We’ve been busy busy, busy doing nothing. I haven’t gotten to do any stitching since we’ve gotten here. I almost did last night. Sad, ain’t it, when you get happy about almost getting to stitch?
I did get to pick up my framed Strawberry Garden before we left. I love the top mat. Accidental BONUS: it matches the entry rug in the hall where I’ve hung it.
Here’s hoping you (and I) get to really stitch. 
OK, I made time to restitch the scissors keep. I shouldn’t have, but I did, and I think I’m glad I did. I expect the third time would have been the charm, but I’m so not going there. It is beyond me, plain and simple.
I think you’ll have to embiggen the left picture to see the bumpies peeking out through the top. The backside is a little easier to tell–it’s not supposed to have the dip. My friend thinks I’m too much of a perfectionist. Guilty as charged. For instance, if Time weren’t a premium just now, I’d've cropped the pictures so you don’t have to look at plain and/or boring background. Oh, well. I have a plane to catch. ETA: Arriving at destination, I cropped them in webshots while waiting for the husband to come home. I’m compulsive like that. *rolls eyes at self*
OK, let’s spin this baby around counter-clockwise. All are clickable for bigger.
Full view w/no scissor keep pillow, left side, back, right side.
Full view with open drawer, drawer close-up (’08, heh), signature. I love that I signed my name in my “handwriting.”
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Full view, pillow and all.
So, OK: I am bummed that the seat isn’t cushier. I didn’t use polyester quilt batting, and for that I get a flat seat. I used 3 layers of cotton batting and a bit of polyester fiberfill, but it didn’t give a fluffy result.
It took me a LONG time to figure out how to get the arm roll dimple “just so.” No, seriously. It’s embarrassing how long it took me to “get” the instructions. This is why only one arm roll makes me happy. The other is adequate. The first arm roll also took me two days to finish. When Janie Hubble says the arm rolls are fiddly, she ain’t just a-kidding!
The button/drawer pull matches the floss much better IRL. I am very glad I used the button with beads instead of a tassel. I think it’s adorable! The drawer’s fit is very tight. I’m pretty sure that has something to do with the way I glued it together. I am hopeless with glue, and got some pink floss-bleed residue on one side of the chair. Still, I think the glue is a plus, as it strengthens the cardboard. It took me three tries to get the front of the drawer just right. It was worth it. I was very anxious about having a wonky drawer.
In spite of the glue, I stitched everything together. There will be no coins going missing in this chair’s cushions, I guarantee! The instructions mention tiny overstitches where the seat meets the sides, front and back. I went a few extra miles. I’m glad I did.
I split three wooden beads by hammering the included canoe clips too hard. They’re easily replaced. I think the newer designs come with really long brads instead. Heh.
I LOVE the colors I chose. I’m very happy when I look at my chair. When I first saw the design, I thought the original colors were beautiful. I didn’t stitch it until after the second chair was published, and I new I wanted to be able to coordinate the chairs. I don’t think it would work in the original combos. I don’t really know when/if that’s going to happen. The boy is trying to steal my chair! He thinks it would be nothing for him to design a chair he likes and have me make him one! So far he’s vacillating between wolf motifs and anime emoticons. *sigh* He’s a character. You take your time deciding, dear, there’s no rush. 
Vitals:
Peacock Stitching Chair by Cat’s Whiskers
Stitched on 32-ct. antique white linen using Caron Waterlilies Flame and Blue Lavender silk. Stitched in 06.08, constructed 06.09
Happy Stitching!
I mentioned previously about goofing up when I cut the linen for Peacock Stitching Chair’s scissor keep. The only way to really salvage it was to either re-stitch it or add ‘wings’ in the lining fabric. I should have re-stitched it. It would have saved me time and aggravation. I wish I’d realized it sooner. So, OK, I added the ‘wings’ where the shape of the pattern bent. Had a corner. You know what I mean. I made a triangle out of the linen that should show and added the ‘wings’ where the back of the scissor keep would be:
I scanned this piece instead of photographing it. The fabric isn’t purple. It’s a blue and red dupioni silk. Being the geek I am, I zoomed in and out of the image, watching it change from blue/red to purple over and over again.
