Scared Straight

Perhaps I was a little humorless on the last SBQ. After all, I read my horoscope occasionally even though I think that's a load of crap--and a lot more of you would tend to agree with me there. My parents are both first borns so the traits should be strong in this one, Obi-Wan. But they're not. Many people who answered the question said, as first borns, that cross-stitch played into their perfectionism. But I am no perfectionist. Stitching relaxes me. I can't get all het up if a stitch is out of place; you know I rarely unstitch. My stitching may reflect my need for approval. I do like people to make a fuss over what I've done. I can hardly see myself in the description of the first born. I'll concede that I'm scholarly. I think I show more of the traits of a last born: idealist, good sense of humor, hard working. Oh, and what about "tends to go against the norm?" C'mon, that's me all over! You could see my first born "need for approval" above as last born "attention seeking." See how much this is like astrology? (For the record, I'd say Sissy shows many first born tendencies, except for the part where she enjoys sales. FWIW, both my first born parents were also in sales. See? Load of crap.)

So I'd like to receive approval on my latest finish, Scared Silly. This is by Birds of a Feather, and I stitched it on the recommended fabric with all but one of the recommended fibers. I couldn't find the green the pattern calls for so I substituted one of the Loose Threads from GAST.

Sorry I couldn't show it to you sooner. The family descended on Thursday. Yesterday we went to New York to Kleinfeld's. Dianne waited on us. We aren't going to be on Say Yes to the Dress, though you may see the back of my head if the tattooed Asian girl from Manitoba makes it on the air in January or February. Keep watching! Sissy chose this dress* (with my help) after trying on about ten. (She only showed us five.) As it turns out the designers were there. Readers from Down Under may recognize the brother of the designer, Henry Roth. He is the mentor on Project Runway Australia. He congratulated us and gave us wet kisses after my sister chose his sister's design. For such a big (Australian) star, he was a delight.

*Link removed at my sister's request. Someone (ahem, Jersey) is trying to get a sneak peak of the dress. Please e-mail me if you'd like the link. I will have to vet you and be sure that you won't be passing this information on to anyone (ahem, Jersey).

Framed

I got a call yesterday from the Strawberry Sampler! When I walked in they greeted me by name. I have apparently crossed a threshold, which is nice but a touch embarrassing. Without further ado, I give you My Needle and Floss. I went with the same frame I used on Tall Flowers.

Pop over to Sue's blog because the traveling pattern is getting ready to go again!

Next is La D Da's A to Z and in Between. I thought this deserved a plain dark wood frame to go with the letters. I made changes in the floss, you can find those recorded here.

Finally, Moon Garden by Birds of a Feather. I love how this came out!!!

And a close-up of the frame because I.Am.In.Love!

The dude was pleased with my cooking yesterday as well. We started out with eggs in a basket for breakfast. He had a midmorning cold brewed coffee. For lunch I was making zucchini/summer squash fritters, when the dude suggested tomato and cheese sandwiches. Since I had the cast iron skillet out, I grilled green and red tomato and cheese sandwiches to go with the fritters. For dinner, I popped a pork loin into the slow cooker with 2/3 of a bottle of LC's barbecue sauce (our favorite from the KCMO trip), roasted some CSA green beans and made sweet and sour red cabbage from the head that has been languishing in the vegetable bin. He told me I could have charged $20 per plate. I love that he loves my cooking so much. Not that it shows. Skinny fucker.

Where I am

Integrity: One is said to have integrity to the extent that everything she does and believes is based on the same core set of values. While those values may change, it is their consistency with each other and with the person’s actions that determine her integrity.

Barbara bestowed this award on me. And I thank her. It's very flattering. Not sure I believe it though since the motto around our house is, "Living the contradictions!"

Here's an up-to-date scan of the Sampler Scissors Box.

I think my last start for January will be Spring Flowers. Whoa! When I went to look up the photo on the Birds of a Feather website, I got this message: "We are no longer offering Cross-Stitch or Linen products." That's a surprise, or did I read that somewhere else?

I made the mistake of showing Shores of Hawk Run Hollow to my mother, the beach queen. I want to stitch it for myself and she wants me to stitch it for her. There's no way I'm stitching it twice. We're in the process of negotiating a time sharing deal. Let's see how much she wants to underwrite...