May 25-31, 2008

It's done! At 6:46am I put the last stitch into Southern Stars by Dinky-Dyes Designs! It took me less than two weeks to stitch this piece. The chart says it's 8.3 inches square on 28ct fabric, but it came out to be more like 9.3 inches. Debi also says hers seems bigger than the chart claims. But I love it! I don't know what it is about this piece, but I've been enthralled with it since last fall's Online Needlework Show. And now that I've completed it, I like it even more.

I can't wait to stitch the rest of the quilt squares in the series and have them hanging on my wall together. I'm so excited to see them!

My timing couldn't have been more perfect. As I was putting the last stitch into Southern Stars, Love's Unending Legacy was just finishing. I was able to watch all six of the Love Comes Softly movies one after the other. And I have to say I was exhausted! Since I stayed up all night to finish Southern Stars, I slept until 5:00pm.

When I woke, I decided to do my "Heart of SNS2" square. The group project this year in StitchNSwap2 is for each member to stitch a heart and sign our name. The stitched area was to be 4x2", with one side for the heart(s) and the other for our name. Only certain colors are allowed to be used and I chose three shades of purple: DMC 150, 552, and 553. We were allowed to use any stitch we wanted, as long as the design was a heart, so I decided to look through my Cross Stitcher's Bible and Encyclopedia of Needlework to find hearts.

I did a Rhodes Heart, a Gobelin Stitch heart, two Satin Stitch hearts, and one cross-stitched heart. While I used the picture from the Cross Stitcher's Bible as my chart to stitch the Gobelin heart, I free-handed from my imagination the rest of the hearts and the letters. So I guess I can say that I've designed my second cross stitch project, the first being Uncle Wes's Navy last year. What do you think? I had to re-start the Rhodes Heart once, but I completed the entire piece in 3 1/2 hours. By 8:30pm I was taking the picture!

Not to lose momentum, I began Medley by Heirloom Embroideries as soon as I was done with my Heart of SNS2. In under two hours, this is how far I got.

I kept working through the night and got this far before I left for dialysis. I'd have gotten further, but I had to frog all three of the bottom borders because the sides were one set of satin stitches short. I didn't discover it until I was doing the inside boxes and found I was two lines short. I was so upset with myself, I stayed up and stitched until I got to where I was before I had to frog.

I completed three boxes while I was at dialysis and started on a fourth.

You know, today is Memorial Day. Most people have forgotten what that means, but it's a day where a flag is placed on every single grave in the Veteran's Cemeteries. It's a day where we're supposed to remember these brave men and women who gave their lives so that we here today can be free. Freedom isn't free! These men and women have paid the ultimate price. And they deserve our thanks! Whether you're one of the people who support the war we're embroiled in or one of the people who oppose it, millions of American Service Men and Women have died to give you that right!

The Bivouac of the Dead
By Theodore O'Hara, 1847

The muffled drum's sad roll has beat
The soldier's last tattoo;
No more on life's parade shall meet
That brave and fallen few;
On Fame's eternal camping ground
Their silent tents are spread;
But Glory guards with solemn round
The bivouac of the dead.

I didn't do any stitching after dialysis on Monday, but I did pick up my needle after Midnight on Tuesday. I was so intent on this piece, I didn't realize the time and put the last stitch into Medley at 12:18pm.

I did change one major aspect of this piece from the way it was charted. The chart calls for Blue Mountains silk floss by Dinky-Dyes. I got the boxes on the left side completed and realized it was never going to look like the model picture. The model has all purples and greys in the satin stitching, yet the floss I was sent had no purple whatsoever. I knew the navy, grey, and teal of Blue Mountains would not go with the Mother of Pearl in the borders, so I cut out all the satin stitching and used the remainder of my Yallingup from Southern Stars to re-stitch it. I'm much happier with the results I got with the Yallingup. One minor thing I changed was the heart crystal. It called for a Mill Hill Crystal Treasure 13043, but I used MHCT 13037 because I had it in my stash already.

I enjoy specialty stitches so much that I had no idea of the time passing as I was stitching. One of the reasons I love these stitches is that they go so fast. Most are just straight lines, so they cover more area in one stitch than a cross-stitch would. Debi was up late with me Sunday night and was amazed at how much stitching I did in such a short time.

When I awoke Tuesday, I went back to work on Stars and Stripes by Little House Needleworks. While Debi is finishing up her Southern Stars, I have the opportunity to get a few more finishes under my belt. This piece is close to becoming another UFO, which I do not want!

For some reason, this piece is dragging along! It's only 63x63, there's large sections of the same color, it's not solidly stitched, and there's no backstitching; yet I make little progress on it! I'm so frustrated! I want it done so I can move on to something else! See how little progress I made Thursday and Friday? ARRRRRRRRGGGGHHH!