Theoretically, it should have been fine. If I’d made the piece big enough, it would have been. I stitched the lining onto the new keep top. When I turned it right-side-out, I thought it might be a little small:
I tried to convince myself it would be OK if the scissor keep was a bit narrow, that it would be OK if the back of the scissor keep was white and blue. I started to figure out how to stitch it together. I used a ruler to hold down the stitching to give a clear idea what the piece would look like if I did stitch it together as is:
I tried to convince myself that it would be cute with a ’scalloped’ backside. A scissor keep with a big old butt? What to do, what to do? Fold and stitch the scallops down? Re-stitch it? I don’t have time to re-stitch it if I’m going to be properly prepared for our summer trip on Tuesday.
That’s when I started to drink.
I’m not sure if I’m going to put the scissor keep on my summer stitching line-up. I don’t think it’s a big deal or failure if I don’t stitch the scissor keep at all. The point of the project is the beautiful chair. Except, I want the scissor keep.*whines, frets* We’ll see.
It’s always something.
For framing!
She said it will be done within a week! While I was stitching, my brain kept telling me a bee needed to be on the lower left flower, so I cooperated. The bee didn’t want to be there. I was surprised, since nectar is found in flowers, but who am I to argue with a bee? Into the fluffy leaves she went. I’m quite pleased to have her make her home in my Strawberry Garden.
Close-up of the bee. The picture quality is poor; I snapped them at night. It’s been cloudy here for many days.
Vitals:
Strawberry Garden by Blackbird Designs, Loose Feathers #18
Stitched on 32-ct. Magnolia linen by Lakeside Linens using recommended fibers, except for letters “T” and “M.” I used GAST Grecian Gold instead of Crescent Colors Fool’s Gold. The chart has two “I’s.” I stitched the second as an “L” to make a complete alphabet. I changed the bottom border to make it symmetrical. I also added a bee charm. Specialty stitches used: eyelet, smyrna cross, buttonhole, lazy daisy.
I was almost done with Strawberry Garden when I decided that *now* was the time to attempt construction of my Peacock Chair. I’m not done with that, either. Nervous Nellie here. My next update of Strawberry Garden will be a finish photo, guaranteed. In the meantime, some leaves finished, some not yet:
As for the peacocks and pillow mints…
I’ve been jumping around the chair’s instructions a bit, tackling this bit that I feel brave enough to do, then that bit. One easy bit was the teeny scissor fob. When it was completed it reminded me of those favor candies, butter cream pillow mints. I stuffed it right full. And peacocks, well, they explain themselves.
In spite of my attempt to accurately cut the linen for the scissor keep, I failed. I need to fashion a fix of sorts. More anxiety. *sigh* I can do this, I think. I have an idea. I hope it works. I think it will, it just depends upon me. I’ll keep you posted.
I’ve closed the border on Strawberry Garden. I didn’t like the way the border was charted, so I modified it to suit me. The border gets wonky at the bottom right. You know, right where there’s foliage in the model photo. 
I looked closely at the model photo, and it appears to be stitched as charted. In the chart, the bottom right corner doesn’t meet up properly. Part of it is due to a shortened motif (one stitch in the middle instead of two vertical stitches). My sister once told me that quilt designers will sometimes incorporate an intentional “mistake” in their designs, and I wondered if the border wonkiness is in that vein. After deciding that may well be the case, I also decided I couldn’t stand it.
There’s always a bit of anxiety when stitching a border, isn’t there? Will it meet? Have I counted accurately? Please, oh, please, oh, please! This was a successful closing. *phew*
Only laizy daizies left!
Side view for fun.
The outside of Strawberry Garden’s border reminds me of postage stamp perforations. Speaking of postage stamps, I love the Post Office’s new Love stamp:
Cute, yes? I like the artwork, I like the theme, I like the flowers. Delightful.
Wouldn’t this make a great stamp? It’s already sort of perforated…;)
Crazy, uneven buttonhole flower. Normally the uneven oval would annoy me. Not this time. Breakthrough for me? Doubtful, considering how much time I wasted unsuccessfully getting this post to look the way I wanted.
I don’t know about you, but when I stitch, I spend quite a bit of time staring at the piece. When a project is on a scroll frame, I turn it from side to side, admiring the way the light plays with the colors. It seems impossible to accurately capture in a photo. I’m not sure if it’s the nature of photography or just my poor photography skills. One fun thing about rotating a piece on the scroll frame is getting to see the dimensionality of the stitches.
The laizy daizy stitches in this design especially make my heart flutter. I love this photo. See how the laizy daizies sit lightly on the fabric, happily floating? That’s the sort of thing you can’t easily admire once it’s framed.
