Making progress

I'm not as far along as I'd like to be, and it's not as easy as I thought it would be.  The majority of these supplies I do not want and I gave a ton away to Goodwill, a girl at my local Agway, and threw out a lot of older charts .

There's a bunch of threads - fuzzy types, flower threads, beads, and buttons.

Then there are charts and charts that I have no use for and didn't burn!   A beautiful porcelain doll for a pincushion needs a home.

Another pile of charts and kits that I will be offering.

A good selection of Shepherd's Bush charts and kits.

Lots of Prairie Schoolers.

Yards of Klostern for Cinnamon Stick

  santas and what else?

      I have no use for this.

Jobelan is great but I'm never going

to use this fabric either. 

A whole box of colors and

lots of sage 28 and 32.

All linen.  All mine!  Yardage that I hate to cut, quarters, halves and pieces.  I found Scarlet Letter's hand dyed Saffron and a rust color from 20 years ago.

Beautiful Belgian linen tablecloths and runners, stamped for embroidery.  Hope I find good homes for these pieces.

Just Cross Stitch ornaments issues and a few other publications.

And finally the floss.  Not sure if I will bag and sell it all, but most of it I'm sure.

So that's my mess.  My sampler charts, tons of smalls, freebies and such are separated from these inherited items now.  As soon as I get my floss back in sequence from being scattered all over, I can go through the charts and pick a linen.
                                                                              

Toast, part 2

I purchased a bright yellow Escape years ago, for one reason.  When I went for groceries/errands, I was in such a hurry to get home that I did not have time to peruse the parking lots of gray, red, blue, black, and white SUV's.  I needed something to catch my eye as I was exiting the doors without any hesitation.   Just making a point about how rushed my life was at the time.  Its' only taken a few posts for me to clearly see why I wasn't stitching.  I guess writing about an issue is the best way to take a step back and understand.  So.  I stopped at the local nursery to get corn for the squirrels, seed for the birds, and suet for the peckers.  I got the goods, opened my hatch and loaded.  When I got in the car and started it, the door ajar light came on.  Leaving the car running, I got out and slammed the back hatch, got back in, still on.  Got out, slammed the hatch harder, jumped in the car.  Still on.  Got out, opened and shut every door, light still on.  Again, SLAMMED the other doors and the hatch again with a few choice words.  Light was still on.  Choice words became louder, slamming doors so hard my bracelet flew off, in a frenzy.   Back to the car, still running, light on, almost in tears.  I couldn't spare an extra 15 minutes of commotion.  Three old guys with tube socks, white belts, and pastel shorts (looking cute as heck) were conversing close to my car and observing the frustration of a menopausal maniac with wild hair, running around her car slamming doors and swearing, when one of the old farts said gently, "ma'am if you would shut the driver side door when you got in to check the light, the door ajar light would go out".  Toast.

Tomorrow, I am moving a chest of drawers from my 97 year old aunt's apartment, who passed away a few weeks ago.  This will give me the storage I need to get the rest of my stash in order so stitching is close.  How do I chose the chart?  Small for sure, but which one?  Maybe a medium sized sampler?  I guess I won't know until I get the charts in order which will confuse the heck out of me.  Hopefully, at this time tomorrow, I will be making that decision.   But I still have an uneasy feeling that seems to be holding me back.   I was getting inpatient when stitching Notforgotten's Sewing Basket, and I think I might be afraid that what I enjoyed years ago, may be gone.  Do I love the look of the stitched pieces but won't enjoy the process? 

Toast

Starting this blog has brought back a few memories of situations proving my hub's diagnosis of "distraction".  Two in particular still bring a chuckle.  I had someone stay with mom so we could get out of the house for a little while, and we needed to stop at our car dealership.  As we were driving, I was pensively looking out my side window and very quiet.  Hub gets out and heads to the service department door and I got out and went into the front to look at all the new vehicles, just for something to do.  I was looking at a white diamond Cadillac Escalade and admiring the paint, (no, I don't and won't own an Escalade!) then on to a few Jeeps, telling the salesman that I was just waiting for my hub.  I did notice that all the salespeople were out on the floor and watching me.  I mean really keeping an eye on me and I was getting uncomfortable.  What was it?  Did I look that confused and depressed that they were concerned?  Were my pants split?   Hmm.  Well, I left and went back to our car, staring out my window again.   My hub returned and knowing I needed quiet time, just started driving me around for a ride on a beautiful sunny day.  After a while, we started talking and as I was getting choked up, I turned my head from my window view to look at him.  He started laughing harder than he had in a while.  I was stunned.  He then told me to pull down the visor mirror and take a look.  The tears started flowing - from laughter!  I hadn't laughed that hard in years.  Just to show you how out of it I was, (my husband said I was toast), unaware of something that should have been obvious, these were on my face.......

