Honey, They're Home!

My new framer had a nice surprise for me today. It's an overcast day, so I had to use flash and the colors are not quite as true as I'd like (esp. MTM) but I just could not wait to share!

Chatelaine's Medieval Towne Mandala: Mat is linen silk that reflects the light and so picks up all the turquios-y colors in the design. The frame and filet are from the mouldings created for the Biltmore restoration. Will hang in my office at home - the walls are a medium violet/lavender shade.





And Chatelaine's Hanging Gardens of Semiramis: Mat is suede. Will hang in the hall right outside my office at home.





And finally, Chatelaine's Medieval Times. No mat because I love this fabric so very much. Hard to see in this pic how well the reds pop on the fabric. This will either hang in my bedroom or my office. Need to see where I like it best.

I'm DANCIN'!!!!!!!

Medieval Town Mandala is FINISHED!!! I put on the last bead at 10:57 pm last night (12/22/10). I think I've been working on this for about four years. Guestimate I spent 350-400 hours stitching this one. Those towns are some pretty dense stitching. Fabric is 32ct belfast linen in Oyster by Country Stitch. As usual, I converted the NPI's to Eterna minitwist silk for all of the solid shades. Otherwise stitched as designed.






I am so unbelievably HAPPY!!!! Now on to NSTR!

A Thing of Beauty...

...Is a Joy Forever



My very happy-making scissors frog filled with my collection of scissors. :D It holds my entire collection and still has THREE slots empty! However, it definitely appears that I suffer from a lack of scissor fobs. Will need to remedy that. Meanwhile, I am enjoying the display which sits on the table next to my stitching chair in my office.

And, there has been progress on Medieval Town since my last blog post.



It's now about 90% complete. If stitching time happens according to plan, I expect to finish before Christmas. Then I plan to pick up Nativity Story Table Runner and finish it, hopefully by the first of the year. I'd like to start a new rotation with existing WIPs and some new ornament/small starts for 2011. But I'm not ready to think about that just yet.

Remember my last post about taking time off? Well, literally the day after that post, I got a HUGE new client (divorce financial planning) unexpectedly. I think I've worked more in the past three weeks than I have in the past three months! I'm still hoping to be able to take off the week between Christmas and New Year's. But we've got some deadlines looming, so that may not happen. We'll see how efficient I can be.

Let's Make a Deal

I think I've written before that I like to make deals with myself. It's one of the ways I trick myself into productivity rather than just looking at my never-ending to-do list and thinking of procrastination techniques. I'm very good at that last bit. I can even rationalize my behavior quite well. But, I digress. The deal. I've got a boat load of professional tasks needing to be accomplished by the end of the calendar year - annual portfolio reviews, continuing education courses, regulatory filings, etc. All are time consuming, but are required. I need to buckle down and "just do it". So, the deal I'm making with myself is to work as hard as I can to accomplish all of these activities, and then I can take the rest of the calendar year free of professional responsibilities and use that time to stitch/craft! Doesn't that sound like good motivation? I think so. I've already made some progress as of yesterday. If I keep working steadily, I might get to take most of December off. Which means I could really do some crafting damage before the end of the year.

Lest you think I'd post without a pic to share, here is the latest on Medieval Town Mandala. I finished the last town, FINALLY!!!! Go me! Looks like I'm in good shape to finish by the end of the year. :D

I'm a Winner!

OK, probably NOT the post title you are expecting given my absence from blogland the past couple of months. Nonetheless, I am indeed a winner. Of multiple things, even. It's been a good month. :D

In the early part of October, I won the door prize from my LNS's Market Day. It's a "Pamper Me" basket:

I was really surprised, because I never win anything. Apparently, Lady Luck decided I should be a liar.

On the 19th of October, I won Annette's 19th Day of Halloween Giveaway. SO MUCH FUN!

Annette's very talented daughter made the bookmark! Isn't it awesome? And, the equally talented Annette stitched and finished the spooky house mattress pincushion, which now takes place of pride in my collection! I love seeing what Annette and Missy Ann put together each day of the giveaway.

I thought my lucky streak had ended because I quick bought a lottery ticket and didn't win. Boo Hiss! But, I was proven wrong by Madam Luck yet again this week. Holly messaged me to say I'd won the fall scissor fob giveaway on her blog! Yipee!!!! You'll have to admire it on her blog for now, as she's just now mailing it to me. Which means, I get to stalk the postie again! lol.

So there you have it, I'm a winner. Just in case you were wondering.

