Jul 9, 2010

FOR THE BIRDS

I've got daisies on the brain. Somehow I think that the ones on my canvas just have too many darn petals. (Is that even possible...for one to have too many darn petals?). In looking at things last night, I decided that I like the daisy that is on the far right. It seems more "daisy-ish" to me somehow. The others seem a little too full:
And the one on the far left is a total disaster in relationship to the bird. That one DEFINITELY needs to come out:
Speaking of the bird, he's stitched in Rainbow Gallery's FUZZY STUFF, a fiber that I've never used before. It's a combination of fuzzy and sparkly and Stewey thinks it lends a rather festive flair to the little beast:

His tail feathers are stitched in Petite Very Velvet, and his twiggy little legs are Splendor, and his beak is Petite Perle. (All Rainbow Gallery threads.) For his eyeball, I attached a shiny black bead that gave Stewey the creeps. He felt like it was watching him all night long.

A profound thought hit me as I was fretting over the daisies. "Why don't you", I said to no one in particular, "just keep stitching along and leave the daisies alone and then if you don't like them at the end you can rip them out, call Ruth for more ribbon, and start them over again?"

And then I laughed heartily over the image of me not fretting over the damn daisies as I stitch along.

Needless to say, methinks I will frog the damn daisies and move on to something else. Like the background. Which, if memory serves me correctly, is usually the very best place to start on a painted canvas so that you can fudge it all around and then cover up your fudgie bits with the design/center. So methinks that after I frog the damn daisies it's definitely on to the background.

But the bird stays right where it is.

Your comments were lovely and funny and much appreciated. As to the question of what Stewey is reading on his Kindle, turns out that he's knee deep into the classics this summer. I spotted Anna Karenina, Bleak House, To Kill A Mockingbird, and Animal Farm. In addition, there were a few books about the Tudor realm, and then finally a great funny novel by Garrison Keillor called Pontoon. I snuck a few pages of that one and chuckled myself right into full on giggles. I just love it when a book can make you snot iced tea out of your nose. Don't you?

On the book front, Stewey and I had a long discussion about Mommie's former life when she was a reader. In looking back over my book journals (yes, yes, I know....I can't seem to have ANY hobby without it involving some form of obsessive compulsive list making/organizing/fretting), I saw that I used to read one to two books a week. A week! I used to know about all of the hot stuff coming out of the book world and which authors were doing what and who was writing about whom and what was doing this or that. I was SUCH a book nerd. Read for hours and hours and hours each day and never EVER thought I would slouch through a summer without some plan in place for all of the great stuff I was going to read. What the heck happened?

Oh.

I started stitching. And then thinking about stitching. And then reading blogs about stitching. And then thinking about reading blogs about stitching. And then writing about stitching. And then thinking about writing about stitching. And then there was a while lot of shopping for stitching. And organizing stitching. And obsessing over stitching. And then the actual stitching itself.

They really should make a pill for this.

We're off to the weekend like the proverbial herd of turtles! Methinks the mumus and mocktails need to commence on the patio toot sweet. Hear that Aunt Chrissy? Grab the little guy and your stitching, slap on the mumu, and let's get on with it!

21 comments:

  1. Hi Coni, I find it entrancing to stitch with my iPod playing a "book on tape." It's a perfect combination of activities, eyes and hands stitching, ears and mind reading. I can only do it when I'm alone in the house, though, because I tend to ignore everything else, including my husband, which makes him feel lonesome. It's a wonderful way to combine hobbies. There are a lot of ways to get audio books without buying them.
    Jane

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  2. Oh, please don't let those big drug companies make a pill for us. I don't want to be healed of my obsession. Okay, maybe a little pill that helps me finish more than I start for a little while!

    LauraB in Utah
    stitchinmaniac at msn dot com

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  3. I agree with you, I like the daisy on the right the best with the fewer petals....and you're right about the one by the bird having to come out or it looks like the bird is having some sort of issue! Before I was married I read all the time...but there is very little time in my life for reading since I took up quilting and stitching....maybe when I'm retired someday! When I do want to buy a book I have trouble finding fiction I like anymore....I tend to go back to classics and don't like a lot of newer fiction that is popular. Friends gush over various authors and I can't get thru one of their books - not sure why! I probably should try audio books like Jane suggested in her comment. Right now I am reading "Sex with Queens" - not exactly what the title sounds like but more about the lives of princesses & queens throughout history....it certainly wasn't what it was cracked up to be with all the arranged marriages, abuse from husbands, etc. Have a great weekend!

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  4. Yes, finishing pill would be good, but otherwise, I think the stitching obsession is fine.

    I have a canvas that I did a fuzzy stuff bird on, with petite very velvet for the tail, as well.

