How could I have possibly forgotten to blog for over a month? Unacceptable!

I blame the heat. THat godawful sweltering GA heat that just makes me wanna sit in a tub of ice water and ... lay there. Ok, maybe with a cold beer in hand.

The stitching has slowed down considerably, and though i've had a couple of finishes, I haven't posted them. Garden Stars inches like the snail in my backyard (that is, before it gets killed and eaten -- yuck -- by my puppy)





And also on an Ink Circles theme, my Oriental interpretation of Nine Lives, done in my colors. The original has black, red and grey, but ummmm I no like grey too much.

More and more WIPS to take care of. At least the box of unfinished pieces is slowly getting thinned out... even as new starts are planned.

After the finish of Red Velvet, I have found that my mojo has slightly dampened, but it could also be the nonstop activity at the shop. The work does suck a lot of energy out of me, especially over the weekends when soldiers pretty much crowd the shop and want me to work on them. So by the time Saturday night is here and my weekend starts, I am so baked that all I can do, and want to do, is to sit in the living room and stare at the TV.

Also, the thought of resurrecting Bagatelle has been on my mind (pics to follow if I pull out the fabric again). But for the time being, here are the next on the list to get done:


Dimensions kit: White Lightning, gifted by Sooz.


Ink Circles' Garden Stars (about 30% finished)





Also, I've been thinking of taking a break from linens and evenweaves and am pondering hunting for an aida project to start. I'm really not a linen snob, (as is evident), and there are times when I love aida for its total ease of use. Currently, what's done in aida as wips are PINN pieces: 8 Immortals, Romantic Mandarin Ducks and Auspicious Argosy... as well Sailor Bear which is a Dimensions chart. Oooh, and Oriental Fans, which is a Joan Elliott design.

In fact, I'm thinking of doing the three Joan Elliott geishas. Novia, Joyce, Bren and I have talked about doing a SAL for the trio, and we already all have the book. Joyce is ahead, as she has done Wisdom, but we're all wanting to have the trio of lovely Japanese ladies all stitched up and framed together (for me, at least). But that's a new start that I want to contemplate a bit later this year. On aida.

I've a friend who calls me a WIPSlayer. Maybe for this year, I can try to aspire to the title. Here's finish no 3: Blue Ribbon Designs' Red Velvet Inscription Sampler.
Stitched on Edinburgh linen 35ct, in white, using Anchor threads. Phew!

I am almost done with White Lightning too... and maybe about 30% more to go on my old Oriental fans. Once all these are out of the way, I will feel a lot less guilt about some new starts (that I already have the fabric for...)

Wooohooo!!! It is done!!!
The last two pages were stitched in a week, which is a minor record for me. FIL gets his birthday present early this year, I think!

Someone asked me what colours were used for this one, which is My Big Toe's The Lord Is My Shepherd. I used a variety of colours from her detritus bags, and
Quiet Green
Yonder Blue
Sue Purple
Konini
Okika
Victorian Mauve
and Blue Biolets
All the fibers were from Vikki Clayton's Hand-Dyed Fibers.

I am so happy this is done... the last page was done in a rush with thankfully no frogging. I stitched this alongside Joyce, who finished a day before I did. Joyce did hers in duochrome, which is both classic, dignified and oh so stunning!

My idea for this piece was actually based on the colours of a garden. I wanted each verse to visually resonate (if there is such a thing) in the mind as you read it, so I made sure the colours all complemented yet contrasted each other when put together.

After the finish on Mary, Queen of Scots, I returned to MBT's The Lord Is My Shepherd. In this one, I discovered a few things... I don't mind stitching alphabets or words, but I'd much rather put more emphasis on motifs. This is a fast stitch but is seeming to lose a bit of steam, but that could also be partially due to a lot of work at the shop.

Oh yes, I did have a comment that sounded a bit like (haha) disbelief, so I'd like to clarify something way out there. DH and I co-own and run a small, boutique-style tattoo shop. (and yes, I can tattoo and I have a nice selection of clients). So I also work with needles... just not the type you want to thread floss through. Couldn't ask for a better gig... this is the most enjoyable job I have ever had, beating hands down even reporting.

Anyway, MBT's WIP as of early last week looks like this below. I haven't taken a new pic yet but there is precious little progress from last week.




I also have done a little bit on Red Velvet Inscription Sampler... just want to finish this sucker quick!

At last, she is done!!!!

Details: Mary, Queen of Scots by Papillon Creations. 27ct Meran fabric done with DMC 115 variegated red.

I photographed this on the floor of my tattoo shop. DH came in and stared at it. And he said... "This is very cool."

THen he said "Ummm when are you going to do the sampler for dad?"

So it's back to Ps23...

When the Online Needlework Show was under swing, Tracy Horner (that marvellous Ink Circles designer) had her "tell me something interesting or unusual" prize draw, which I really appreciate because Ink Circles designs always have so much intelligent whimsy behind them, and her engineer's eye creates such wonderful designs.

I had won something two years ago (I Still Do), but after abstaining last year, I decided to try my luck. So I told her about how her mandala designs taught me how to create symmetry in my own designs for tattoos... and what a great surprise, she emailed and asked me what chart I wanted!

It was tough, because I already had so many (a bunch still unstarted hehehe)... but in the end it was a toss-up between Dutch Beast and Anatolia. My friends Brenda and Joyce were consulted but they voted for each one, so I brought DH in as a tie-breaker.

He loves sailing and he saw the boat in Dutch Beast, so at that point, I knew
a) what to pick
b) who to stitch this for!

I also bought her new Nine Lives (because... you can never have enough Oriental charts...)

Now on to other interesting things.... I'm going to dig around and find fabric for Hanky Pysanky and for Thai Di's Siam Fusion. I have Carrie's rainbow threads for HP, but for Siam Fusion, I thought of breaking some rules and making some designs pop on HDF... but first, I need to talk DH into driving to the LNS with me and picking up some black fabric.

Di hasn't seen the Spanish Rouge that's a WIP in my pile yet... I don't dare to show her... because it's not Rouge.

And I'm also looking to kickstart some Anagram designs soon. ElenaZ on the Forum is amazing... she finishes so many so fast and I have a few of them in my collection that are screaming to be stitched, one of which is the Grand Marquoir 2009, as well as the quaker (that she finished with I think Ethereal Blue or something)... and that mother of all samplers... Sampler Renaissance. I was thinking of how to tackle Sampler Renaissance, either on 18ct or Vikki's linen, but that's a project for much later. Those are projects that I would start after finishing some focus projects:

Mary Queen of Scots
Red Velvet Inscription Sampler
MBT The Lord is my Shepherd
Oriental Fans (Joan Elliott)
Garden Stars
White Lightning (a Dimensions kit)
Sampler Espagnole

There, I've said it... now, it's time not to cave in to another new start, hahahaha!