Other things I've been up to: well, mostly high school volleyball and cheerleading with the girls. Volleyball ended last weekend as Diva's team lost in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Not to worry volleyball fans. Club volleyball tryouts begin THIS weekend. And the fun continues. Friday night is the last regular season football game. But then there are playoff games and basketball season begins before Thanksgiving (Perfectionist Child cheers for football and basketball games). When we are not on the go to a game of some sort somewhere, it seems that my house is a revolving door of teenage girl athletes. Most of whom have taken to calling me "Mom" regardless of biology. The grocery store loves me almost as much as the girls love to be fed. I like to think the girls would love me even if the groceries ran out. Let's not think about that too hard.

There has been very sporadic stitching. If you visit the Chatelaine BB, you know about the WIP-kill Contest I am running there (if you don't and you are a stitcher, check it out). My entry for the contest is Medieval Town Mandala. My progress as of 10/15/2010:

As usual, I can't take a decent photo of my stitching to save my life. One day....

I also worked on Nativity Story Table Runner a bit. I'm about 75% done with this and have finished the entire length across the bottom, which is the most stitching intensive portion.


And finally, I went shopping. If you poke around Missy Ann's blog, you will find her scissor crypt instructions. I'm making one. Actually, I'm making several, and a large tool-keeper crypt, too. I needed a few more supplies for my first boxification attempt (which WILL happen before the end of the year). And, I had so much fun making cosmetic bags for the volleyball team senior night (oops, need to share that photo eventually), that I decided I needed to make one to hold my GPS (pronounced gee-pus in this household). The photographic evidence:

A close up of the larger crypt and the bats I found that must live nearby:

In the photo of the whole, you can also see some crochet trim and buttons. Annette is going to teach me how to make button trim while we're in Houston next week! WOOT!!!!

I'm sure I'm forgetting to tell you something, but I'm all tapped out for today. That's all I Have to Say......

But I Have Pictures!

So you need to forgive the lack of blogging this month. Seriously, I blinked and July happened. However, I have managed some stitching. Thus, there are pictures which are of greater interest to you than anything I might say, I'm sure! lol

First up: my July progress on Nativity Story Table Runner



And the full view of the 38.5 inches of stitching thus far:


Another big milestone was completing the south town on Medieval Town Mandala. Here's the south town (upside down):


And the obligatory full view:


Kind of excited that I only have one more town to stitch. I love this design, but the towns are SO stitching intensive. I'll be glad to get the last one behind me so I can finish the corner motifs.

I brought out an old friend this month, Elizabethan Sweete Bag. Haven't stitched on it in two years! Stitched the leaves this round. The only stitching remaining are the 8 over one bugs. Seriously wondering what I was thinking to plan to stitch over one on black linen.



Needed something smaller and not on black to stitch on at Moonlight Stitching last weekend at the LNS. So I started block A2 (a Celtic heart motif) of Celtic Quilt. I actually got a fair amount completed despite all the visiting with stitching friends!



Amazingly, my photography doesn't completely suck this month. Moon must be out of phase.

I do need to say that Moonlight Stitching was LOTS of fun! Wendy, Dana, and Melissa were all there, along with several other stitchers with whom I've become acquainted the past several visits. We closed the place down! Not sure I'm gonna make the next one in September. Diva's volleyball team hosts a tournament that weekend. We'll see.

Stitching to share!

First, yes, I have been playing with the new blogger templates, which also means a new background. I'm not quite satisfied, so there will be more tinkering. But, I've reached my limit for today. :-) I can only play with technology for so long before I hit overload.

And there has been stitching! Pics of my June rotation on Nativity Story Table Runner:

Close up of what I stitched this month (The Holy Family):


As always, my photographic skills are lacking. The second pic shows the fabric color more closely, but the floss is more accurate in the first pic. Oh well. I figure I'm past the halfway point with stitching on this. Really, the Holy Family is the most intense stitching. Definitely on track to finish by year end.

Picked up Medieval Town Mandala for a while. Started on the 6 o'clock town. Again, full shot and close up views:



Colors on the full view are really off. I couldn't fix it no matter how I played around. I really am lacking in the photo editing abilities. These towns take an eternity to stitch. Really, if I can push through the last two, the end would really be in sight. But I do seem to get bogged down by them. Will continue with MTM this week.

Oh, and I received my Chatelaine Smalls Exchange for 2010 from Val!



It's the pincushion from Nantucket Violets Basket finished as a biscornu. The fabric is Silkweavers Parkside opalescent belfast linen. Val did a wonderful job with the finishing! I really love it - particularly because it is from a Chatelaine Design I do not currently own. And the colors are so perfect for my office/hobby room which is painted a medium violet shade! The SNC is Vintage Violets, a color used in several Chatelaine Designs. I don't have a local source for SNC, so I am really happy to receive it! Thank you, again, Val!

No word from my recipient yet, but that's as expected. My exchange has a bit far to travel....

I have started the finishing for Snow Queen's Slipper. As soon as I get this posted, I plan to make a bit more progress on it, so maybe there will be photos soon-ish (don't hold your breath, though).