Clusterfuck in the Craftroom

I managed to finish the birth sampler which is now two years old but finishing the bell pull is going to make me cry. It needs to be at my parents' on Friday so I hope to overnight it tomorrow. When I got home today I tried to sew it. Sat down to wind the bobbin--no spool holder. Um, if you randomly put away a spool holder somewhere not with your sewing machine where would you find it? The vegetable bin in the fridge? (And can I just remark that when I was looking for the pins, I found the old pins but not the ones I bought to replace them when I couldn't find them.) I searched high and low but I am pretty sure it is wherever the new pins are. I tried to take the holder off the other machine--but it doesn't come off. Which is sensible. But I couldn't find the foot pedal for that machine (of course not!) so I am sewing this mother by hand. What a pain in the ass. I'm up late and I'm not sure I'll even be close. I should have driven to my cousin's--90 minute round trip and I'd still be done with it already.

I was very determined only to use fabric I had on hand. The flat fold fabric is fine, and the bell pull--well, some days I like it and some days I think I should have sprung for something new. Wait until you see the stand-up, though, that fabric couldn't be more perfect if I went shopping just for that (Sam's sampler--I just have to sew the front to the rest of the cube, which is kicking my ass).

Speaking of ass-kickings work is getting me down. I love how everyone in the world is an expert. I love how their expertise extends from what they do, say running a college or neurosurgery, to what I do (write, make magazines). How much do I love being told that my article about a graduate student (MD/PhD in pathology) should include his background because you know, being a foreign-born science grad student is so fucking unique. No offense to my foreign-born grad student scientist readers--I love you, but your experience...not that special.

Plus which I have company coming on Friday. The place is a sty. The usually spotless dining room is the best example. It looks like the craft room directly upstairs sprung a leak and left crap all over the dining room table. Where's my fucking fairy godmother when I need her?

So, um, pictures another day, okay?

And We're Back, but Not for Long

The parents left bright and early this morning, and I am almost back to my normal routine. Tomorrow, however, the dude and I leave for San Antonio. I'm going to a conference, and he's tagging along. I'm not sure if we're bringing the laptop or not, so things are going to continue to be sparse around here I fear.

Xsquared is right. This is the Lizzie*Kate Baby Sampler. And it's as done as it is going to be for a while. I ran out of whitewash, but I saw that coming and replaced it when I was off on Monday, showing my dad a microbrewery in West Chester. (After a delicious breakfast at Classic Diner. Mmmmm, bacon.) But I somehow neglected to notice that I had nearly no blue jay left. I knew it was going to be a race with the hunter, and as you can see, I lost.

I managed to complete the stitching on Alpine Garden, but not to finish it, since my mother had us out of the house from morning until bedtime every day. I'll show you how it looks once I've made it into a bell pull. Cheers!

Consensus

Consensus is the flowers look better without the backstitch. But one of the things I like about the design is the beads on the leaves. To do that, I'd need to backstitch the leaves. And if I do the leaves, I'll have to do all the rest as Lee and Barbara have pointed out. Who'd have thunk there was so much thinking involved in this? So I am putting it aside for now. I'm bringing a baby sampler on the bus.

I am just swimming along, however, on Alpine Garden (pictured). If I keep up this rate, I may have it finished before my parents leave and they can take it with them, whoohoo! Anything to avoid putting my stitching in the mail.

You may have noticed that I modified Alpine Garden a bit. I am not a fan of backstitched letters--really not a fan, so I have converted all the writing to over one. In the original version, I was going to replace columbine with my marrying friends' names and their wedding date. Now I will have to chart columbine, for courage. Isn't that a bit ironic that columbine in the language of flowers stands for courage? Okay, you know I can't leave well enough alone. So I checked on the columbine thing. Few of the sources include columbine. (Not this one or this one or this one.) Most others suggest that columbine means folly. (Also here, here, and here.) The closest we get to "courage" is the suggestion that purple columbine means "resolved to win." Resolution is not like courage. Fortitude, maybe. But I think courage is a stretch. On the other hand, if the pattern came out after 1999, you'd see why one wouldn't want to put "folly" on the design. The word is so closely associated with the high school shootings (Think Bowling for Columbine.) that to use "folly" would be, indeed, folly. Even without that association, folly just doesn't follow the rest of the pattern: strength, hope, faith, loyalty, compassion. So courage it is. Besides, it beats the hell out of "anxiety."

More Quotes

My friend DD sent me this quote, which I love, love, love, love, love!

Methinks it is a token of healthy and gentle characteristics, when women of high thoughts and accomplishments love to sew; especially as they are never more at home with their own hearts than while so occupied.
Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Marble Faun, 1859

Keep 'em coming, people!

Today's UFO is Alpine Garden by Drawn Thread. I started it for a friend's wedding, sometime in the late 90s. However, I couldn't finish in the one year period, so I sent a pine needle bowl, which she loved. There is a major mistake in that square on the bottom, which has prevented me from picking it up again.