A catalog of my exploits into the worlds of cross-stitch, embroidery, and quilting. And crafts. Maybe sculpture. And the occasional random, uncategorized art project. And whatever else catches my interest.
Everything has been insanely busy, so I thought I'd just stop in for a few minutes. I haven't done much stitching lately, except for this little floss ring. Which I not only sent a month late, I also forgot to take a picture first. So, this picture is the one the recipient posted when she got it. A bit blurry, but you get the idea.
It's been crazy. I also got a great package in the mail from an exchange partner, but I haven't been able to get the pictures off the camera and onto the computer yet. Sorry. You'll just have to wait to see them.
That's it for now. Honest, I'll try to get back into the game soon. I'm hoping things will have calmed down by September.
Here is the top for a quilt project that I finished. I have vacation this week, so I took a quilting class on Monday. I learned so much! Our project was a Victorian Table Runner. The pattern is from Southwind Designs. I still need to finish it, of course; just the top is done.
This pattern includes a neat way to curve some of the pieces. All the pieces are squares and rectangles, but by folding and sewing you can make them look like curves. I was going to take pictures in process to show it better....but I didn't, for whatever reason. Sorry. And I've forgotten what this technique was even called. But, anyway, it's neat, and you can see the result here.
Again, another post with nothing to do with stitching. But it's just too funny not to share.
A guy at my work went off for two weeks to get married. So while he was gone, we tin-foiled everything in his office. It took us the entire two weeks, but the result was worth it!
Most of these were in-progress pictures, but you get the idea.
It turned out that he knew something was up--just not what--so he stopped by his office over the weekend to see what we'd done. No reaction shots to share.
Okay, really, I'll stop posting off-subject posts now. For a while, anyway. :)
This post has very little to do with my usual themes, but I feel strongly enough about the subject that I'm publishing it anyway.
The Story: Today, in the course of a conversation with my sophomore-in-college younger brother, I used the word 'indignant.' He proceeded to become indignant with me, because he didn't know what the word meant.
I have, in the past, used a lot of words that people didn't understand, but 'indignant' was never one of them.
I told him that he should know a word like indignant, and to go look it up. He said to me that if I was going to use a word he didn't know, then I had to explain to him what it meant.
My Conclusions: Um, hello? Even a high school student should know the word 'indignant,' maybe even someone at the intermediate level. And this has nothing to do with knowing how to spell it or the exact definition and such. I'm just talking about understanding the gist of what someone is saying, and possibly even knowing how to use it. It's a fairly common word.
Admittedly, my vocabulary has taken a severe beating since my moving to Florida, so I can understand if the same has happened to him (not that he's moved to Florida. But he did move). That is to say, my once rather extensive use of English words has deteriorated to merely ordinary, perhaps slightly above. This is due to many things, such as a decrease in reading and new friends who have different interests than the old ones did. But, oh my goodness, it surely hasn't sunk so low as to forget 'indignant!' I feel so alone, as if no one else in Florida is interested in the expanded use of words.
Is there any one word that can say 'indignant' quite so well as 'indignant' can? Words are the magnifying glass of meaning--the more precise the word choice, the clearer the meaning. I may not always have much to say, but gosh darn, when I do I take great care to get my point across!
I know the entire thing is a little silly, but lately education (or lack of?) is just so frustrating! Argh! (Hey, here's a question: Does 'argh' qualify as an onomatopoeia? I personally think it does).
Okay, I feel better now that I've let off steam.
In conclusion, I give you:
in⋅dig⋅nant
–adjective
feeling, characterized by, or expressing strong displeasure at something considered unjust, offensive, insulting, or base: indignant remarks; an indignant expression on his face.
Origin:
1580–90; < class="ital-inline">indignant- (s. of indignāns, prp. of indignārī to deem unworthy, take offense), equiv. to in-in-3+ dign-, s. of dignus worthy + -ant--ant
I received this Biscornu in the mail from Malinda, as part of the Tiny Treasures Exchange. Yay! :) It's so pretty, and has little beads on all the corners. I was totally surprised when it came in the mail; I somehow forgot that I was supposed to get one!
