Popping up, err in, err, over?

Hello again.

I can't promise I'll be posting more regularly, but I'll try. I've been very busy trying to find a house, not getting calls back form lenders, trips to the er and an mri, unexpected dental work for Angie, I did some self defense and Tae Kwon Do classes--loved it but had to give it up temporarily for financial reasons, had some very stressful times at work, Chas had some stressful news too and we're gearing up for the end of the school year. That splat you heard was me collapsing in a puddle of exhaustion.

I had a friend and her family over on Saturday (and if you like animal stories you should read about her adventures with Zip--it is amazing and touching). She mentioned that she hadn't seen any wips in a while. So I'm going to try to post wips soon. All my wips--yes all of them. Perhaps I'll shame myself into completing one. No shame isn't the right idea. Perhaps I'll motivate my serial starter self to complete something so that I can start something else. I plan to do it by designer: Chatelaine, HAED, Teresa Wentzler, The Sampler Girl and Everything Else. Doesn't that just give you something to look forward too? And as you and I scan the far outdated wips list on the sidebar, we all realize what a monumental task this will be. But at least it will be fun and pretty.

Since the First Grade Quilt has been finished and my most recent Love Quilt Square sent in, I have happily stitched on all sorts of projects. I've dug out some old favorites for the sheer pleasure of stitching. I've stitched on the Frog Prince and Bedtime Stories, on the Tree of Hope and Hope Perches. It has been fun.

I'm hoping to work on a few quilts this summer. Angie got her first big girl bed--so she'll get a twin size story quilt. I need to obtain some fabric (believe it or not) with mermaids in addition to what I have. I wouldn't mind some wizards and witches too. We are in a bit of a budget crunch, so I don't know if I'll be able to do it soon, but I'll just work with what I have first. I also want to make a napping or wall sized story quilt for Angie's first grade teacher who has been wonderful. I'll try to have it done for the first day of school so Angie can give it to her next year. I also need to do a quilt for my clerk who is retiring. Of course she picked colors I don't usually have so I don't know how I'll manage that by August, but we'll see. It will be Love Beads by FunQuilts and I'll need reds, yellows and blues. I have some blues, but not much of the others. I have some fabric, but I don't think it is enough to to a full size quilt for her bed--she may just have to be satisfied with one for napping.

And to leave you with a random thought:

I was mentioning to Chas that if we won the lottery (and I mean a really big lottery), I would have my own cable channel. And then when my favorite shows are cancelled, I would obtain them and put them on my channel so that I (and everyone else) could continue to watch new episodes of excellent shows (or even my guilty pleasures) instead of hoping for a dvd.

To date, my dream channel would have:

Farscape
Firefly
Journeyman
Pushing Daisies
Life
The Class
The Adventures of Brisco County Junior
Space Above and Beyond
Babylon 5
Earth 2
Deep Space 9

Oh there are others that are escaping me right now, but you get the point. What would you air on your channel?

Lots of Little Pictures

I managed some quick scanning today! Still no photo of Midi yet though (sorry). I don't think I've posted photos since early November so you can go to the Ornie Blog and see my November ornaments (December will have to wait for my digital camera though). Here you can see my Progress on the HAED Challenge project after the November SAL. Just a tiny bit of progress in the upper right corner. I took a break from it in December so that I could finish Midi and work on ornaments. I think I was a bit burned out on the colors, which are similar to Midi, and are prevalent in QS Frog Prince 3. All the same, what you see is the result of 11 months of SAL participation. I'm hoping to complete another 2 and a half pages for 2008. It should be a little easier once I finish page two, which is a bit complicated.

The remaining scans are from my new WIPs, discussed yesterday. No new starts yesterday--Saturdays are tremendously busy for Chas. Although he works from home, he is glued to his computer and the t.v. all day (and yes, he truly loves his job) so I am busy chasing and entertaining the kids--fun, but very little stitching time for me.

This is Hope Perches. It was the first new project of this year because I wanted to start with some hope. I am using Thread Gatherer silks instead of the recommended fibers on 32 Count Pussywillow Lugana by Sugar Maple Fabrics (SMF). I hope Tanya doesn't mind the substitutions. It's even prettier in real life and I feel happy just stitching it.

