January 8, 2007

Today is the UFO SAL at ILCS, so I worked on A Bird for All Seasons by Dimensions. This is the very first BP I ever started. It's a kit my grandma bought years ago and never stitched. She gave me the kit and asked me if I would stitch it "when you have time" because she can't see to do it. I first started it in November 2005, just 2 1/2 months after I started stitching, and I have to admit that, at the time, this was too advanced for me.

I got it about 1/3 of the way done when, one day at dialysis, the shelf on the side of my chair collapsed and my RED Icee fell to the floor. Of course, a gob of Icee flew and landed right on ABFAS! It was in the margin, but it was a bright red stain! I was able to get the stain out with Ivory liquid dishwashing detergent, but the fabric had a "dirty" look to it even after I dried it flat overnight. Since there were several counting mistakes, and I did some cross stitches where there were supposed to be 1/2 stitches, the project became a UFO. Grandma didn't mind, but I felt guilty.

Then one day about a year ago, I found the kit in the clearance bin at AC Moore! This kit is from the 80's, so I was very fortunate to even see it in a store. I thought it would be best just to start back from scratch and get this done for Grandma, finally! So I re-started it last summer, but I started on other projects and this got put to the side again. Now it's my UFO SAL piece and I'm hoping to have it done by August 6, Grandma's 75th birthday.

The top picture is today's progress and the bottom one is where I left off last year, along with what it's supposed to look like. Since this piece is basically 11 separate scenes joined by the vine, I'm stitching the details as I go as well. I'm hoping working ABFAS in this manner will keep it fresh for me so I don't get bored with it.And just a quick note for everyone worrying about me being home alone: Uncle Wes arrived back home safely at 3:05am today. Kasey was especially happy to have her "Unkie" home and promptly went downstairs to "woof!" at him to take her for a walk! So all is back to normal around Wilde Acres! (that's Wil-DE, not wild)