Sep 24, 2009

BREATHE AND RE-BOOT

My mom can't come to the blog right now. She's curled up in the fetal position muttering to herself about needlepoint. Apparently, I was a little pill last night, so Mom decided to get out of bed and surf the webinets. Mistake. Big mistake.

She is now lusting after some of the delicious painted canvas work that she's seen. (I really need to learn how to block her from adding bookmarks. The time it's taking away from her care of me is just criminal, I tell ya'. Criminal.)

First there was Stitchy Aunt Jane's work on a canvas that had been badly damaged: http://www.chillyhollownp.blogspot.com/. The loving care that Aunt Jane is using to work on this piece has brought my stupid mo-ther to tears at least seven times, and she's threatened to go to Chilly Hollow to find the hooligans who dared to disrespect this "thing of ours". (And yes, she said that in her best Tony Soprano voice.)

I think the one that threw her over the edge, though, is Stitchy Aunt Ruth's work on a Melissa Shirley canvas. You can see it at: http://www.tistheseason.org/blog/ruthsBlog.html. Apparently, zinnias are one of Mom's very favorite things on the planet, and the fact that this piece incorporates ribbon-work has her itching to try it herself.

And if I am understanding her muttering correctly, THAT is the type of needlepoint that my silly mo-ther wants to do on painted canvases, but she knows that she is going to need to invest in some serious class-taking and stitch-guide purchasing before she will be anywhere close to this level of skill.

My Stitchy Aunt Laura is always able to calm Mom down with her fabulous designs, but now Mom realizes that she needs to HURRY UP and get going on all of the flower collages if she is ever going to get them done in this lifetime. I keep telling her to finish "Lily of the Valley Collage", but ever since she finished that damn "Daisy Collage" she's afraid that she won't be able to find the perfect silk flower for the center, since she's convinced that Flower Collage Serendipity only happens once in a great while. Sheesh.

And then my Stitchy Aunt Laura had to go and stitch a LHN piece on congress cloth: http://www.two-handedstitcher.blogspot.com/. Mom decided that she needed to do the same, but she couldn't decide if she should go back and repeat a piece that's she's already done, or if she should look for the perfect NEW piece to do with this new medium.

Then there's all of YOUR blogs in which you happily share your progress on your projects and do so with such casual elegance. Mom just about foams at the mouth as she sits in front of this silly machine looking at your latest stitches in every single thing you've ever stitched in your entire life. (I'm not kidding. She's very very stalkerish this way.)

Now do you see why I've left a message with Dr. WhosyWhatsits about increasing her meds?

I caught her sneaking up to the studio this morning, but I quickly coaxed her back downstairs with a fresh cup of coffee and the promise of a nap if she would be a good girl and stick with her Stitchy Plan. She wasn't very happy about it, but once I threatened to pee on the drapes she decided that a few hours in the Happy Chair with the newspaper would be much better for her than spending the entire day pawing through her canvases and threads. I'm not sure how much longer I can distract her, but I'm going to give it my best puppy try, since she has NEVER stuck with a plan this long in her entire life. I'm determined to get her to November 1st without any new starts if it kills the both of us.

She did do a little stitching last night. I selected The Drawn Thread's "The Riddle" as her next "We're Going To Only Work On WIP's Until November 1st" project, and she seemed pleased to put a few stitches into it: It would be amazingly swell if she would stick with this one for awhile, especially since I have already decided the wall on which it will hang once framed. I checked her project book, and although she didn't have any notes on this (bad Mommie), I suspect that she is using the 32ct. Vintage Fawn linen that the chart calls for.

I need to poke her with a stick until she starts writing stuff down on all of these stitchy projects...methinks I'm going to need these details once she finally kicks it and I'm able to open up that eBay shop.

With love from your pal,
Stewey

15 comments:

  1. Ooh, love The Riddle!
    Thanks for the update Stewey, I get worried if there's no posting and yours make me laugh almost as much as your mo-ther's. Glad to see you're keeping her on task. I'm so impressed.

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  2. Stewmeister...you're such a good and faithful puppy...keep your mo-ther honest now! LOL! Good choice too...The Riddle is a beautiful pattern!

    Loved the heart finish as well! Keep up the good work...until later...

    HAPPY STITCHIN'
    Terri

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  3. Stewey I think you should convince mommy to look for a new pattern to stitch on congress cloth (like maybe LHN new The Library) instead of The Needlework Shop. This will lead to less frustration in the long due to comparisons.

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  4. Oh, dear. Herself is threatening to head to CH and Get 'EM? I guess I'd better warn my redneck neighbors so they can hide under their beds until the danger is past.

    Sweet Stew, tell your mother that ribbon embroidery is dead easy. The zinnias she admires so were done with a bunch of colors in a big circle, starting with the outside edge of the circle, doing a round of ribbons in this very easy ribbon stitch, then doing a second round slightly smaller that overlaps the first, etc. Use silk ribbon, though.

    I'll post about it on Blog, maybe this weekend. It really is not hard.

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  5. It's amazing how finishing up one big project just puts you in a tizzy to do another. Although why anyone needs to surf the net for soemthing to do is beyond me. I just go thru stash when I have insomnia.

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  6. Stewey, I WANT to see a picture of this studio your mother is always getting these beautiful canvas' out and working on... I know I will just be so jealous !!! LOL I went to the Chilly Hollow Blog.. Oh Oh. Shame on the people Or person that did that to that canvas. It is looking beautiful now !!! Tell your mom Riddle is looking great also!!!

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  7. Stewey I'm with you! I think it is terrific that your mom has stuck with her plan for so long... she only has a tiny bit more than a month to go. I love the Riddle, what a good next project.

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  8. I love the Riddle and am glad that you got your mom to start working on the piece. Tell your mom too, that November will be here in no time. I can see why she is going a little crazy over all of this - stalking those sites will do it to you every time. Now she's got me drooling over them and I wasn't even thinking about needlepointing.

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  9. Love The Riddle! It is so hard to read blogs and not be tempted by all the super lovely things out there! That has gotten me into trouble more than once!!

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  10. Oh Stewey...I've missed you so! I have been sneaking peeks at mom's blog...still in awe...still in love with her work....

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  11. Better not let Mo-ther get to Anne Straddle's blog or she'll really flip out! (The Cape Stitcher)

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  12. Stewey, keep your mo-ther in check and help her finish some of her WIps then let her start something new.

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  13. Email me about the stitch guides, I love your idea of using them to learn new techniques.

    Keep Stitching,
    Janet
    napaneedlepoint@gmail.com

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  14. What a lovely progress on The Riddle!

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  15. Stew, please take a message....

    Blog has a posting about silk ribbon zinnias just for your mother this morning....

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