Feb 16, 2009

FEE NEE

Woo Hoo! Happy Dance! I finished "Strawberry Garden" on Friday evening. I'm not sure about the "2009"...methinks it might be a little LARGE, but Aunt Chrissy said she thought it was just fine. She also said that this piece reminds her of Mom, which made me feel very good. As you can see, I did decide to put the letters on at the last minute.

On Saturday I had what can only be described as a Stitchy Epiphany. There I was, sitting in my happy chair minding my own business, when POOF!...a vision flashed before my eyes. Now if this has ever happened to you, you'll know exactly what I mean. If it hasn't, just chalk it up to me being a stitchy freak of some kind and move on.

Years and years ago I bought a painted canvas of "floating hearts". I think this was the second painted canvas that I ever bought, and I just HAD TO HAVE IT the very moment I saw it. Then it went into the studio and never made it out again. I even went so far as to put it into the "Out of Sight, Out of Mind" basket.

Well, I'm not sure if it was the Laura J. Perin Valentine or what, but I suddenly "saw" this canvas in my head...all stitched up. The little hearts were "puffy" and the larger hearts were all stitched in very intricate, very compound stitches using Watercolors. I don't think I "saw" the background or the border, but given the fact that this was my first stitchy apparition, I figure I was pacing myself.

So I went upstairs and pulled the canvas out of the basket and decided to start rummaging through my thread stash to see if I could figure something out that would approximate what I had in my head. And that's when it happened:
Not only did I have threads that would work, I had THE EXACT THREAD THAT I SAW IN MY POOF! As I opened drawer after drawer looking for a particular color, I found myself saying "Oh look, here's the purple in Flair. Oh, and the yellow Splendor. Wow, amazing how these Watercolors are all exactly the right blend of colors."

By the time I got all of the threads pulled, I was totally freaked out.

So I ran downstairs and called Aunt Chrissy and told her (quite breathlessly, I must admit) all of the gory details of what had just happened. She was totally unimpressed and reminded me that I had colorized this canvas at least nine times in the last three years, so I was probably just finding all of the threads that I had purchased over and over again.

Then, when she came over later in the evening for dinner and stitching, she took one look at my "revelation", went over to her side of the table and muttered "dumb ass" under her breath. I don't think she was impressed by my new-found talent. At. All.

I played around a little bit with this yesterday and almost finished the puffy hearts. Now all I have to do is figure out what the heck to do with those larger hearts. I thought that they should be done in really complex stitches using the Watercolors, but now I'm wondering if maybe bargello would be cool? I love me some bargello, that's for sure, so maybe THAT'S what I was really seeing instead?
As for the border, I'm thinking WAFFLES! (Funny, but as I just typed that, I could hear the voice of Eddie Murphy playing Donkey in Shrek...."Tonight we'll do some manly bonding and in the morning, I'm making WAFFLES!)

Maybe I should switch to decaf?


34 comments:

  1. Your Strawberry Garden is beautiful. I have the pattern in my stash. I should probably actually stitch it one day.

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  2. Gorgeous, just gorgeous, even with the letters added. And those puffy hearts look just right. I can see some of those larger hearts in bargello and some in more intricate stitches. And little sisters always act that way--I have 4 younger sisters, and I get NO respect. Hmmm. Good job on your finish--wish my pictures looked as good as yours do.
    hugs
    Debs

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  3. ROFLOL about the waffle thing--I loooove Donkey/Eddie Murphy. He cracks me up. Your Strawberry Garden is fabulous--the 2009 looks good--I think it just looks funky to your eye because it's fine to me, IMHO! Love the heart piece, too. I'm clueless about needlepoint but the fibers look great.

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  4. Congrats on Strawberry Garden. And I love the canvas hearts but the story is the best!! have a great day.

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  5. Love your Strawberry Garden. I'm off to search for that chart on the www. Gotta have it! The hearts are way cool. I'm a needlework drop out so no help. I'm sure, as always, it will be beautimus when you finish.
    Happy stitching.

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  6. Hi Coni,

    The Strawberry Garden is just stunning and your stitching is beautiful. I love the colours on the hearts canvas. I just love bargello and think that those large hearts would look perfect in that. Now i'm off to eat some waffles........
    Best wishes,
    Gail

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  7. Love Strawberry Garden...alphabet is a fabulous addition and year looks great! Love the hearts...go see Liz for some stitch ideas...she has out today that I think would look great in one of those hearts.
    http://lizartblog.blogspot.com/

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  8. LUV LEE!

    Your Strawberry Garden is terrific!

    And those Hearts! WOW Can't wait to see what you finally decide to do with them!

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  9. Congrats on finishing Strawberry Garden...it looks splenderific!!

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  10. I'll bet Stewey put in the Amazon book order. No peeking at the ending! LOL. IMO - it was really a great book.