Next is Colored Pencils which is being stitched on 32 count Daffodil Lugana by SMF. This will be a teacher gift for Angie's kindergarten teacher. On the first day of school, her teacher mentioned that her favorite color is yellow so searched my stash for a nice yellow to use instead of the cream linen that came with the kit. I am using the Danish Flower Thread that came in the kit and it stitches nicely. Then again, I am one of those strange people who really loves perle threads, whether silk or cotton or something else. I'm excited about how I'm going to finish it which helps me stay motivated--it is a little dull stitching the same shape over and over again (the design is twelve differently colored pencils arranged horizontally and vertically).

This is the start of Have a Cup of Cheer. The fabric is a lovely piece from a Dinky Dye limited edition pack. It's very cheerful on it's own and I found some festive skeins of Six Strand Sweets since it is a choose your own design. I mentioned frogging it and starting over on a different fabric, but on second thought, I think I like how this looks. Any thoughts? The fabric color is fairly true, but the cotton threads are a bit brighter in reality. I'm not sure how I will finish it, or even if I can finish it in time for the competition, but this is another one that just makes me happy to stitch.

Finally, if the other projects make me happy to stitch, this one makes me delirious with joy. It's Polar Lights by Chatelaine. The scan is a little dark and I couldn't tinker with it to get it right, so just imagine this, only a little lighter. I have had the chart for over a year and the fabric for over two years and I've slowly been acquiring the supplies. I'm still missing a few Weeks Dye Works, but I was so eager to start this now I figured that it wouldn't matter--I only need some of the darker blues and purples and I will have everything thing except the Mill Hill Treasures. The Fabric is SMF Shimmering Lilac Lane and in real life it is perfect. I am a little worried about the creases, but I'll just do my best to fix them. I'm sure that once I spend some quality time stitching on it, the creases will disappear.

I may not be able to start anything new until tomorrow, but I have two projects bagged up for my lunch break. Thanks to Janet, I have a more coherent diagram for the nun stitch, but I'm still not sure how it will work for the Autumn bellpull. I also have a Purple Passion in a Bag (thanks to a trade with Nicki last year) lined up and found a great diagram for a palestrina knot and I'm eager to try it. I'm also thinking about starting Graceful Lady for my Mom because it has far less backstitching and color changes than the Japanese Angel, which is lovely, but frustrating. Finally, I hesitate to say this because I may jinx myself, but I'm thinking about starting Paradigm Lost by Long Dog. I wanted to stitch it on 36 count, but I don't have any. Then I hit upon a color scheme I think will be great and I have some 32 count linen that will work. I toyed with the idea of doing it over one, but it would be too small. I just don't know what I will do. I may do floss tosses and post some more pictures, or I may just dive right in.

I don't have any unstarted Chatelaine Mandalas or I would start one (I'm awful I know). I think the only other Chatelaines unstarted are the Stitching Leporello, the Japanese Octoganal Box, the Illuminated Medieval Manuscript,Christmas Mystery 3 and Midis 2 and 3. No wait, I'm wrong: I have St. Petersburg unstarted, but I missing most of the supplies and I'm in Mystery XI, but I only have a few fibers. I'd love to start the Leporello, but I don't have enough fabric. I could start the JOB because I have everything I need, but I'm not sure it would be so satisfying to stitch all those black boxes. Not sure what I will do but I think I will allow myself one more Chatelaine start in addition to Autumn. Goodness I have a lot of Chatelaines.

Janet has asked a few times for my secret. I don't have one except that I do try to stitch whenever I can and I try to stitch for even a few minutes each day. Sometimes I feel like I'm going at a snails pace (at some point I will show you my plodding progress on the crane medallion in JG), but at least it is some progress.

Is anyone else stating the new year with new starts? I highly encourage you to start something new. I love that moment when the project actually starts. It is a wonderful feeling and the time away from current WIPS makes them feel fresh and new again too.