I can’t get this post to publish the way it looks on the screen. I give up, and will rely upon your abilities to decipher my meaning. (I’m also hoping that this disclaimer works in my favor. I am not above a little voodoo now and then. ETA: OK, so that didn’t work. ETA 2: I forced it to approximate my intent. Stoopid computers. )
I belong to the facebook group Cross Stitch SAL. I’m a newbie to the group, but I believe they have a weekend SAL once a month. For my first SAL, I stitched on Strawberry Garden, naturally. Friday evening, she looked like this:
I love working on this project. It’s so pretty. I also love the different stitches incorporated in the design–Smyrna, eyelet, lazy daisy (which my fingers wanted to spell, “laizy daizy”).
I made sure I found a lot of stitching time this weekend. Now she looks like this:
So pretty. So much fun to stitch. Lucky me.
I managed to finish the basket/vase on Strawberry Garden this week. I’m loving this project.
Here’s a close-up of the basket. It was such fun to stitch.
I’ve escaped from the funny farm that is Missing You. I wasn’t loving it, I was making myself crazy about it. I don’t need help with the being crazy. I stitch to escape that delightful feature of my personality, thank you.
I began BBD’s Loose Feathers #18, Strawberry Garden.
The whole time I was in my straitjacket, I was thinking about how very much I couldn’t wait to stitch this. I’ve enjoyed stitching this completely so far. I adore it. Progress:
I thought this photo was a better representation of the fabric color. I was wrong. I’m using 32-ct Lakeside Linens Magnolia, which has a yellow hue. Here’s a close-up of the basket, just because it’s been fun to stitch so far:
In other stitching news, webshots featured the photo I posted of my framed Pots of Love. I think it was yesterday, unless webshots features more than one picture on each of its channels daily. I didn’t know they had multiple channels until I received an email telling me about a comment from another user congratulating me for being featured. SURPRISE! I don’t much care for surprises, unless they’re unexpected happy surprises like that.
Home & Garden >> Crafts channel:
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/tag/crafts
My featured picture:
I started Missing You on Lavender Bliss linen. In my imagination it was wonderful. Not so much in real life. I can’t put my finger on exactly why I don’t like it. I started thinking I should ditch the whole lavender fabric notion and use a yellow/tan neutral instead. However–when I saw Picture This Plus’ new Sprite fabric, I was inspired anew. I completely forgot about thinking the tan neutral would be much better. I like the new fabric much better than Lavender Bliss. The difference is very subtle. Maybe it’s the cloudy-day quality to the Sprite fabric. I’m not sure. I know the picture isn’t the best. It was hard to get a picture with accurate color. I opted for one that shows the barely-there differences. 
I think I need to find another choice for the CC Sassy Brass that I was using. That color feels really harsh to me with the WDW Eggplant. It may be that it was the true problem all along. *snickers at the thought* I don’t mind. Much. I’m going to be happier with the new fabric.
I stitched this for my son last year. A friend asked me to stitch it for her daughter, too. I finished this last night. I hadn’t been stitching a lot in the last month. I had a lot of busy days, and didn’t have time for stitching, plus I was having fabric woes and was frustrated. I decided to begin this project.
I finally received fabric for Prairie Moon’s Missing You. I like it so much. I ironed it tonight. I’m not sure I’ll restart it immediately. I sort of feel like stitching Blackbird Designs’ Strawberry Garden. I guess I’ll decide when I start stitching next…
Happy Stitching!
Where the watermelons grow
Back to my home
I dare not go
For if I do
My mother will say,
“Did you ever see a llama, wearing pajamas,
Down by the bay?”
So, you know how you see patterns, and you love them, but you don’t need to get them right away, but then you see patterns and you must have them, right away? This is a “right away” pattern. I don’t know when I’ll stitch it, but I don’t care. It was posted as a new pattern on Hoffman’s site today. I can’t wait to get it. The boy and I were singing this song to each other just before Easter. Must. Have…Will. Buy. Soon…
Down by the Bay by La-D-Da
I love this pattern so much, it’s broken my stitchy silence! It’s not completely surprising, seeing as how I love Lori Markovic’s designs ever so much. This struck me like a bolt of lightning. If I was on a stash diet, I would break it to get this pattern! Yes, indeedy. I’m not on a stash diet. I should be, but I’m not. But if I was, I would use all my stitchy points on this pattern. Am I gushing overmuch? Are you thinking, “You know, Terri, it’s cute and all, but you’re really spazzing out about this pattern, and I don’t quite get it?” That’s OK. You know the feeling. I know you do.
