a long airplane or car ride? Yes, I think so.

Tonight's big excitement is the craft circle at the library. I'm bringing a new start. You guessed it!

Earth Day

Yesterday, in honor of Earth Day, the dude and I hired an environmentally friendly cleaning company. Now, we're going to let them come clean every other week. Woo-hoo! I've talked about doing this for a while, and now we have.

I'm not gonna lie to you; this won't give me more time for stitching. It's going to give me a clean house.

Provenance

I have too many friends who are archivists not to make sure we have an accurate provenance for this travelling pattern. In addition to recording who stitched it, I've added a link to the photo so you can see how this little needleworker has been changed from the original pattern.

Harmien in the Netherlands (November 3, 2007, scroll down)
Sent it to Lili in France (June 15, 2007),
Who sent it to Barbara in Malaysia (June 25, 2007)
Who sent it to Tessa in Australia (July 16, 2007)
Who sent it to Lizzie in North Carolina, U.S. (February 26, 2008)
Who sent it to Barbara in the Netherlands (March 11, 2008)
Who sent it to Sarah (no blog) in Ohio, U.S. (April 11, 2008)
Who is sending it to me in Pennsylvania!

Do you think it feels like it got gypped? Such a short hop from Ohio to Penna. But maybe someone in some far away place will be next...

As you know I am trying to finish up the birthday gifts. Although I am supposed to stitch the travelling pattern as soon as, and as quickly as, I can, I feel an obligation to put the birthday gifts in the mail asap. Thanks to all for their suggestions regarding what to do about the fob. I measured it so you can better understand my idea of "huge." The original piece is 1.5 x 2.5" The new one is 2.25 x 3.25". I think I will finish it as a fob and if the recipient wants to put it on big scissors or even little scissors she has a choice. I think I've narrowed it down to two more things to make for the package, and maybe a quick trip to Joanns, and maybe Reading Terminal Market, for some extra goodies (NOT a cheesesteak from Rick's, but don't mind if I do).

Nothing to Show

I've been working on my birthday exchange piece, so I have nothing to show. But I do need some advice: I think I made the thing I am making too big. So now I have to think about what to do about that. Okay, that's not just vague, it's unintelligible. It's just that my partner reads my blog. Oh, okay. I made a scissor fob but used 28 count fabric instead of 35 count. The original design was kind of big for a fob--but definitely meant for a fob--so now it's huge. Okay, not huge but...well...you'd never lose your scissors with this thing on it! I could just send a huge fob or I could make it into a very small pinkeep. And I'm growing later (not overdue, just...you know..TIME) and I think I should put a lot more in the package. I keep thinking of all these great things I could make but...you know...TIME. I just don't want the poor woman (I don't think I'm giving anything away there!) to feel cheated. Sigh. I have about a week before I have to have to send (and with my luck the mail will take forever because, is it bad to give a really big hint? I always have trouble when I send things to this place.) (Are you starting to feel like Encyclopedia Brown while you read this?)

I should finish up the Family Matters piece for my aunt tonight on the bus ride home. Though the new floss I got is quite a bit darker than the old floss. Fortunately, I am capricious when I stitch, so there's some of the new floss in several spots on the pattern. I'm hoping it blends. I'm so excited to do the finishing on this. It looks fabulous in my mind! I just wish I had about eight more hours in the day.

Challenge Pattern Challenge

Grrr. I flipped through my freebies, and I though I found the perfect pattern. Lots of possibilities for modification and personalization. Then I went online to find it only to see that the designer's website has expired!

If anyone can find "Live Simply" by Hands to Work or something like it let me know.

Edited: That was poorly worded. I have a paper copy of this pattern, but I wanted to find a place online where the pattern was still available. That way, I could just direct everyone to the pattern. I have since been given the designer's e-mail and a link to her blog, and I've written for her permission to e-mail the pattern to those who wish to participate in the challenge, but do not already have a copy. I'll let you know how that goes.

