Monet update...

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And so another holiday season has come and gone like a runaway train!  Hubby and I slipped out of town in early November and the next thing I knew, it was Little Christmas...  I blame Father Time for making the years slip by so quickly.  I'm putting him on notice in 2014 - I've got your number buddy, and I'm gunning for ya..  The shopping, decorating, wrapping, baking, stitching, and general prep will start earlier than ever.  So there!  (poking finger in the chest of aforementioned time bandit).

Meanwhile back at the ranch, I have dusted off the Monet charts (and the sedatives), and reacquainted myself with my game plan.  It's a wild and crazy pattern with colors galore and virtually no rhyme or reason.  Yep - crazytown.  But, the finished piece is so breathtaking, it encourages me to soldier on.  Here's where I am today:

Here's where I'm headed:

My piece is 16 stitches to the inch, so overall design is scheduled to finish at 8x8 (fingers crossed)...

So now, I'm off to listen to the playoff games and plow ahead with Monet..

Hope you all are enjoying your Sunday, wherever you are!

Whoa Nellie!

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Happy Weekend, friends!

I'm dropping in this morning with a quick update on Monet: 

 

I know...I'm feeling pretty underwhelmed about it myself.. but, I keep reminding myself of what an amazing piece it will be when it is finished, in the year 2079.

I've hit that dangerous point of not looking forward to stitching on it.  And we all know what that means - the tragic death of a WIP.  In reading so many of your stories about how to stay motivated on a tough project, I've decided that 'mandatory' stitching time could possibly get me through this confetti part to the section that you can actually recognize the Parliament building. 

So, no more Downton Abbey or Sherlock marathons for me.  :-(

It's time to dive into this badboy, head-first.

Til next time, keep your needles sharp and your stitches straight!



 

July - in like a lion!

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Hello Friends!  Here is it July 1st and we have found ourselves in a verifiable heat wave here in Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.  The heat reached an all time high of 108 last week!  And, we suffered through the worst storm I've ever seen in my life Friday night.  It was my husband's birthday and we were having dinner out, about 40 minutes from home.  The power went out several times during dinner and the rain and wind were indescribable.  The drive home was like driving through a war zone.  I know many of you, all over the East coast have experienced the same.  Luckily for us, we didn't have any serious property damage and we have electricity but many of our neighbors were not so lucky.  Our new (like they are in the process of moving in) neighbors had a tree fall across their car.  We have tons of limbs and sticks to deal with, but escaped virtually unscathed.  However, we are praying for all of our friends and neighbors who are dealing with much worse..

Now for the Share-A-Stitch report... What a wonderful five day get-away!!  The facility (Meadowbrook Conference Center) in Kingsport TN is just fabulous.   The staff was excellent, the service was spotless and the food was tremendous.  In short, I can't say enough good things about the place.  My roomie and I traveled down mid-week and since only one of us can drive at a time, I stitched until it was my turn to take the wheel.  It was a pleasure to get a few hours of power stitching in on a few small projects.  A couple of hours go so far when you're talking about small projects!

The first is an amulet bag/name tag by GPA (Giulia Punti Antichi).  I've had this kitted up for at least a year and a half.  The beads Giulia has had made to accompany her designs are addictive.  You can click on the photo below to get a better look at the one I've used for the scissors fob.   

The only thing I have left to do on this project is to add the focal bead and tassel to the bottom of the bag.  I can't wait to wear this to our next meeting.

My other car project is a small canvas piece that looks like a piece of stained glass.  I'm in love with everything about it..

It's been a blast just filling in the blocks with whatever new stitch I decide I want to try.  I'm envisioning this on the front of an Ott light carry bag when finished.

As for class, I took studio time in order to get my Monet piece started.  Well, I got it started and that's about all I can say for it.  When I have enough to warrant a photo, I'll share..  It could be awhile..

Per usual, I enjoyed the boutique and bookstore a great deal.  I picked up 5-10 new threads, a couple of pattern books, a couple of needlepoint stitch guides, some slender stretcher bars (which I love!), and a bunch of blank needlepoint canvas.  I have big plans for the canvas (stay tuned...)

All in all, it was a huge success.  The only thing that could have made it better was to have had dinner with my husband on Thursday night, which was our anniversary.  Being the kind soul that he is, he encouraged me to take the trip anyway and sent this gorgeous arrangement in place of actually being together on our special day...

They just got more beautiful by the day...

What a guy... I'm a lucky girl!

Let the BAP begin!

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Alright sports fans... today is a BIG day.  It is the day I put Stitch #1 into a BAP that I've been dying to sink my teeth into for years.  I've finally decided to let it wait no more.  Next week, I'm headed off to Kingsport TN for the EGA Regional seminar and only taking studio time so I should be able to dedicate at least three full days to this beauty.  The piece is straight-forward;  100% cross stitch, except it has about a bazillion color changes and the graph looks like confetti.  I guess that's what you get when you want to recreate an impressionist painting with needle and thread.

Here's the "AFTER" pic:

Wish me luck!

Home Again (photo heavy)

When did they move Georgia to the intersection of South Hell and Molten Lava? Geez it's hot down there! Glad to be home before dark tonight but I wouldn't have missed it for the world. The youngest step child graduated basic training this week and was advanced to his next post in San Antonio TX. The experience seems to have made a much more mature young man out of him but I think I spied just a smidge of little boy still behind those baby blues. We couldn't be prouder. Even though it was a few days early, I can't imagine hubby getting a better Father's Day gift. Knowing we'd be out of town on Father's Day, I celebrated with my Dad last weekend.

Way to go J!!!!!

Lord, keep him safe.

Spent a little down time at Callaway Gardens. Our first visit there, but surely not our last. They host a Needle Arts School in January (which just might be the BEST time of year to visit Georgia!). Was awed by the beauty of the grounds, gardens and butterflies.

Speaking of being awe-struck, hubby and I lucked into a viewing of Monet's Waterlilies at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta. I've had the privilege of seeing the magnificent, larger than life panels in London nearly 20 years ago, but had almost given up hope finding them together again to share with hubby. We sat speechless for sometime in front of them, just soaking up the beauty, peace and serenity they emit. They allowed camera phone photos only, so the quality leaves a lot to be desired. If you are within a days drive of Atlanta, I urge you to go see these masterpieces yourself. You'll never forget it.

Last but not least, we spent a few hours in the air conditioned splendor of the Georgia Aquarium, the world's largest aquarium. What a delight! The Titanic exhibit alone is well worth the visit but don't miss the whale sharks and lion fish either.

What's that you say? Did I get any stitching done? A little. If I hadn't run out of thread (grrrr!!), I would have finished my XSDN's checkerboard. I have exactly 10 blank squares left to fill in with some kind of random stitch. It won't take anytime, but I want to personalize the borders with their names as well. I also finished my third and final sign language I Love You square. The father of my XSDNs in NC decided that he just had to have one of the cubes I made the girls for Valentine's day for himself. So, even though I hate to stitch the same thing twice, I made an exception and stitched this thing for a third (and final) time. In the words of Roberto Duran, NO MAS! Lastly, I started a Christmas name tag to help me keep track of how many Christmas finishes the SAL on the 25th motivates me to finish. So far, I have two finishes to attribute to the SAL, one you have seen (black biscornu) and one you haven't (Christmas exchange). I'll stitch a new package under the trees for each Christmas finish.

Well, that does it for me. I've got a huge (albeit 4 day) week at work. Taking Friday off to celebrate sister's birthday with her. Family coming in to celebrate hubby's birthday over the weekend.

High Ho High Ho, it's off to the laundry room I go.