Homespun Elegance Fans

Fans of Homespun Elegance, and cross-stitch fans in general, will be happy to see that Sandra Sullivan was interviewed in her local paper. It's mostly about being an area business woman, but there are fun bits of trivia too.

I was cleaning up my google reader, and I realized that there are a lot of blogs I don't know by their names. Oh, that's her blog. Others haven't formed enough of a personality in my head that I can remember them. Some probably never will, unfortunately. I also realized there's a lot of crap out there. And there are people who haven't blogged in millenia who I miss and I keep on the reader just in case they come back, even though their blogs have been taken over by spammers...


I'm starting my beading class tonight. You know what that means...

More Secret Stitching

*Michelle is here in Philadelphia, and I'm afraid I hounded her until she agreed to meet. Jenna, Michelle, and I and Terry, Eric, and the dude (who does have a name) went to Jones. I made little gifts for them because, you know, I only put 10,000 things on my to-do list for August--I've got all the time in the world! But they were fun--good stitching for the commute.


Left: Friendship Grows, Lizzie*Kate freebie here (pdf)
Graziano linen cream/natural
All sorts of fiber substitutions
JABC buttons
Finishing: ladder stitched edges, "stuffed" with foam core board, organza ribbon hanger (unfortunately it shows through the back I should have put batting on the foam core board, but you know, the craft room is in boxes in the basement).




How perfect is that fabric? I am so impressed with myself! (With the match, the finishing leaves something to be desired. There's too much white, and I wish I had time to make a nice blue cord. It really needed blue cord.)

Treasured Trio I
Sweetheart Tree
Unknown white evenweave.
Called for fibers.
Fabulous finishing fabric found at Joann's; white cord also purchased.
Finished as flat fold.

Edited to add: Duh, I had fun! It was really nice to meet Michelle and Eric and to see Jenna and Terry again. Jenna, we are totally taking you up on the offer!

Smart Man, Stupid Media

My friend Dave, a very smart man, writes a letter to the editor of the L.A. Times every day. I finally convinced him to share them with the world. He'll be adding posts regularly. It's not about stitching, but in this important election year, we all need to think more. Check out Egg Head.

You're out there!

I haven't done a google search on needlework blogs since I started writing this. Before then, I checked obsessively. I guess I just figured you'd let me know you were out there. So I went blithely along thinking that a!sh, mb, bmh, and st were my only readers. Now it turns out I am on people's lists. Who knew? You didn't tell me! I didn't go through all the trouble of figuring out comments software for nothing people! You don't have to leave your e-mail address if you don't want to.

Anyway, this brought up a conversation elsewhere, and I just want to correct a misperception. Dragon Dreams designs are very pretty, but I was just not thrilled with her ornaments. "O Holey Knight," while a delightful pun, was a low-point.

But I am the Stitch Bitch and WYSIWYG. I can't go all soft now.

I found a way to take out a minimal number of stitches to make the correction on the Gladiolus-Freesia. I made some record progress on it as well. The stalks are almost done, and I've begun work on some leaves. I have to keep at it so I can get through these huge sections with just 3 colors (boring). When I begin to go completely out of my mind with boredom, I'll start the flowers. And when I'm bad, I'll punish myself with backstitching--because I still have to backstitch parts of Gallica. Ugh.

So you'll see some new people on the website. I'm going to be a bit strict about how much you have to write about needlework to be included. As lovely as your children/spouses/houses/knitting (are/is), I'm looking for blogs that focus. Don't be shy to tell me that you're out there!