Craft Corner

Last night I went to the public library's "craft corner." The woman in charge called me the wrong name almost the whole night. I kept repeating my name, but she wasn't getting it. I really have to come up with a polite way of correcting people. Anyway, she finally asked me for my e-mail address, and when she saw it written, she started using the right one. Two librarians, two friends, and I were the only ones in attendance. The two friends were the kind of people that go to a public stitch in and then just talk to each other. Nice. Good thing you left the comfort of your own home. They only stayed for an hour. The librarians were super friendly, so I think I'll go back next week.

We got on the topic of this local yarn store that closed, and one woman said she didn't carry things that were that different from AC Moore. I cannot confirm since I never went to the store, though I meant to. Then they were talking about the bead store and saying they hoped she survived. The woman who said the Technicolor Sheep was like AC Moore said she had been in to the bead store but hadn't bought anything. I told them about the classes I took, and said they had a lot of stuff that you can't get at the craft stores. Which is totally true. It's just more expensive, and I suspect that that is really the underlying reason that these people think that the big box craft stores are good enough. But I am here to shed light not to condemn! Next week, I think I'll bring my beading projects to see if I can get them interested in actually shopping there. I also turned the younger facebooking librarian on to ravelry. It's just one good deed after another.

I ran out of Harvest Basket for my aunt's gift, but I do have some on the way from Jenna so I should finish up soon. I found some fabulous flannel for a pillow finish, but I was thinking I wanted to make a ruffle on the pillow. Then I thought I might use five fabrics (four different ones around the pattern and a fifth for the ruffle) so I've got to get more fabric for finishing it. This may be put off until June (my parents arrive for ten days 4/30 and my MIL for 14 days on 5/16).

I've substituted Curly Q Ewe for my travel project. But people I have just realized that my birthday exchange is rapidly approaching. Yikes! Gotta get on that! (Well, I've been buying things for it, now I've got to get to making things for it.)

---

Challenge
It looks like we have critical mass for the challenge. I'll start looking around for freebie patterns--if you have any ideas, just point me toward them. And I'm thinking about the prize thing. I'm a little wary of collecting money from people, and I thought it might be nice to have prizes for the top three...but maybe I'm getting ahead of myself.

Challenge

Here's an idea I've been kicking around for a while. It came up again a few weeks ago when I saw a woman mailing her quilt to Keepsake Quilting for their challenge. In a quilting challenge, quilters get some number of fabrics from which they can make a design of their choosing. The rules state they have to use a minimum number of the fabrics supplied, and they can only supplement with a certain number of additional fabrics. You can't quite work this way with cross-stitch, but you could have a common pattern that people stitched allowing them to choose fabric, floss, and finishing method.

How about a cross-stitchers' challenge? We could do it for fun to see all the different ways the pattern got stitched, or we could do it for prizes.

If the latter, we need to find judges and make rules. And the prizes, we'd need to come up with prizes. People could send in a photo of their finish and I could post them anonymously and put it to a vote, letting the visitors make the choice. Of course, people would have to be on their honor to make their entry anonymous.

So, would you be interested in participating in something like this? We could work on a timeline of a couple of months and make it a pretty small (free) pattern so it won't interfere too much with your already busy stitching schedule.

Photo Gallery

Here is a photo of the scissor case "right" side up. (It's going to be turned on point to sew, but I didn't stitch on the diagonal. I did that once. I got too confused.) I threw in my Putford scissors so you can see the relative size. The Putfords measure 2.5". It is stitched on 28 count I think, with Belle Soie "blue heaven" which has a periwinkle hue.

Here is my Amy Butler Stash and Dash case. It is sewn with home dec weight fabric. (I hate interfacing.) The stripes were in the sale bin last fall, and I bought what was on the bolt. Which means I can make 100 Stash and Dash bags. Or maybe a beach tote. The houndstooth is on the shelves at Joann's now. I kind of wish they had had that one in khaki. It's lined with a surprsing brown and blue combo.

