Both are highly recognizable phrases. And, in the case of those cross stitch or any craft projects, they are opposite ends of the spectrum. Maybe it is the thrill of the new project that compels us to buy that new kit or online instructions and all of the supplies—does it really matter?—but at some point the thrill or romance leaves the relationship and you are left with a semi-finished piece that doesn’t hold your attention, you are no longer enamored with, or even fills you with dread or guilt. No, I haven’t experienced that. HAHAHA!
Admittedly, I’ve had a quilt on hold since the birth of Blooming Daisies. I am not saying that it is the first project that has agonized on the shelf. But recently I’ve pulled out the quilt to finish. The self-thrown gauntlet is that I can’t work on the grand “bun in the oven” quilt until this one is done. With an expected due date in October, last Friday (my first full day to work on Blooming Daisies Crafts and other projects) I pulled that albatross out of storage or off the back of my chair. I was feeling good after completing a row and moving on to a second one when I realized that I didn’t have enough gray to piece this top. Can you hear me going into panic mode? I was! After calming down, somewhat, I searched online and found it at a Joann’s “just” 30 miles away from my one daughter in Atlanta. Bless her heart; she was prepared to make the trip to pick up the order when I get a text from Joann’s – “your order has been cancelled”. WHAT?! Panic, again! After some deep calming breaths, I had to totally calm down and look at some other options. I pulled all of the fabric for the quilt out and found quite a bit of a lighter shade of gray material. Hmm, is this because I couldn’t find that fabric 3 years ago and was going to replace it? I’m thinking so. Good thing my 60-year old mind can reason better than it can remember. With one step forward, I will take two steps back and disassemble any squares with the old gray and insert the new gray. The quilt pattern is made up of 4” squares with 30 rows. I have 6 rows completed with only a few gray. Winner!
Many years ago, 1997, my sister picked up a Dimensions Gold Collection 3837 “Wreath of Roses”. It is an incredibly beautiful and complicated kit with 40+ thread colors and instructions on combining threads to make different colors and stitched on linen-looking fabric. As I said, beautiful and complicated. Of course, that year was the same year my niece was born. After making some progress and a two state move (NE to TX), the WIP became the feature in her glass topped coffee table. My sister loves her table décor, feels no guilt and likes that it is not hidden away.
As for my latest “problem child”, the Tardis, it has taken a back seat to my “Rub-A-Dub” cross stitch which is almost finished and I am so excited for it to be done. As you can see, even just talking about the two, I lose focus on the Tardis. Anyway, once “all of my ducks in a row” are complete, I will work on the Tardis, get it done, framed and gifted to our son. He will enjoy it much more than I have. Admittedly, these progress reports keep me motivated and provide accountability. Thank you for that.
On other news, I have reconnected with a great friend from when I lived in Rochester, NY. Barb said she’s been keeping up with my blogs and decided to try cross stitching again! Welcome back, Barb! Her daughter, Jill is in the Boston area with her own little shop with a variety of things. Check it out at www.homesliceshop.com I ordered the Mystery Box for October. I like to support new and returning needle crafters as well as other small business owners.
At BloomingDaisiesCrafts, new product is on the way. If you want to know how I’m picking the next fabric for grime guards, WIP bags or Q-Snap bags, I am doing it very scientifically. This week, I laid out 6 new fabrics, numbered them 1-6 with slips of paper, and took a picture. Then, without my sister knowing which fabric numbers are which, I asked her to pick a number between one and six. She picked “3”. So, I am working on Christmas fabric featuring a vintage pickup truck with a fun complementary cloth. (And I have some needleminders to complete your holiday ensemble!) Next week’s choice will actually fall into the next week, I’ll add a new choice, place a coin on each of them and ask her to blindly choose the following week’s fabric. This is a new and fun way to make a surprisingly difficult decision. After all, I love all of the choices and hope that you will too.
Next week, I’m helping out my friend, Lisa from Golden Needle! I’ll be working in her shop on Wednesday! If you are in SW Florida and haven’t been there yet, come in and keep me company. We can talk and shop together!