Medici Vase (pre-work)

This is the first of many posts (I'm sure) for this Casalguidi canvaswork piece I'm going to learn about at the EGA National Seminar. Vima deMarchi Micheli is teaching and I'm very much looking forward to spending the week with her. What a storehouse of knowledge she is! I can't wait.

Church

Well today is Sunday and I was where I am almost every Sunday, in church. I have been wanting for sometime to take a good photo of the main stained glass in the sanctuary. And today, I remembered to take my camera. Even on a rainy day, it is inspirational!

WIP progress

The Olympics gave me a great excuse to sit up late and stitch last night! One week to go till EGA National Seminar so I'm going to try to make time every evening for a couple of hours of solid stitching. Hubby is going to book discussion this evening, so it's SPEED STITCHING for me tonight!

What do they say about confession?

If blogging is like therapy, then I guess it's "fess up" time. I have way too many PIGs, WIPs and UFOs on my "To Do" list. I hope by posting regular (monthly?) updates on my progress that it will help me to move them from the "To Do" to "Done" list more quickly. I hate to say it but my good intentions list has turned into a joke. This is my last ditch effort to restore my faith in my ability to get a Christmas gift done before Valentine's Day and maybe even stitch a few baby gifts up in advance!

So, here are the two WIPs I am splitting my time between right now. I'll have to switch gears soon for EGA National Seminar (Medici Vase class) and also for a GCC I've just registered for (Finishing with Flair), but for the next two weeks, I'm dedicating my stitching time to my GPA Assisi Peacock Sampler and my first monochromatic (thank you Tantes Zolder/My Aunt's Attic), which I'm stitching to create a wine bottle gift bag. And by the way, the wine bottle gift bag is two years overdue. Ha!

First whiff of Fall

I love Love LOVE this time of the year! Normally we'd be enjoying oppressive heat and humidity right about now, but Mother Nature has taken mercy on us this year. It is exactly mid-August but we have had a few cool mornings and evenings to remind us that Fall is just around the corner. Two more weeks to September. My absolutely favorite month of the year. I love the smell of the air and the blue of the sky in September, as well as the return of football, new model sportscars, the end to Grey's Anatomy re-runs, endless aisles of school supplies, and of course, my birthday. In honor of Fall, I'm posting my favorite stumpwork miniature, design by Marsha Papay-Gomola.

Photo editing blunder

Well, I guess learning can be painful. In the process of transferring photos from my camera to computer, I managed to delete some of the most beautiful waterlilly photos I've ever taken. ARRrrrrrrggghhhhh! I hope there is some way to recover them from the SD card, but I'll have to find a geek to ask. However, here's my latest finish that I believe turned out very well (design by Marion Scoular).

Country vs. Southern

Okay, someone may be asking, "Why Country fried? Why not just Southern fried?" Well, because as I see it there is a big difference between country girls and Southern girls (or GRITS, girls raised in the South). Country girls can be a little rough around the edges, but a true GRIT would never let her edges show. We both share a fundamental gentleness at our core, but we often wear a different color top coat. I'm more likely to be caught in jeans and sandals than in a twin set and pearls. However, I still know the difference between right and wrong, possess many social graces, bless at least one heart a day, drink "ice tea", have table manners, can make small talk interesting and write a proper thank you note with a real ink pen. Country I am proud to be, peppered with a healthy dose of Southern.

Blogging newbie

Learning by doing. I'm anxious to discover more about the world of blogging by creating this one. It should also be a great place to organize my online life. So, here goes!