And for Jenna:

Outfitting Your Favorite Crafter

Crafty Gear has the most awesome crafty t-shirts. I just bought two to supplement my "Ladies Sewing Circle and Terrorist Society" tee which used to be a lot funnier. (I could wear it on airplanes. Now, I can only wear it when I'm with the like-minded.) I could have bought more but I decided to go with

I am a tiny bit disappointed that the many can be running around in stitch bitch t-shirts. Maybe I should alter it to read "The Real Stitch Bitch." Actually, maybe it's best that I can keep my secret identity...

Anyway, there were many more shirts that I loved, and they have them for knitters, quilters, beaders, everyone. I was kind of disappointed that I didn't see the "I have a [glue gun] and I'm not afraid to use it" shirt before I checked out. Or "Felt Up." Or "I have crewel intentions."

Many Finishes, Few Photos

Thanks, everyone, for your uplifting comments and compliments on my front path area. You should see it--now with more daffodils.

I had to go to a college* near my house to do some research for work today. Research always takes longer than you think. I was there for over three hours, and I could go back for more. I drove right to sewing class from there. I finished my Amy Butler Stash and Dash bag but I was ravenous when I got home so I ate instead of taking photos by the dimming light.

What I do have to show you is the completed stitching on what will become my scissor keep from camp. A lot of people used one really large motif on theirs, but I thought it would be fun to stitch a bunch of random motifs and see how it works out. I'm trying to decide which way to orient it--I'm pretty sure the orientation pictured here is not the one--but we'll all find out when I sew it (this weekend?). I finish-finished the fob and the biscornu but I have no photos tonight. I'll have lots to show tomorrow.

And WOOT! I am next in line to stitch the Traveling Pattern. I am part of a sorority! Yeah, that's funny to me too.

* A Quaker college, go figure!

Family Business

This is what I have been working on lately. It's Hinzeit's Family Matters. My aunt is worried that once my dad sells the family business, she'll never see us again. Granted, we're not very good at keeping in touch with people, but we always fall right back in once we have the opportunity. We're easy going people. She does have a point though, because when the shit hit the fan, she ended up with us. (Her petty, petty sisters chose sides. It's one of those family business things.) Anyway, she wrote me a note telling me that her family matters to her, so this is perfect. She'll cry. My aunt has also recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. (Don't pink me.) Her prognosis is excellent at this time, but you always like to let people know you are thinking of them don't you? (Apparently I'm crap at that too because I only sent my great aunt two notes while she was being treated for ovarian cancer--and I asked her to find the fudge recipe just before her last chemo treatment. So thoughtless.)

I've been kind of down lately. There's the work situation. There's this club I'm involved with that is a mess. People want me to take over but I just want out. I want to go back to camp right now. Really, really badly. Let's try to cheer up. Here's the front door. Look at those happy daffodils! Look at those little pufferball PJM rhododendrons! See the fauxforsythia (fauxsythia) wreath on that beautiful pea green door! Happy, colorful spring!

Habits of the Modern Stitcher

I have made two new starts. One for me and one for my aunt. I don't have much to show yet. But here's a little meme about stitching habits that I found on Kendra's blog.

1. How do you hold your fabric? In my left hand.
2. Floss licker? I have licked some floss in my day.
3. How do you thread your needle? I wrap the floss around my left index finger, lay the needle over it (parallel not perpendicular), and push the needle down and back. The thread just magically jumps through the eye.
4. What needle do you like best? Petite needles, not plated. (Platinum or gold react with my skin.)
5. Are you a needle loser? No, I’m a needle winner. Sorry, I couldn't help it. I drop needles regularly, and I have picked a number of needles back up off the floor (even on the El).
6. What fabric do you prefer to stitch on? linen.
7. Bobbins or floss bags? Bobbins for DMC, everything else is in a big tangle in Ziploc storage bags.
8. Are you a scissors collector? Nope. Now these, I lose.
9. Do you do your own framing, and if so, do you lace or pin? I have done my own framing, and I lace.
10. Are you a floss floozy? Yes. Floss is as cheap as I am.
11. Silk? Love it.
12. Railroader? Sometimes, but only on the top leg.
13. Are you a pattern or designer snob? No.
14. Do you get antsy when you give someone a stitched gift? No.
15. Have you reached S.A.B.L.E.? About ten years ago, bestpal and I were at Celebration of Needlework in NH and staying with my folks. I was showing my dad what I had purchased. He asked, “when are you going to do those?” I replied that if I retired right then and did nothing but stitch for the rest of my life, I wasn’t finishing all my projects. That was ten years ago. You’ve been with me during the last four. It hasn’t gotten better.
16. Do you wash your projects? Some of them.

