Sep 9, 2009

ARE WE THERE YET?

As y'all might remember, I decided on July 24th that I was going to stitch WIP's and only WIP's until November 1st. This, of course, is in an effort to reduce the pile of things that I've started to a more manageable number (double digits would be a vast improvement over triple, trust me).

There have been five finishes (along with resulting Happy Dances, of course):
LHN: My Needle's Work
Jennifer Pudney: Tall Poppies
CCN: Garden Girl
CCN: Needlework Shop
LHN: Traveling Stitcher
I swore I wasn't' going to list them, but methinks seeing the actual list in writing helps motivate me to keep going. I've hit that slump that is tempting me to go up to the studio to paw through stash and start something new. So....help me Obi Wan. You're my only hope.

The next thing I pulled out of the guest room was Bent Creek's Big Zipper, which I only just today discovered is actually titled "Live, Love, Stitch". All this time I thought that Big Zipper was a rather odd name for the project, especially since I couldn't figure out where the Big Zipper came into the design. Then I realized that Big Zipper refers to the Big Zipper bag that the initial chart comes in.

Uh, paging Mrs. Duh.
For some damn reason I get bored with this really really fast. I wish I knew why, but I can't seem to just sit and stitch this one to completion. Fiddlesticks.

Next I pulled Lily Frog from the guest room. (If you're wondering why the guest room....I put all of my WIP's in there so that I won't be tempted by anything in the studio. This way I am banned from the place and can't use the excuse that "oh, this just caught my eye and I just absolutely had to put it on q-snaps and stitch it".) Before you get too excited, this is just the pic from the front of the chart. I haven't finished the entire thing yet...just the tummy and the two front paws. Or legs. Or whatever the heck frogs have in the front.





I have to confess that this is one gorgeous stitch....it's done in silk and the resulting sheen is quite lovely. Only the back and back legs to go on this one and then it can be sent away to become more frog-like. Stewey has already asked me if it will go in his toy box when finished and he's already been told a resounding N-O.

The last project that I picked up is "Wandering". OK, I'll confess that I did have to start this one over again from scratch (for the fourth time, no less), but I think I finally hit the right color combination. This might be the one that I stick with until completion, but I don't want to say that out loud and jinx myself or anything. Now for all of you who posted lovely comments telling me that you anxiously awaited my return, may I just say a 'la Sally Field..."You like me! You really like me!". Thank you very very mucho from the bottom of my pitiful Spinster heart. It does this body good to know that so many of you stop by from time to time to see what I'm up to. I guess this is kinda' like Virtual Assisted Living.

Wonder if we can market that?
***EDITED TO ADD:
Lovely commenter Carol asked me about the weirdness of the swirls on Wandering, i.e., if it drives me nuts that you can't get them to be rounded and smooth. Good eye, Carol! Now you know why I've futzed and futzed and futzed with this sucker....I am really having a hard time with that! And I think my stem stitch outline positively sucks, but I am determined to leave it on there until the whole entire thing is finished. THEN! I am going to go get some of that new DMC memory thread and see if I can tack it down around those curves to make them smooth. (Yeah, right. And then I'm going to clean the house and exercise regularly too.)

35 comments:

  1. Welcome back. I missed you a lot! It just isn't the same without the daily reading of your blog.

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  2. What do you mean, 'stop by from time to time'? That's daily I tell you, daily!! Love the blog,love the stitching and am soooo impressed by the willpower that's enabled you to stick to a plan since July 24th. Stewey must be so proud.

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  3. OMG! You're Back! Now we have to have a Hallelujah Dance!! Missed you, and hope you had fun where ever you went to. And poor Stewey, he probably did his own "happy to see you Mo-ther" dance!

    Love the Lily Frog. She's so cute. And I like the color combo you have ended up with on Wanderings.

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  4. Yes, you were missed! I love reading your posts...always gives me a good chuckle or two! Love your wips and your finishes list is great too! Keep up the wonderful work, and the way time is marchin' along, it will be November 1st, before you know it!

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  5. I missed Stewey. luv u stewey. I love lily frog, never seen her before, can't wait for more pics.

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  6. Ahhhh...I feel much better now that I've had my daily dose of spinsterdom...LOL Glad you're back!

    I love the Frog! Good for you that you've sticking to finishing WIP's. I keep telling myself that I need to work on Christmas projects but can't get motivated. Maybe around Dec. 1st I'll get panicky and do some real quick stitching.....then again, maybe not...LOL

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  7. I love that frog! She's so adorable. I don't really care for needlepoint, but those dimensional pieces are starting to change my mind.

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  8. Missed you...Welcome back...did you have a good vacation?
    I see much progress in your stash reduction. Wish I could do that too.

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  9. Welcome back. I love the frog, it's so cool.

    I can't say much about the big zipper, I bought and sold it, LOL. It's gorgeous I just couldn't see myself stitching on that huge piece of burlap, oops I mean linen, LOL.

    Can't wait to see what you finish next, I could not, would not take that challenge since one of my WIP/UFO's is ...ATS :-).

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  10. Welcome Back! I missed your blog, though I did love the daily viewing of Stewey as a blonde bombshell.