In other stitching news, I was very busy with non-stitching activities shortly before the boy’s spring break. We went to visit the hubby during the break. I didn’t get much stitching done. In fact, I’d say it was about a dozen stitches until the plane ride home. I intend to finish that project tonight, and get a picture and some stitch-speak up this weekend.
Happy Weekend Stitching!
Or, Pray for Peaches, if my fingers have their way. I decided to go with Vintage Autumn Gold for Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I’ll restart that when the fabric arrives. I got Picture This Plus’ new Sprite fabric for Missing You. It’s the slightest change, but I prefer it. We’ll see when I get around to restarting that one. I hope it works the way I envisioned it. I am having a terrible time with fabric this year, it seems. For Pray for Peace, I could only get a cream 36-ct. Of course, I wasn’t satisfied. Why would I be? I have a piece of 32-ct Sandpiper, which is what was used on the model. I ordered it in 36-ct. Naturally, when it arrived it was darker than my 32-ct and the model photo. After several floss-tosses, and asking my son’s opinion (Why? We never agree. Incredibly, this time we did.), I settled on PTP’s Mercedes. I love that color.
I miss the possibility of new Birds of a Feather designs. I didn’t love all of them, but I really love the ones I did. There’s a sophisticated understanding of color in many of their designs that I don’t possess. Take Pray for Peace, for example. The “white” on the flag and the dove are both stitched in Tin Roof. It works. I loved stitching with that color. It appears to have a greenish cast, but it looks silver in the flag (close-up), and while I was stitching the dove, I kept thinking it looked like crocheted metal.
Vitals:
Pray for Peace by Birds of a Feather
Stitched on 36-ct. Mercedes linen by Picture This Plus using recommended WDW fibers.
Today is my 19th wedding anniversary. Yep, the world celebrates with us with drunken abandon, and we love it. 
I finished this little freebie pillow by Tanya last night. I love it. This was my first time tea-dying fabric. I wanted to stuff it with crushed potpourri, but that didn’t go well. When I ground the potpourri, it released the preservatives, which overpowered the vanilla scent and made me nauseous. Good to know.
Vitals:
Primitive Irish Cupboard Sampler
Designed by Tanya Anderson of The Sampler Girl
Stitched on 32-ct. tea-dyed cream linen with WDW Schneckley, GAST Avocado and DMC 729, 904 and 919
Cushion is sitting on its background fabric.
Oh, what a month. I’ve been dealing with minor health issues (I’m fine, no worrying!). I get very uncommunicative at times like these. Thank you to all of you who left me kind comments about my posts. I’m sorry for not replying.
I did manage to get a bit of stitching done, though not nearly as much as I wanted to do. I started Shores of Hawk Run Hollow. I’m stitching it with NPS silks, one over two on 40-ct. Silkweaver Golden Promise. I think it’s Golden Promise. They have two colors with similar names: Golden Promise and Golden Harvest. I think Golden Harvest is the yellower of the two. Then again, I have a 32-ct linen labeled Golden Promise, and it’s all yellow-y, so what do I know? Anyway. I didn’t want to use the Vintage Autumn Gold by Lakeside Linens, b/c it’s so very expensive. Maybe I should have. I think the color I decided on is a bit light for all the white sails I have coming up. I can’t decide what to do. Here’s a picture of what I’ve accomplished so far:
I love stitching this so much.
I have a rag doll I got at Colonial Williamsburg a few years ago. The first time I saw CHS’ Patty Parsley design, I was charmed and decided to stitch a cushion for my “Patty Parsley” doll. I finished the top side of the cushion last week.
I’ve set this aside for now. I started CHS’ Shores of Hawk Run Hollow yesterday. I only got a few stitches in. I spent the better part of my stitching time pre-cutting the floss and putting it on thread drops. Seems like Carriage House Samplings is the only designer I know lately.
Vitals:
Patty Parsley, designed by Kathy Barrick-Dieter of Carriage House Samplings
Stitched 1 over 1 on 28-ct black linen using DMC threads. I used DMC 347 for the bunnies instead of the recommended red (don’t remember recommended color).
I’ve finally completed the letters D, E and F from Carriage House Samplings’ Alphabet Blocks. Now I’ll put it away for a while. At this rate, I’ll finish in the year, oh, I don’t know, 2020 or so.
I finished this last week. It was so fun, and gave me the “pink fix” I was craving.
Vitals:
In the Pink by Ewe & Eye & Friends
Stitched on 32-ct Bo Peep linen with recommended DMC fibers.
♥ ♥ Happy Valentine’s Day! ♥ ♥
Oh, and here’s my Valentine’s Day card from the boy:
