On a Journey with a Camel and his Handler!

Is it odd that I find myself very thirsty while stitching this camel?  I think it is odd, indeed.  The study weekend proved to be a great opportunity for stitching!  I completed all three of the bottom borders on the camel and all of the grid work no the background of the piece.   I am almost totally finished with the Handler and anxious to start no the camel proper!

I think if I am able to work on this a good amount of time this week, I will finish it.

Then, I think we can all agree that we know what must happen next.  I must dive in full throttle to the stocking for Henry.  I guess that I subscribe to the "if I say it enough times, it will become true".  As Dr. Phil would say, "How's that working' for ya?"  My results are less than impressive.

Children have finals all this week and I am going to be running around to get them to and from each day. Soon, I will be missing these days when they are off to college and beyond.  But, at this moment, conversion of a bedroom to a stitching room seems like a dream situation.  Why is it when we are busy, we ache for time to slow down (stitch), yet, when we have time, we are often feeling lonely.....I crave the perfect balance....it is as they say, "the human condition".

More stitching to be completed tonight.....back to the camel and handler!

Study Hall

As the proctor for study hall at 2133 Maroneal, I settled in for a long day of stitching while the rest of the house studied.  All of us applied ourselves to the task at hand!  I got quite a ways on the Kelly Clark Nativity Camel.  I finished all the grid work on the background.  The three bottom borders and much of the "handler".  I will sit with it a but more tonight, but I am amazed at how fast this one is going.  (even though I should be working no the stocking!)  At least I am making some progress on one project!  Here is a photo of the finished sample by Amy Bunger ~

Love this one.  The elephant was my favorite, but now I think it is this camel and friend!  One question, why does he have a gift?  His King has a gift in his hand so this seems redundant...oh well, makes for a beautiful canvas!
Back to the salt mines!!

Monday Night Stitching and Margaritas!

What could be better than stitching on a rainy night with great friends at Needle House?  Well, I can tell you what could be better....stitching on a rainy night at Needle House AND taking a break to go to Berryhill Tamales for Margaritas AND, then, coming back to Needle House to stitch some more!

I feel certain that if anyone is reading this (shout out to Famous Jen Reed), you are quite sick of me making excuses for the fact that I am not working on the stocking for Henry.  Well, Monday night I continued with my procrastinating ways and worked on the Kelly Clark Nativity Camel.  The Kelly Clark Nativity seems to be the gift that keeps on giving to me!  Apparently, it was not enough that I had 12 (TWELVE) pieces to complete, I simply had to indulge my affinity for the Little Drummer Boy and purchase the canvas of the young man to add to my TWELVE Nativity pieces.  I blame it all on the animated Little Drummer Boy which premiered a couple weeks before Christmas in 1968 and is still shown year after year.

Remember him?  Well, Kelly's Little Drummer Boy is much more handsome.  The only issue was that he had a cat sitting next to him and since my allergies to cats most likely extends to the painted cat as well, I asked a special favor of Kelly and she was sweet enough to paint the cat out and change it to a urn (maybe the cat jumped in there...either way, out of sight, out of mind!).  

Perhaps, you think that I would stop with THIRTEEN Kelly Clark Nativity canvasses.  Well, you might guess, that I did not.  I fell in love with the Creche that Amy Bunger stitched and created an incredible guide for as well.  I own it, but,of course.

So, a quick update on this project:  completed from this series is The Holy Family (Mary, Jesus, & Joseph), the three wisemen, the Angel of the Lord, the Shepherd, the sheep, the donkey, and the elephant.  The camel, the drummer boy, and the Creche are still to be stitched.  

So, now have I made you come to the dark side with me in the pit of procrastination?  Welcome, aboard!

I believe, when thinking about my procrastinating ways on Henry's stocking,  I will invoke the words of Scarlett O'Hara, " I can't think about that today, I'll simply go crazy if I do.  I will think about that tomorrow."

Thank you, Scarlett!

Clearing the Decks!

I have been trying to figure out why I am not diving into the stocking that I am stitching for Henry.  My first excuse was that I was waiting on my frame to arrive via post from Amy's after my visit to her shop!  Then it arrives.  And, still, the stocking sits.  Then I decided to finish up the couple of things that were close to being completed.  They are completed.  And, still, the stocking sits.  Friday, I decided that if I got some of the loose ends in my office wrapped up, I would be in a better mind set to tackle the large project.  So, it all began on Friday.  I started the task of REALLY tackling my office and all that that means.  I spent all day on Friday (from 8:10 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. Saturday) working on the entire area.  I made great progress, but more work was left to be done.  I hit it hard on Saturday (with a few more interruptions, I admit) but I made a great deal more progress.  Ending the evening with a revamp of my Needlepoint storage areas (three drawers).  Now, admittedly, this does not include taking care of the things that are in my TO DO stack, it just means the cleaning and reorganizing of the desk itself and its drawers.  I am most pleased with the results!

I still need to take care of some odds & ends, but over all, it is a big change.  And, still the stocking sits.  I plan to attack the TO DO's today and tomorrow (but add in a little stitching tonight).

While I was cleaning I used the enormous screen to preview Amy's #2 Back to Basics DVD featuring Tony Mineri....somehow, it made me feel like I was achieving int he realm of Needlepoint as well!

I turned in my Melissa Shirley Pig Easter Egg.  I think it looks really cute.  I did something odd on the tail, but I like it.  I pulled a wire up and then doubled it and pushed the end back through.  Then, I did detached buttonhole all the way to the end of the doubled over wire.  I thought it ended up cute.  I had to wrangle the end of the wire around to keep the stitches from dropping off the end and to camouflage the end itself, but I used my fancy new wire tool kit from Needle House and got that done!  Judy Meyer laughed at me because I have been wanting the "fancy wire tool kit" and needed a reason to purchase it!

 My fancy new Pleatherette Wire tool Kit

Hagrid the Owl

 Melissa Shirley Pig Egg Completed! (I will cut the ribbon after finishing!)

This little piggy...has the cutest tail!