A New Blog...

Hello and welcome. I decided that I needed a better way to keep track of all my stitching projects and progress and what better way than to put it on the web?

I will consider all posts "confessions" but will maybe have a little extra to add in once in a while.

Confession #1
I am a floss licker. It started when I was very young and my mother was teaching me to sew. She automatically stuck the thread in her mouth before putting it through the eye of a needle. ANY needle. And I believed that was how it was done. By everyone. So I started sticking the thread in my mouth before threading a needle. And the habit stuck.

I know there are people out there that think this is a terrible practice and I've heard of/seen different ways to thread a needle. But for me this is and has always been the easiest and it's what I'm going to stick with. If there's something in my saliva that is going to break down the thread after 100 years then by then I'll be dead and I won't care. Besides, I don't see a problem in what I do. You see, the part that I lick almost always ends up being the inch or two of the tail that never gets used and gets cut off anyway. Yes, I know it passes through the fabric and across itself but I still can't believe it's going to do that much damage.

Not only that, but look at the antique samplers that were made 100 years ago and have survived. You can't tell me that these girls (aged 11-14 for most of the ones I've seen/heard of) didn't lick their thread. Most of it was handmade at that time and let's not go into the damage that dye puts on thread, whether it be wool or cotton.

So there is my confession. Now onto Projects and Progress!

Project #1: Model #1 aka Star Child from Pine Glen Designs. It has taken me a long time to get this one so near completion. It started with the over-one for the face and hands then onto the blending filament for the wings. I've never used so much blending filament before! (And honestly, I don't plan to use that much on something ever again!) I got the beading done on Wednesday night then realized I didn't know how to use the Japan thread that was sent to do the "stars". (Found out these were Algerian eyelet stitches.) I did some research yesterday and found out I had the wrong size. I called a couple of lns' and found some that I could use. I will be going either tonight or tomorrow to pick it up so I can get this finished.

Project #2: Model #2 aka What Next by Adventures in Stitching. It's mostly specialty stitches, specifically lazy daisy's. This is the second I've done for this designer and it's also the next in the series. (The first one was "He Loves Me". You know, he loves me, he loves me not while you pick the petals off a daisy.) This one however is a little more challenging with additional specialty stitches and some pulled thread work. I've managed to finish all but two or three flowers and the corner motifs. Which is fine because I don't have the instructions (yet) for the pulled thread work. When the designer gets those to me I'm back to work.

Project #3: Medieval Tiles by Dracolair. (Hi Sarah!) This is the first one I've started by Dracolair and I'm happy to say my friend Sarah is the designer. I think her stuff is wonderful and I can't wait until she finishes her Green Man because she's promised that I can stitch the model for her. (big grin) But I digress. Medieval tiles has been going slow. I started it in January as a gift for a friend. (He was knighted in March. DD and I gave him Dragon Dreams "No Late Knight Snacking".) I happened to find out what his coat-of-arms looked like (red shield with a blue stripe wtih 3 gold arrows in the blue area) and since one of the Tiles is a shield I decided to re-design that part to make it a bit more personal. I did a little research into coat-of-arms and found out that it means: warrior/military strength, truth and loyalty, and readiness for battle. That also fits my character at Faire so I'm kind of undecided as to whether I want to give it away or keep it for myself. (In the 20 years that I've been stitching I've never stitched a project this large twice.) So even though I'm undecided I'm still excited about stitching on this one because the part that I re-charted looks really good so far. I have finished: the outline of the shield, the red at the top, the blue stripe including the gold arrows. Tonight will probably see the bottom of the shield finished. I can't wait to take it to faire next weekend and show it off to my friends!

This has gotten pretty long so I'll leave it for now. I'll add more projects and progress tomorrow.