June 29, 2009 - Sorting out some things...

I said in this afternoon's quick post that I would take a picture for you to see the yellows I was discussing for my purple suede bag. Here they are. On the left is Marigold by Weeks Dye Works. This is my favorite. The concensus at Borders tonight was that the Belle Soie/DMC Perle are too light and don't look nice with the purple of the bag. The Marigold seems to shine, and in a black backgroud, it will POP!

I stitched today! I met Genia, Nancy, and Marsielle at Borders Books' Cafe and we stitched for about two hours. I have three more stitches to do in the 'I' of "It's Good to be Home" and the words will be done. Then I all that's left is the border and adding the buttons. I'm very excited to see this project complete because I want to start Desert Star (which I've renamed Ocean Breeze) by Nancy Buhl of From Nancy's Needle! I have been restraining myself from starting anything else until this HIH project is finished. I don't need any more UFO's hanging around here.

Speaking of UFO's, I have decided the fate of two of mine...

Deftly Wrought by Midsummer Night Designs has been in my UFO drawer for over a year now. I can't stand to stitch on it. I can't even stand to look at it. Not only does it use solely DMC, but also its border is RED! UGH! The solution? Frog the red border and cut the fabric, leaving the four miniature samplers that were stitched over one thread. I'm not tossing out two months' worth of work.

I have to say that I cannot take credit for this marvelous solution, however. I didn't come up with it. I have to thank the ladies at the Columbia Interest Group of EGA's Constellation Chapter. Up until their helpful advice and input (including an offer to do the frogging for me!), I was at a complete loss as to how to salvage DW without starting over. Oh, start over? Not an option!

The second UFO I've finally made a decision on is Stitches Stars and Stripes, my patriotic gameboard by Blue Ribbon Designs. Its fate: complete frogging. You read that correctly. I'm frogging everything I've done, putting the fabric back in my stash, and adding the chart to my Trade Blog! Every time I look at it I see how much stitching there is to do and my heart drops. It would take me forever. I thought about replacing some of the fully-stitched squares with charms, but how many hearts, stars, and flags enameled in the stars & stripes can you use? Besides that, I'm allergic to nickel and I am NOT buying gold-plated charms for this one! So that's it. I'm done. Two down!

Remember the other day when I mentioned that I would be doing some giveaways in July? Well, get ready! They're all lined up and I will be rolling them out this week! To whet your appetite, the giveaway themes are: Crossed Purposes' 18-month/400th Post, Christmas in July, and Myrl's De-Stash.

I have also promised myself that I would ruthlessly go through MY stash and pull out the things I know I will not stitch. The second part of my Promise to Me is that I would have all these items, and those already set aside for that purpose, added to my Trade Blog by the end of July. I will let you know when the first batch of items has been added.