I can't imagine what those salespeople thought!  The incident brought me to tears so many times for a long while after.  It was a release that I needed and laughing hard enough to cry was wonderful.  I'll tell you about the second incident next time.

TA-DA

I should have picked something a little smaller.  I didn't have patience with the pattern of the bowl, so I did what I wanted instead of following the chart.  Not a good sign.  But that's OK.  Baby steps.

I always remove a linen thread when mounting for framing or sewing on a back. I sew 2 or 3 threads in from that line which positions the piece perfectly.  

When I line the linen, I sew the backing on first with the linen facing up (right sides together), turn the piece over so the backing is up, lay on top of pressed lining, and sew directly next to and outside (not inside) of the stitched seam on the backing.  It's an extra step but I would rather stitch the edges straight, where I can see the threads rather than over a lining.  I also have better luck stitching separate straight seams that cross each other, than one continuous with corner turns.  You already know all of this, but I didn't have anything else to say.

Distractions

After talking with my hub about what I posted, he simply said "distraction". Exactly. A diagnosis for my stitching slump. It wasn't just my parents that I was dealing with.  Mother-in-law a week before my mom, sister-in-law (and best friend) three weeks before mom, father-in-law a year later after lengthy illness, and finally our much loved 15 year old Lab.  Everyone has to deal with these issues, but I guess it was just too much for my menopausal brain to handle.  ANY distraction is a problem for me.  Miss one stitch in a border and I'm cooked.  So what's my problem now?  I do hate to cut into a yard of linen - feels like I'm causing disfigurement - but I have plenty of smaller pieces to use.  And plenty of large, small, intermediate samplers, pincushions, little freebies, santas, yada yada.  So why did I order these recently?

Because I love santas, birds, and I want to stitch Eliza with family names for my Christmas tree, including my BJ that I miss so much.  And this.....

I still have a way to go on organizing. I lost two friends last year and inherited their stash. SO many things to get rid of and linens to identify, and magazines, and threads. I'll have one huge listing on EBay or maybe here when it's time.  I made the mistake of trying to incorporate when I should have kept their items separate. But I'll get there. I feel it coming on - not as intense as the flash I'm having right now - but it's strong.

Beginnings....

Well.   It's about time.  I could have started posting quite some time ago, but as with all my projects, put it off. I'm having the same problem with stitching.  For a number of reasons, some.....excuses.  Long ago, in the land of tight jawlines and balanced hormones, there were a number of wonderful needlework shops.  About a 30 minute drive, the best were set in old homes flaunting every count and color of linen you would want.  The worst was a sterile single building, smelling of smoke, with very few models, one unknowledgeable clerk, a vast number of charts in no order, and mostly Aida.  It was the last to close, over 22 years ago. Scarlet Letter's catalog became my only source and over the following years, I lost interest.  I never lost my love of samplers or the feel of the linen, and held on to my supplies.  About 12 years ago, I started spending a lot of time helping my elderly parents with house and yard chores.  Two years later, my claustrophobic Dad slowly suffocated for two weeks in a hospital and died, after a "specialist" failed to diagnose a pulmonary embolism after he suffered a bad fall.  I was so angry and hungry for vengeance that it consumed me.  The man that caused my Dad's horrific suffering and panic, was off the hook, because my parents' generation did not embrace today's litigious mentality.  It wasn't closed for me, and affected my ability to focus on projects.  From then on, taking care of Mom in my home kept me busy enough, and stressed enough, that stitching was more a frustration than a joy. Once she became bedridden, I wondered why I didn't stitch away while sitting with her.  But I never did.  Stress? Menopause was raging as were my moods.  When she passed, the suppressed grief and anger returned, in addition to grieving for my Mom.  That was 3 years ago and I think the grieving will never end, but I am beginning to feel like I could relax again.  I need to get my supplies in order so I can find what I need without getting snarky and causing a wave of hot flashes.  I plan on starting with small projects rather than picking up a large sampler, and am hoping that keeping a blog will give me a push.  Another benefit of stitching - losing weight!  If I am holding a piece of linen, I certainly can't allow my hands to get greasy from chocolate and treats that I consume every evening.  As for blogging - not sure it will always be about stitching until I get several projects going.  So here I go....starting again.....hoping you will join me in rediscovering my passion..... and hoping that passion is still there.  What if it isn't?  Stay tuned.....