Finishes and More Finishes

Hello my lovelies...it's been a while hasn't it? It's been busy in my little corner of the world. Busy, busy...yet when I reflect at the end of the week, I can barely remember what kept me so busy. Anyone else relate?

Anywho...I've lots to share so you all might want to get a cup of tea and a snack. Don't get those crumbs in the keyboard though!

A while back, I was talking about finishing and how I actually got a couple of pieces finish-finished and off in the mail. Well, they've been happily received and now I can share. I shared this finish earlier. It's Blackbird Designs Bluebird stitched on a scrap of 32 count Lakeside with GAST Brethren Blue.
I made it up into a pinpillow. Very simple...filled with crushed walnut litter. I found a black safety pin lying about and thought it would be fitting and made simple pins. I bought terrible glue and those crystals were sliding. I am just hoping that they finally set. I backed it with some of my favorite blue batik shown below.
I mailed the pinpillow to my penpal Belen in France and I can only hope that it cheered her up. She recently celebrated her birthday and I felt a cause to make her something handmade. 2010 was an unkind year to her as well and unfortunate circumstances made her a widow way too young. She needed a little cheering. Blue is one of her favorite colors and she wrote me to tell me that she liked the gift and the goodie I included. I am so glad!

2010 was an unkind year. I am glad it's in my past but there was one outstanding piece of business leftover from last year...my blogiversary giveaway. I'm not sure what the mental hangup was. The finishing or the fact it was what I was stitching on when everything imploded. I'm not one to owe anyone anything though and I finally sat down and did the finishing. It was all I had to do. I am embarrassed that it took me so long to finish and send on but I am happy it's been passed onto it's new owner. Sharon won my giveaway many moons ago and she was happy with the gift and the goodies. I stilled the Shepherd's Bush 2009 scissor fob and included a pair of silver Ginghers. Here's the front.
And the back. It was charted to say "All Is Fine in 2009". Ummm...yea. So I changed it to say "Stitch and Be Happy" because that is true to a stitcher 100% of the time...well...outside of any major frogging.
I used the kit supplies and filled the fob with crushed walnut litter as well. It was my first time doing this finish with the ribbon and despite it being fiddly and poking myself with a beading needle multiple times, I am really happy with it! Now I need to stitch it for myself! Sharon posted photos of the goodies I sent here. I was in such a rush to send things off that I forgot to take photos of the goodies. I had a runner up winner for my blogiversary too and made good with Lisa and sent some non-stitched goodies off to her too. I am not doing that again. Next time, I will have the stitched goodie done *before* the drawing. Yeesh...guess that means I better get busy again and quick!

I also finished the first Blackbird Designs Bonus Pattern for my Anniversaries of the Heart! I know...I'm shocked myself. But that pre-stitching for my class drove me bananas and I needed something to keep me sane so I decided to get a head start.
I am SALing with Lisa and Sally. Their AotH projects look great! Here's how mine looks so far.
I am really enjoying this project. I don't seem to want to stop stitching on it but I am going to try and take a break from it for the rest of March so I can devote a little bit of time on my Mary Wigham and some smalls.

Now for the stitching that was driving me crazy! The pre-stitching for my class. The stitching itself didn't seem like a lot but it was very time consuming and fiddly...you really had to pay attention. My class was with Sandie Vanosdall of The Sweetheart Tree though the Bay Area Sampler Guild and the pre-stitching was for the M'Lady's Quadreille. I was hoping to be a super stitcher and finish all the stitching and backstitching before class but I only managed 1/2.
I had to frog a good portion because I found a counting error and had gotten sidetracked with my AotH. Sandie only wanted us to do the first side of the quadrille and all the outlining anyways so I was ahead. The class was nice and we covered specialty stitches I had never done before. Finishing this quadrille will be a challenge but seeing as I stitched the date...I had better get this done this year. We were also given Lady Dunmore's Sampler kit which I think is stunning and the main reason I signed up for this class. It has the same stitches as the quadrille so if I can master this quadrille, I can definitely tackle the sampler! Strangely enough, The Sweetheart Tree isn't really my usual thing but this really caught my eye.

Here's a close up of my 2 completed sides of the quadrille before any specialty stitches.
I will have to add this to the rotation for this year so I can complete it!

And finally...my TUSAL for the new moon. My jar is rapidly getting full. I guess I've been getting a ton of stitching done. Amazing how it never feels like enough. All the projects I want to do play like a slideshow in my head!
I have a new little friend to help me display my jar this month. Isn't she cute?!

Well, I better run. It's the Southland finale!

Until next time...

Out of Sorts

Hope everyone had a nice weekend. I've been feeling out of sorts for the past month. Being scatterbrained and so tired and pulled in a lot of directions. I've gotten some comments that I sound overwhelmed and I guess that I am. I've been feeling the distance between me and my friends and the increased need for attention my elderly parents are exhibiting. I think I'd be able to handle it all better if I had a support network. But I don't...it's just me taking care of everything. It's sad to have this feeling that everyone needs or wants something from me but when I need or want anything, I have to do it myself because no one else is going to do it for me. I want to go in one direction and am forced into another...trying to appease others at the risk of neglecting myself. And because I want to beat to the tune of my own drum, I feel kind of guilted. That Catholic guilt will kill you, you know...or at least force you into the scary white jacket and padded room.

And even though I love San Francisco, I often daydream of picking up and moving far away from here so I can finally have a life of my own, with less responsibility. And time to recapture the creative drive that is so incredibly stunted. I can follow a pattern but at this point, that's about it. The dreams about designing and owning a small little sanctuary for stitchers are just that...dreams...because my energies and focus are elsewhere.

So, I'm in a "nobody gets it" mood. Nobody gets why I am so stressed and sad and frustrated and resentful. Least of all, the people who are making me feel this way. When I feel this way, I need silence and alone time. My chirpiness decreases; my hermit tendencies increase and I focus more on my stitching since it's what I do at home.

So my stitching has been coming along.

I finished my Heart in Hand Little Angel in the Clouds. I think it's so cute! I will have to restitch soon with a pale lavender heart instead of the tan. I also stitched a little gift for my penpal. She has intermittent internet so hopefully she doesn't see this! I stitched Blackbird Designs Bluebird on a scrap of 32 count platinum with GAST Brethren Blue. I'm debating whether I want to add pins and buttons.

Well, I sent off my shears to get sharpened a couple of weeks ago and I realize I don't have any scissors to cut fabric other than those. I guess I better hunt down a Joann's or Michael's coupon so I can buy a backup pair. So no finishing for me...yet. I can't even cut my fabric down!

And I started on the border for BBD Valentine Rose last night. I wasn't supposed to start until February but with the absence of fabric shears, I decided to at least be productive. Plus, I am taking a Sandie Vandosdall class with my Sampler Guild in March and I hear there's pre-stitching. I don't even have my kit yet...I wonder how much stitching I have to do! So I had better get a move on on my personal stitching so I can drop everything once I receive my kit.
It doesn't look like much for now. This block has a huge house that needs to be built! Maybe by the weekend, I'll have some house to show...if I can squeeze some stitching in between the responsibilities.

So...don't be surprised if I'm not as chirpy as usual. I am trying to find my happy place. It's quite hard with the constant interruptions and such but I'm trying.

Thanks for all the entries for my surprise! There are some new blogs I need to check out. I really enjoyed the responses to my questions. I've got lots of movies to add to my Netflix queue. I'll answer my own questions on Thursday when I announce the winner. Movies and travel are two things that make me happy besides stitching and I am trying to reacquaint myself with both.

Well, I think I'm going to head to bed early tonight. Hope you all are having a good start to the week.

Until next time...