Creative Reset Button

As I said before I needed a break from my break.  I also needed something small, quick, and for myself to snap me back into being creative.  As anyone with artistic hobbies knows grief can either be a powerful tool or a major hindrance to any project.  Sometimes it does both.

A few weeks ago I was taking pictures at our Guild president's home and she asked me if I would consider giving a needlework book a new home.  Of course I couldn't resist, so home it came.  It's called 365 Tiny Cross Stitch Designs by Kooler Design Studio, published by American School of Needlework.  Inside are 366 (an extra for leap year) fun charts for small stitching projects.  Some would even work for miniatures, which is why she thought of me.

There is one design in particular that had been whispering to me since I first looked through it.  Yesterday FH and I agreed that I should give in and see if that would help me get back into my groove and back into the workroom.  So I did.

I stitched on 16-count Aida with two strands of DMC floss.  The frame opening is 3"x3". 
I think I'm going to do another design while I wait for the panda mural to arrive.  I can't start putting things into the nursery until the mural is on the outside of the room and I'm not quite ready to finish painting the furniture I started last week.  Unfortunately the mural paper is back-ordered.  I'm not too pleased, but they're out of stock... not anyone's fault.  So I wait. 

Achoo Progress

As of this moment, this is my progress with Achoo.
Still more areas of white to fill in and the toes need defining. Then I can move on to the half cross stitches.

Stitching Catharsis

Since the 19th of June I've been steadily working on this piece as a gift for one of Confetti's two vets.
She's a bit more complete at the moment, but I haven't taken a newer picture yet. The name of the piece is "Achoo" and will look like this when I'm finished:
I think I may have to stitch the title onto the top right corner somewhere to make sure the joke is conveyed properly.

Currently the beginnings of her tail and the partial back foot are in progress, the two unfinished legs and her belly are more filled in, and I could jump into the half cross stitches that make up the spots at any time.

I have a different kit for the other vet and I will post about that one once I get started. I'm hoping to have this one completed by the end of the holiday weekend... which luckily includes Monday since FH actually has a day off. ;-)

Catharsis

I have noted that I am a seamstress but have never posted about any sewing projects. One reason is I haven't been sewing anything so I didn't think to put up any pictures. The other reason, which is the reason I haven't been sewing, is that my last sewing project was a custom job for a friend.

He wanted me to recreate his "party shirt" which had begun to unravel. We shopped for materials. I measured him over and over since the original shirt was a knit and the new fabric he chose was woven. I took apart the original and made a mock up pattern that I then altered using his measurements.

Weeks went by. I made a mock up of muslin because I didn't want to risk the real fabric on the untried pattern. This was good because the underarms were too tight and the back and sides needed to be let out. Finally after many fittings of the mock up I made the real deal.

It was beautiful. It fit. It suited him so well. It was perfect.

Then he met someone. We, his friends, were overjoyed. We all wanted to meet her and welcome her into our group. The woman who made him smile so big, laugh so deeply. She moved to be with him from another state.

He stopped showing up at movie nights. Stopped answering his phone. Made a 20 minute appearance at the wedding reception after driving for over an hour because she didn't want to come and he didn't want to be away for too long.

Finally he informed all of us via email and his blog that he was never going to speak with any of us again. We were to blame for all of his previous ills and all he wanted to do was go away with his new wife (yes, wife), his new step-son, and the new baby she was going to have in January.

I never saw the shirt again. Nor did I ever get a picture.