Monsterbubbles

At camp, one of our new friends was stitching up monsterbubbles' Eiffel Tower Christmas ornament from the (most recent?) JCO issue, which, let me tell you, was gorgeously bright. And, when I arrived home my order from monsterbubbles had arrived. Happy coincidence.

Sometime last month, I got an e-newsletter from monsterbubbles saying that her new book was available and if you bought it from her, she'd sign it. The deal also offered free shipping and a free chart for spending a certain amount. Well, how could I pass that up? I love "Don't." ("Don't let's ask for the moon, we've got the stars." Edgar can name that in one.) I know I keep saying this, but maybe that will be the dude's anniversary present. I got Merry and Bright and one of the patterns for screen as a gift. Because she sent the order out kind of late, she sent along an extra pattern, "Simplify," which may be impossible at this point.

I know you are dying to know what is in Stitch Graffiti besides that striped heart on the cover and Heather Holland-Daly's autograph. There are many of the designer's offbeat phrase designs, including "Imagine Peace," "Relish the Night," and "On a Bad Day, there's Lipstick." She has a little section called "tattoos" to stitch on clothing--to try out before you ink your skin, as it were. The final section offers ideas about decorating with stitches. Her goal, and this is one she expresses on her website too, is to bring new stitchers into the fold by showing them how cool cross-stitch can be. So the book is a little on the "hip" side. For example, there are suggestions for music to listen to while you stitch. No offense to Heather, but they're the suggestions of a 40-year old. I don't know how that's going to play with the kids. What I do like about the book and what I do think will play with the kids is the freedom she espouses. She explains how to make floss and fabric substitutions and what the substitutions mean for the design. The patterns are planned for mesh bags, flyswatters, clothing, and screen--not just evenweaves and linen. I think the book taps into the DIY nature of the way the kids are crafting these days. I hope it works. You will definitely see a design or two from this book here in the future.

And, don't stay up too late blogging tonight, okay?

Camp Wannasew

Now with more wine coolers and beer...

My trip to Tulsa, which started painfully early on Thursday morning--my cab arrived at 4:15 for a 6:05 flight--is over much too soon. I was in denial until I stepped off the plane in Philadelphia, and even today my hands reject typing and long for the feel of fabric.

When bestpal and I first went to camp in 2003, I didn't even think we'd make it through the whole weekend. (I used to have a fear of the south.) I never imagined I'd still be attending, especially not "by myself." I've made new friends, so I can hardly say I'm going by myself when bestpal doesn't come along. Our original group of six dwindled to only two this year, but I think we may have managed not to alienate everyone we met to make new friends.

If last year's camp motto was "it's all about freedom," this year's started out as "that's part of the charm." We decided that the seemingly inevitable missing flosses and people getting lost on the way to Amish dinner was going to be a fun part of the camp experience. And then? No missing flosses. No lost campers. Not to say that camp was not fun. There was booze! There was raucous laughter! There was nude pillow fighting! (Not really.) Camp was down to 18, but let me tell you how much quieter it was in the halls while we were trying to sleep. Now if 18 people can manage to speak quietly in the bathrooms and not let their doors slam, what is it about the other 20 people who can't manage it? Let them stay home, I say.

Our projects were great! We got to choose a Quaker inspired sampler (Quaker Virtues or Quaker Christmas) and a whole skein of Belle Soie silk (is that redundant?) to design our own set of stitching smalls including a scissor fob, biscornu, and a scissor case. Maybe this year's theme should have been it's all about freedom. I chose "blue heaven" which is sort of periwinkle. You can see the results below. I didn't finish any projects this year but I'm really happy with what I have so far. This is a first. I think I was shooting my mouth too much. But there were new people to hear my boring old stories. The other project was Lizzie*Kate's limited edition kit, My Country. We got both a Silver Needle version (fuzzy fibers, large count fabric) and the original kit. I'm thinking of doing the latter for my cousin's kid as a birth sampler. Our helpful input was heeded and next year spring campers won't be making anything Easter or patriotic. Yay! I have only kept one of each; I usually give the finished Easter projects to my sister and the patriotic to my grandmother; they both appreciate them more than I do. My grandmother will just have to suck it up.

My choices for fob (acorn, monogram), biscornu, and the beginnings of her scissor case.

I bought a ton of stash. Way more than I planned, but I still spent less than the entry fee for a national chess tournament.

Not pictured: fabrics, flosses. It was the fabrics that put me over the edge.

Our goody bags were full of freebie charts, flosses, cookies, and Vera Bradley. I'm not a fan of chintz but I was really excited because we got a pair of VB slippers. I needed new slippers, and the pattern (Kensington) is attractive.

I worked on Hillside Samplings Threadkeeper on the plane and on Thursday night. Here's what it looked like before.

I finished Rose Bunnie by Liberty Street Designs on the plane. Stitched on the called-for linen with substitutions (GAST Harvest Basket for the bunny, Weeks Carrot for the carrot, and white whisper for the tail).

I had been thinking that we might want to do something different next year--it's our sixth camp in Tulsa and it's more difficult to get to Tulsa from PHL (I was up and down three times both ways). But I had so much fun this year, I can't wait for spring!

Poisoned

Definitely food poisoning. I can't even think about what I ate yesterday. The dude wouldn't let me go to work today after a night of turning my guts inside out.

Speaking of inside out...KJ wanted to see the inside of the bag.

Under the flap--this pocket was in the original pattern.

Inside I added extra pockets for a pen (that was a mistake, I made the cell pocket too small), sunglasses, and a cell phone. I based these on the original pattern but guesstimated the sizes. I put the second cell phone pocket on sideways, but I have to say it's easier to get the phone out of a horizontal pocket than a vertical one. In the photo on the left, it looks like that corner isn't sewn properly but I just can't muster the energy to take a better picture.

The pattern is from The Village at Chelsea Lane.

Finished

Bag, finished last night. I'm finished now. I think I have food poisoning.

-----written earlier, waited for photos to post------

I didn't have a chance to post my last list of March, though I did manage to post every day. It's okay anyway, the list was called "List #31: Camp List, the Boring Edition," which was my packing list. Wanted to make sure I made one. I also found a list of lists I had made back in the beginning of the month, in case I ran out of lists. These are the ones that didn't make it:

1. Design Firm names to Attract New Audiences to Cross-stitch
2. Projects I really should finish-finish (turns out, there's a lot of overlap with some of the lists you saw here!)
3. My favorite colors
4. House Colors (that is, colors my rooms are painted) in DMC numbers
5. Knitting WIPs

Last month, I set out to stick to a schedule:
Monday: sewing class
Tuesday: Anna's Bird
Wednesday: beading class
Thursday: Apple Sampler
Friday: Emerald Mermaid
Saturday: marquoir
Sunday: marquoir
Traveling piece: Rose Bunnie
I'm going to blog every day in March as well. Lists! Woohoo!

I did go to my classes, but I didn't work on most of these projects. I had also planned on doing the final finishing on four projects since I didn't do the two for February. I have to tell you, I finished one! I am also three inches (of handstitching) from finishing a second. I sewed up and stuffed two more ornaments, but they're left with no trim. Poor things.

At any rate, I'm making just two plans for April:

1. Go to Camp (April 3-6)
2. Bring the finish-finishing of 2008 to six items, not counting the ones Mona is giving me at camp.