    Hey Strawberry Garden looks great! I wouldn't change a thing : )

    As for your hearts, I'm not much of a canvas expert -- I confess not even knowing what a waffle stitch looks like.

    I like what you've accomplished so far with the hearts & your fibers look good in the photo(s)

    If you are into bargello, then bargello away -- Always, L.

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  11. Strawberry Garden looks beautiful ! Love the puffy hearts, I'm sure whatever you decide it will look great.

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  12. Donkey... waffles... LOLOLOL!!! Strawberry Graden looks beautiful! Yay for you!!

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  13. Strawberry Garden looks fantastic and the 2009 is just fine. Love the puffy hearts

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  14. Love 'em! The hearts are wonderful and the bouquet is so elegant. Congrats on some fine accomplishments! You definitely deserve those waffles!

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  15. Fabulous garden! Love the poof. I have poofs so rarely that I've learned to appreciate them and act on them straight away. Maybe Chrissy is having deja vu or something. Mmmmmmm ... waffles!

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  16. Waffles is a funny word and no one says it better than Eddie Murphy. How could anyone else say that word in your head once you heard Eddie say it? But now I am hungry...

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  17. "Strawberry Garden" is luv-er-ly!!! And the "2009" is the very essence of the perfect size. Please don't even think of changing a single thread of it!

    As for your heart canvas, I'm only qualified to say that the colors look magnificent. Other than that, I would be vastly overstepping my stitching boundaries (though I do admit to liking waffles).

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  18. Strawberry Garden is wonderful, and I wouldn't change the numbers or the letters. As for the needlepoint--not an expert at that, so I'll step back and see what you do.

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  19. Anne Stradel, Cape Cod stitcher is also doing some hearts, not in bargello, but other ideas and so is Judy Harper at Possibilities....I might try a diagonal mosaic and blending the thread colors so emplasis the heart colorations....just my first thought...and I love the Sampler....the numbers are not too big!! Nice work!

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  20. Beautiful finish! Looking forward to the progress on the heart piece! The colors are great.

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  21. WOW - Strawberry Garden is just beautiful! Well done on your finish.

    You hearts look great too - I had one of those stitchy epiphany things once too! Look forward to seeing how the hearts work out.

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  22. As much as I love your stitching, I believe your real talent may be in writing.....I shall return over and over for the continuing story of the "Puffy Heart Epiphany" How about a chevron stitch for the Large Hearts....?

    And Aunt Chrissy reminds me of the Grandmother in the Stephanie Plum Mysteries!

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  23. WOW! Beautiful.

    Can't wait to see where you go with the hearts!

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  24. Congratulations on your Strawberry Garden finish! It's lovely!

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  25. I call those POOF! moments "needlepoint fits"and everything else usually falls by the wayside when I have them.

    I like the hearts and would do Bargello, maybe even in a single color for the big hearts. I think Waffle is a cool idea for the border as well.

    Keep Stitching,
    Janet

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  26. The Strawberry Garden is gorgeous. The numbers aren't too big in the date. And the only thing I might have done differently, was stitched the letters that are my initials in a slightly darker color. But that's just me.

    Been so sick I haven't picked up a needle in a week so I'm living vicariously through the blogs. This was a great vicarious finish!

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  27. What a super finish!!! The "2009" looks just perfect! The colours for the heart piece are just lovely! Now...I think we all need some waffles.

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  28. First time poster here. Your Strawberry Garden is beautiful. I love the alphabet and the size of the year - great additions. I enjoy reading your blog. Totally hilarious.

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  29. Absolutely stunning Ms. Coni! And the puffy hearts.....be still thy foolish heart.....I have the perfect spot to hang it, so when it dissapears once your finished with it, you'll know exactly where to look.....My living room wall, right next to Shawn & AJ's wedding photos@@

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  30. OMG, what an absolutely wonderful finish on Strawberry Garden! Congratulations.

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  31. First time posting on your blog! Love reading your blog, Strawberry Garden is beautiful. I really do like the heart canvas, do you remember the designer?

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  32. CONI: I LOVE your Strawberry Garden. I was so inspired, I went to my LSS and tho they didn't have THAT one, I bought another Blackbird design (the purpley birthday one) just becuz.... and about those WAFFLES on the checkerboard borders - maybe you could do WAFFLES on every other one, then something plainer in the alternate blocks, just to show off them waffles! About the hearts....hmmmm... that's a stumper, I gotta say...

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  33. Coni: About those hearts.... check out the stitched banner at Terry Dryden Needlepoint. See the different patterns she uses? Could you do something like that around your puffy hearts? (Just an idea).

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  34. OML! I love the hearts piece! I have been working on a series of "wreaths" for most of my adult life. I have never found a valentine design that I like so I gave up and bought a painted slate at a craft fair. I adore that piece though. Wish it was in cross stitch as I am too chicken to try needlepoint.

    You say you don't give your pieces away but I think you could SELL them!!! I would most certainly bid on that one!!!!!!

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