    Lily Frog is a very cute project and I am amazed at all your finishes. Just stick with it a while longer and you will feel so much better about all those WIPs.

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  11. From time to time? How about three times a day for the last week?! Although I'll admit that Stewey in his lovely wig was a bit of a comfort...You were much missed.

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  12. Stella thinks it would be a wonderful present if you stuck with your WIPs until her birthday (11/1).

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  13. Love the frog! I do have a question for you. I have the "Wandering" piece in my pile-o-projects but does it bother you that you can't do the curves perfectly rounded on the canvas? Or am I the only such anal person who that bothers? The more that look at that piece, the more the flattened places on the curves bother me. That is the one reason that I haven't started on that (well, that and the fact that I have about 9,823 other projects to start/finish).

    Anyway, glad to have you back!

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  14. Welcome back - and what a lot of progress on your WIP's - congratulations and certainly a lot of Happy Dance for your efforts.
    I love the Bent Creek one...I'd love to see that finished....

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  15. Yes, welcome back. I did miss your posts. Congrats on all the wips you finished! You do such lovely canvas work. I do lots of cross stitch, but haven't tried the canvas work...

    Also, love the bent creek piece!

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  16. Paging Mrs. Duh. You slay me.

    I'm glad you're back!! That frog is too flipping cute. I was surprised to find out that dogs had knees (seriously, who knew?) so I'm thinking perhaps the front things on a frog are hooves. Or is that hoofs?

    Love the Zipper, too!

    Sticking to a plan since July? Wow. You are woman, hear you roar.

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  17. Life is good. The Spinster Stitcher & her pal Stewey have returned.

    Hope you were off doing something fun!

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  18. Wow, what a relief that you are back! I can enjoy my cup of coffee and blog reading now that you have returned. It was like the missing link. I have decided if you ever leave again, you need to type up some reserve writings and somehow have them copied and pasted each day that you are gone so that all of us that read you everyday will get our Spinster/Stewey daily fix. Do I sound too needy? I almost sound like a blog stalker...maybe I need a Psychiatrist...what to do you think?

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  19. Hidey Ho!
    First off...Miss Lily Pad or whatever her name is...is DARLING! That looks like it may be a daunting task to put it together, though....I don't envy you that!
    And the big zipper...you know I'm really tempted by the new one, and the one you are working on has always made me do a double take. So are you doing it on the big count linen with the big pearle cottons?

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  20. Are there different color ways for Wandering? It looks very cool!

    Welcome back. I thought we were going to have to send the Missing persons bureau of the Needlepoint police out to find you.

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  21. So glad you're back - didn't realize how much I missed you! (I checked faithfully everyday....)

    Your writing and your stitching are always a joy!

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  22. Great Job on all Coni !!! I need to sat my mind to doing like up and finish all my WIPs or UFOs. I Love the Frog !!!m She is a cutie pie !!! Who designed her??? Please tell me.

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  23. Welcome back! That frog is so stinkin' cute. I know what you mean about the Big Zipper. I love it, but I have a hard time sticking with it so it languishes in the WIP pile. I've missed Stewey's posts too. Virtual assisted living....LOL!

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  24. YAY!!! You're back!


    I needed my Spinster & Stewey fix. :-)

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  25. I always miss you and Stewey when you don't post. You are an awesome storyteller and always put a smile on my face. I can't wait to see your frog done up.

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  26. Hurrah you're both back. Lily Frog is adorable, please tell where you found her.

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  27. Coni, you've done really well with your goal! Lots of WIPs have become happy dances...awesome! I love that frog! Love it, OMG...it's so cute. I wonder if the big sections of one color and border(s) is what's boring you on the Big Zipper. After just finishing my Snappers...I am done with border. Ugh...it killed me...so much of one color over and over again.

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  28. I'm glad to see you're back. I really enjoy your posts even though I don't comment all the time. I am in absolute love with your frog and the progress you've made so far. In fact, I'm a sucker for all your needlepoint pieces! Hope you stay with the Nov. 1 resolution.

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  29. love that happy frog
    glad you are back on your lily pad too
    worried for you
    smiles

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  30. Hi Coni,

    Welcome back!

    Have you thought about doing one thread of "Live, Love, Laugh" and then rewarding yourself with a thread on the "Lily Frog"? Then you could do one thread on "Wandering" and reward yourself with a thread on the "Lily Frog".

    Whose the designer for "Lily Frog"? She's cute!

    Though I have to admit that I would have to send "Wandering" off to stitch heaven or eBay as it does not appeal to me at all. :-)

    Cynthia
    Windy Meadow

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  31. I don't know how you could be bored of the big zipper it looks like fun, which leads me to my next question....when you finish it if we might do a trade (for something you want) or something?

    Keep me in mind Thanks and Stitch lots its looking really great so far.!

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  32. Oh WOW - I really really really have to stitch a Lily Frog! She's wonderful!

    Love Wanderings too - who is the designer?

    Welcome back too!

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  33. I called mine the Big Zipper the entire time I worked on it. :-) So there is no way we are both incorrect. :-) I love your other WIPs. Have you seen the New Big Zipper? So far I like it but since I spent so much $$ of the orgnially BZ I'm having a hard time thinking about NBZ. ;-)

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