Sunday, December 27, 2009

My Needle is Flying!

I've been pretty close to being a hermit this weekend...which has been very productive on the stitchy front! I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was relatively painless. I had Christmas lunch with my folks and made my excuses once my brother came to visit. He didn't say Merry Christmas to me, greet me in any brotherly manner or get me a gift. I pretty much called it for this year. I'm very glad I didn't waste my time getting him one. I, at least. had the good manners to wish him a Merry Christmas. I've pretty much been planted on the futon watching bad tv all weekend. Life could be a lot worse!! lol

The only reason I left my apartment was to go to NiaH to buy fabric for some major projects I need to get done in 2010...aka gift stitching. I was very indecisive and I'm surprised Mary didn't strangle me but in the end, I'm really happy with my fabric choices. Lisa even stopped by and we had a mini stitch-in and chat. We even pulled out our Marys to compare. It was nice! Until it was time to head home. We left in the middle of a rain storm and I white knuckled it all the way home!

Today, I ran the usual errands...grocery store, bank, gas station and other little stops and have been lazy the rest of the day. I finally made it to motif#5 on my MW. My goal was to have 4 motifs stitched by the end of the weekend and I've succeeded!
I had to change out the yellow motif. I originally stitched it in WDW Whiskey but the varigation wasn't showing up too well so I ripped it and did it over in GAST Gold Leaf. I'm happy with it! I think I will get a good amount of motif #5 done tonight. Then I have to decide what I will do. I have to get a start on gift stitching but I only want to be stitching on Mary! What to do...what to do!? I had hoped to make a NYD start on Fairy Moon but I don't think it's realistic right now. I have the feeling I will have to switch gears to gifts this week.

Last week, I was obsessed with getting a Christmas cactus. I've seen so many pretty ones in blogland...all sorts of colors. I've managed to kill the plants that *the boy* bought before he left. I asked for a Violet and he brought back some finicky little things instead. Ugh...dead. So I needed to replace with something nice. I can't kill a cactus though! After stops to three different shops, I finally found one. They only had a fushia-red but I took what I could! Here it is sitting with Christmas Fairy. Ignore the junk in the background. I'm stitching...not cleaning!! The blooms are starting to open on the plant and it's looking very happy and un-dead. My kind of plant! :)

Tomorrow is back to work for me. Thankfully, it's a short week. Yay!!

Until next time...

16 comments:

Theresa said...

Wow!! Great progress on your Mary!!!!! Sounds like you had a relaxing holiday, good for you!!
I haven't put in a stitch for a week now!!!! I really should get my stitching stuff set up so I can stitch again~
Have a great week at work!!

staci said...

MW is lovely :) I am terrible with plants too. I once killed a cactus...my oldest loves to tease me about that. This year I bought two small poinsettias the day after Thanksgiving and I've actually kept them alive, LOL!!!

Melissa said...

You've accomplished a lot, Valerie! Good for you. It will inspire me to get back to it. I've been too busy with the holidays.

The cactus is a pretty colour. Goes with your stitched fairy!

Jackie's Stitches said...

Amazing progress on MW. I think I need to follow your lead and just make some time, sit down, and get busy. I've been trying to get stuff I should do first and then am too tired to stitch, knit, or sew. Cleaning is over rated! It sounds like you had the perfect weekend!

Margaret said...

I love your Mary Wigham! The colors are spectacular -- so yummy! Nice that you got to have a mini stitch in at NiaH -- bummer about the rain though. At least it wasn't snow! :D As for the Christmas cactus -- I miss the one I had years ago. It had that color of flowers as well. It was so easy to take care of -- I kill plants too. And I think the cold in the window I kept it in was what made it bloom. It would often bloom twice in a season. So pretty! I need to find me another Christmas cactus.... Glad you had a stitchy weekend! Yay for short work weeks! :D

Siobhán said...

Love the stitching progress! And the Christmas cacti. I have a fondness for Christmas cacti, probably because it is so very hard to kill them. I had a beautiful one that I stupidly left outside for too long. It got cold at night and it's still living and blooming but looks like the Charlie Brown version of a Christmas cactus. A friend has a Christmas cactus that has been handed down thru her family and is now 140 years old. !!! It is massive and beautiful and I never thought I'd covet somebody's plant but I would love to abscond with that thing! LOL

Happy New Year!

Melissa said...

Wow, your Mary is looking lovely! I also had to frog the yellow motif and do it again when I started this piece. Seeing yours reminds me that I really should pull her out and put some more time in on her. :) Love the cactus, too! I definitely got robbed in the green thumb department, so perhaps cacti would be a good route for me to go. LOL

Natasha said...

MW is looking great I like the yellowish color you are using makes it pop.

Can you tell me where you found your cactuc. I have been looking for one but have not had any luck.

Too bad about the african Violet. Those are such pretty plants once they start blooming.

Take care and may your week fly by.
Natasha

Susimac said...

Great progress on MW. Love the Mirabilia too, she looks lovely next to your gogeous cactus - I always manage to kill mine LOL

Katrina said...

Your Mary is gorgeous! I need to work on mine too.

Families, especially siblings, can be such pains. Makes you wonder sometimes that you were raised by the same parents ;-). Glad you made your escape.

Meari said...

Oh my! My Mom is the Christmas Cacti queen. lol She has some that are at least 2 feet in diameter. She has them in every color imaginable. Yours looks really pretty.

Nice progress on your stitching.

Lisa said...

I am so glad that we were able to meet on Saturday. It was fun. Matthew thought it was interesting how we could be stitching the same project, but it was "ok" to use different color fabrics and thread...and cool that I was stitching it along with someone else because "it looks like it is going to take a long time." :)
The rain was definitely not fun to drive home in!
I am glad that you were able to have a restful and productive weekend. Hope the week goes by fast for you and you can have another one!
Take care

Carol R said...

Valerie - Mary is looking wonderful - if you are on a roll and enjoying the stitch - keep going!

Your cactus is so much nicer than mine. I got it last Christmas - there were two plants in a pot and one immediately died. The other has been fine all year but I have only have 2 flowers at separated times although I can see 2 more buds about to open. How come you have lots of flowers? I'm not much good with plants.

Daffycat said...

Your MW looks wonderful, Valerie! Ha, I'd stitch instead of clean any day...and your new plant is beautiful!

Dani - tkdchick said...

Wow Mary looks great!!! I can't wait to see all the great projects you're going to stitch in 2010!

Laural said...

Great progress!! I love seeing the different colors used in this design. Your cactus is very pretty! I love the color.