And here's the entire package I got from her:
After my secret partner recieves her biscornu, I'll post pictures of the one I made.
I have several projects that I have been unable to share, but now the first has been received!
I made this for my mom from a pattern at http://cross-stitchers-club.com. It's on 18 ct. Aida, monochromatic using only DMC 326 and white. There was a little problem solving involved, as there were no directions excepting the pattern and thread colors listed, but it turned out rather nice. :)
My other secret project is a biscornu that I'm just about to mail out. It has a long way to go, so it'll be a while until I post the pictures.
My first quilt is done! Yay! It looks pretty much the same as before, I just did this all along the edge of the border: I know it's a little goofy, but through some horrible miscalculation, the edges of the top don't quite meet the edges of the border. But now it's all sewn up and happy. :)
I saw this on Blue Cornflower Stitches and I decided I want to play along too. :) I've pretty much copied the text from her post exactly (and she copied it exactly from Heidi's blog). I certainly can't think of a better way to say it than this!
This is a free giveaway and everyone is encouraged to play - worldwide! It's open to everyone who reads my blog.
The first FIVE people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! 2- What I create will be just for you. 3- It will be done this year. (that's right, before December 31, 2009!) 4- You have no clue what it's going to be. Just because I cross stitch, doesn't necessarily mean that's what it will be (but it might!). I dabble in quite a few mediums. Who knows? 5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange. But I would never send something that I didn't like myself!
The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must re-post this on your blog and make the same offer to the first 5 people who respond on your blog entry, thereby continuing the fun! (Though you can keep it local if you want, I don't fear international postage!)
The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Sounds like fun, right? So, let's play!
Well, the quilt is still almost done. I've gotten to a certain point and had to stop.
This is the back. I was trying to show some of the quilting in this picture, but if you can't see it, then you can still see the fabric. I'm using the same fabric for the borders.
And I really messed up the borders. Everything is sewn into place now... but unfortunately some of the edges don't quite overlap the quilt top. Oops. Mistakes don't get much bigger than that. Oh well, it's my first one.
I have an idea or two on how to fix it/fake it, but I need a break from it now.
I recently got some pictures of past projects I had done but not gotten photos of. I thought I'd share some of them throughout the week.
First up, "Home is Where You Hang Your Heart." I gave this to my friend as a wedding present about a year and a half ago, and then forgotten about it until I saw it hanging in her house. I had forgotten it to the point that I went, "Ooh, where'd you get that?" before I realized how familiar it looked. Needless to say, I don't have any idea where I got the pattern from.
Well, I was hoping to post some pictures of my quilt progress before I left for Texas this weekend (my best friend just had a baby, and I'm going out to meet him). But, I forgot my camera.
The quilt is so close to being done. I rather botched the binding last night, so I'm just working on try to right it. My plan had changed when I realized I was 1/2 inch short on my backing and binding fabric (I have no idea how that happened) so I've just been winging it. I may not even get to finish it before I leave. I think it should be completed by next week though. Then, hopefully, I'll post some pictures of it.
This is a kit I actually happened to see in Paris, and I just fell in love with it. But, I didn't buy it. When I got back to the States and saw it again, I couldn't help myself. It was a little cheaper priced in dollars anyway.
I took this picture a couple of days ago, but it's almost done by now. I'll post the finished work probably next week.
So far, I've sewn all my squares into rows, and I've started sewing the rows together. It was scary, but I've joined my first two rows.
I didn't do too bad, actually. Most of it lined up pretty well. Look at how neatly the corner meets that seam!
Unfortunately, something somewhere is crooked, because when I pressed the seems flat, everything's just a little off. (This is a same corner as above, but after pressing.)
Yesterday I received my first exchanged, all the way from Ireland. Isn't it beautiful? It's from Rochelle, made for the Tiny Treasures Exchange. It's the Chili Pepper Fob from the Sweetheart Tree. And she included a variegated blue thread to inspire me--and it's sure working! I can't wait for the next project!
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