Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Tuesdays Are My Stitchy NIght

It's stitchy night and I want to get stitching. I don't have a lot of progress to show. At most, I've put three lengths in Letter G and I am itching to get back to her. She's a lot of fun and it makes me realize that I miss stitching on Mirabilias so I am putting Fairy Moon back on my project list and hope to get started on her very soon. She's been kitted up for 2 years now...just waiting. But first, I have to get through Letter G and Newton and one more exchange before devoting the rest of Fall and maybe part of Winter on stitching on some serious BAPs...Mary Wigham and Fairy Moon. Talk about contradictions in stitching!

The weekend was a blur! So fast and then back to Monday. Most of the weekend was devoted to finding the right materials to frame my mom's gift, framing and wrapping it. Throw in some errands, housesitting, visit to the local school festival which is literally in my backyard and a date night with *the boy*. We went to see Psycho at the local classic theater and have a nice cajun meal. It was nice and it was my first time seeing Psycho. That Norman Bates is one creepy dude! It was a packed weekend and I didn't have time to get ahead in my sewing class so I am *so* behind!!!

My parents arrived from their trip safely and I talked to my mom and she *loved* the gift. Yay! She was very touched, said she cried and that the gift was "better than diamonds"! Yay! Umm, but diamonds were not an option! I'm just happy that she liked the gift and I think that my amateur framing job worked out nicely. I went to Aaron Brothers because I just wanted a regular frame she could display on a table versus the wall. I found one I liked but despite the design size being 4"x7", the 5x7 frame was to small. WTF?! So I had to upgrade to an 8x10 frame but my fabric barely covered the front widthwise(about 1/16th of an inch too short) in order for me to lace it so I had to improvise. I went to Joann's looking for lace and couldn't find any suitable lace but I found tan crochet lace trim and that worked out great and seemed fitting since my grandmother tatted and crocheted. This was my finished product.
Not bad, huh? Took me forever though. Finishing takes me forever. Kind of like sewing...in class last night, I was wondering why my sewing was coming out all jacked up. Took me 30 minutes to figure out that the presser foot (or whatever the heck it's called) was up so my fabric was dancing all over the place which meant my stitches were all over the place and messed up. 30 MINUTES!!! I'd have finished my sample if I had my head attached. Are you laughing? Yea, I'm laughing at myself too...it's ok.

42 more hours until I turn one year older. Time has flown this year! I am treating myself to a 4-day weekend (because working on your birthday should be illegal) so that I can stitch and sew my booty off. I cannot wait! I have a ton of sewing homework to do (see scenario above to understand why) so that will be my focus but Letter G is hard to resist. I hope to have made great progress on her.

Have a wonderful week!!

Until next time...

14 comments:

Theresa said...

Your gift is beautiful!!!! I love the trim you added!!
The pressure foot incident happened to me once, too.... So you're not the only one who lost your head!!! LOL

Carol R said...

Valerie - your framed sampler for your mom is absolutely gorgeous. I love the lace trim - it really sets it off and your picture could well front a chart cover. A job well done!

Sadie said...

You did a wonderful job framing the gift for your mum. It looks great.

Anonymous said...

Just gorgeous, Valerie! Beautifully stitched and framed!

Margaret said...

Oh I think it was a happy accident that it didn't fit in the smaller frame. The lace just finishes the piece off perfectly, especially with your grandmother tatted and crocheted. Beautiful! Glad your mother liked it!

Lisa said...

Your gift is beautiful and I love the lace trim you added; it is a special/personal touch. No wonder she cried! The photo you took of it looks like it could be on the front of one of the needlework magazines. Sounds like it was a busy weekend - so enjoy the one coming up!

Jennifer said...

I love what you did with your Mom's gift! Very creative. . I enjoy reading about your stitching and adventures. San Fran. is a wonderful city. Went there for the first time in July 2008! I hope you have a wonderful
Birthday!!

Deb said...

Not bad at all Valerie. In fact, I think that you did a wonderful job with the framing - that lace is such a beautiful touch and I'm sure that your mom was absolutely thrilled to receive it.

I hope that you have a wonderful weekend and get a whole lot of stitching done! I agree that working on your birthday should be illegal, so good for you for taking the day off and have yourself a fantastic birthday!!

Missy Ann said...

Happy B-day!! (soon) I totally agree that working on your day should be illegal. I know it's immoral. lol

Great job on the finish for Mom. I think the lace is a lovely touch.

Jennifer said...

What a beautiful gift! I really like your idea for the lace trim, it looks so pretty that way.

I hope you have a great birthday and treat yourself to all your favorite things. I totally agree too, it should be illegal to work on your birthday.

Siobhán said...

Your gift is beautiful!! I love the addition of the trim. Oh, and umm, it took me a few weeks to figure that out about the presser foot. A friend had to tell me. LOL

CindyMae said...

Oh I just love the lace. I can totally see why your mom thinks its better than diamonds, even though they were not an option! LOL Gorgeous work on the stitching, framing and all!!

Mary Elizabeth said...

Yeah, that presser foot can get you every time. Your gift looks great! It is better than diamonds.
Have a happy birthday (weekend).

Tammy said...

Thx so much for stopping by my blog! Love yours! And yes, I admit I did lol about the presser foot being up--but I'm not a bad person I promise! Your finish is really beautiful. The lace is the perfect touch. And Psycho is one of my most favorite movies. I can't believe you just saw it for the first time--it's great!