    Normall, I don't advocate ripping out much of anything, because there's simply not enough stitching time in the day. However, if you do rip them out, I would recommend doing the background around the flowers first. It's a lot easier to get the silk ribbon to sit on top of the flowers, rather than try to work stitches in under the ribbon.

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  5. Don't fret too much about the daisies. I say go on with the background and whatever else. The daisies the way they are may grow on you. Stewey reading the classics does not surprise me at all. When I was a kid all I did was read all summer. I would go the public library and check out like 30 books at a time. I still read, as I have a Kindle, but it's usually only a half hour before bed each night. But I am able to finish a book a week usually that way. That is my favorite time of day. It's quiet. No one is emailing, calling, or needing me to do something for them.

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  6. I thought sitching was the cure for needing a pill? What we really need is a pill to prevent frogging. Think there's a market for that? LOL

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  7. Just leave the daisies. THey all look great and different and I've never seen two disues look alike - just like snowflakes!

    THough the one behind the bird looks a bit odd - ah well.

    Yes, there can be time for books and stitching- audio books help but then again an old fashioned book is sometimes more restful on the eyes than stitching and definitly easier while having donner (when alone).

    No comments on the disappearnce/demise of your local shop?

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  8. I like the light & fluffy daisy, too, but don't go by me, I angst over every single stitch. What kind of stitching will be used for the background? Hope you have Show 'n' Tell by Monday! I'm just loving this piece. I used Fuzzy Stuff for my little nutcracker's hat...isn't it fab?! Adds a little "oomph."

    Here's to a fun stitching weekend with Aunt Chrissy and the boys! Have a mocktail for me!

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  9. P.S. Just looked at your pics again....maybe the fate of the daisies could wait until the rest of the piece is done, because it may depend on the "weight" of the rest of the canvas. For example, if the other flowers will be light and lacy, you may not want heavy daisies on top... Or maybe you'd want something heavier on the top plane to mesh with the busier middle third or maybe something lighter to balance the relatively open bottom third of the canvas? (See ~ obsession and angst abound!) Does that make sense?

    ~sheri

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  10. Coni, you crack me up. I don't know what life was like when I had to actually work all day. I spend half my day worrying about stitching, blogs, or what I am going to stitch. I still manage to read a few books a month.

    I like the daisies but if they are driving you nuts, take them out. I thought you did a very nice job especially since you said you had not worked with the ribbon before. BTW.. Your Lily of the Valley piece is very pretty.

    Happy Mumus and Mocktails!!

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  11. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Love the daisies! Why remove them? Work around them, work something else, but don't frog those daisies!

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  12. I would tend to leave the daisys and mull them over while stitching the rest of the design, but that`s just me.Sometimes my impulse to rip is a bit premature, and my opinion will change as the piece develops. I have actually ripped and stitched and ripped and stitched only to end up with how it was in the beginning...*rolls eyes*

    I don`t get nearly as much reading done as I used to either. I am reading the Harry Potter books right now...picking out over how they are different from the movies. How obsessive is that???

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  13. I love your fuzzy sparkly bird! I need to have him perched on a straw hat surrounded by your daisies!

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  14. Coni I agree with you, less is more with the daisy petals.It is a truly beautiful canvas though. Love the Birdie. Stewey is a very intellectual reader, i'm impressed.

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  15. IMHO readers are stitchers and stitchers are readers. It is all about abondoning the world about us for a better one. In any event, I read at least 90 minutes each evening. I was a former reading addict and now stitching addict combined. Seems a good combination to yours truly, I'm just saying.

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  16. I agree with you about the daisies. Less looks better. There's a field next to me and it is filled with daisies and black-eyed susans. They grow pretty well I guess it's from the horse droppings! I like to read alot, but now I'm back to stitching more. In fact I'm going to "House of Stitches" in Laporte, IN today. Hey I better get going they close at 3. take care

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  17. boy, you make me laugh Coni! Snot iced tea out the nose...what a hoot!! And I see Jane indicated to you that you can listen and stitch...that's how I have "read" many a books...my library has many, many options on tape/cd. I agree, I like the daisy to the far right, but I also like the one at the bird's face. I just recently did some fuzzy stuff on a cross stitch - it is fabulous for salt the rim of the glass - check out my post from July 5th, if you wish to see it :0) http://itsallaboutsherry.blogspot.com Keep posting - you make me smile!

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  18. I guess I am a book nerd. I keep a journal of the books I have read. Been doing that since I was a kid. I do average 2 a week (sometimes more if no stitching gets done). I like the daisy on the right also. All of your work is lovely.

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  19. What a cute "summer" design to work on! I'm with you; I like the daisy on the right the best. But if you do stitch them over again, just make sure that, if plucked, they all come out as "he loves me"!

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  20. Oops, and I rather like the daisies!

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  21. I wouldn't take a pill to cure the stitchy obsession... I just split my time between books and stitching. I love the little bird! So perky and fuzzy. Definitely a rebel

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