Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Blossom Progress

January has brought us more rain than is normal, so it's been rather gray here. Sometimes the sun pops out then I pop out too for a quick walk around the neighborhood to replenish my vitamin D reserves. And if the sun doesn't come out to play, my trusty Ott light and these bright Dinky Dye silks I'm stitching with, serve as a good substitute.

To finish, I've only this little sawtooth design to stitch all around. It's been fun using the variegated thread and watching the colors flow as I've progressed around the edge.

As I was stitching the four flower motifs around the center, I became unhappy with the center motif as there was entirely too much green. The color of floss that came with the kit to be used for the leaves of those flowers was a dark blue/green which just did not suit me, so I substituted with something a little brighter from my stash. Now I do like green, but I wanted more variation in this design, so out came my scissors and out came the center motif. I restitched it this morning at the orthodontist's office. Now I'm quite satisfied. :)

Vonna's little bit of reorganizing inspired me to do a bit of my own. I've been gathering all the scattered project bags and bits of stash from here and there throughout the house and having a ton of fun separating all the silks from the cottons, Weeks from Gentle Arts, etc.

I have a smaller drawer set, similar to Vonna's, into which I'm putting some of my wips - one project per drawer. When finished, I'll take the cart back upstairs next to my stitching chair.

In family news, there is now another metal mouth in the house. Kirsten was laid out for two hours this morning in the orthodontist chair getting all the brackets cemented on, wires installed, and a lower Herbst appliance put in. That's a lot of metal in a small mouth!

We're keeping the Tylenol nearby!

Many thanks for stopping by for a quick visit today. I appreciate all of you!

16 comments:

Vonna Pfeiffer said...

It's organizing fun? I think I could do it as a job :)
Poor Kirsten...my Katie can sympathize, although she's really close to getting her metal out and being only a retainer. And I'm dreading that because knowing how she is about her rubber banding, I fear she'll leave the retainer out....ho hum...

Jenna said...

Ooooh, very pretty! What fabric are you stitching Blossom on? I really need to pull this out and start it, once I finish up a couple of other things. Kirsten looks great in braces! Looks like her teeth aren't too bad, so hopefully she won't be in them for too long. You can pass along my stern warning, though, that they all need to wear their retainers after they get the braces off or they will have to go back into braces as an adult, like I did. And believe me, if they think the adjustments hurt as a teen, they have no clue how badly they hurt as an adult, once the teeth are much more firmly rooted!!!

Chocolates4Breakfast (Terri ~ Boog) said...

Well if that isn't just a bright bit of happiness! Beautiful colors and beautiful stitching. Kirsten is adorable! I had braces as an adult and my kids have them, we find motrin to work better than tylenol if she can handle motrin. I think it's an anti-spasmodic and helps with the throbbing a bit more than tylenol. That being said, I'm just a mom and have no medical experience/training other than that I've lived through so there's some unsolicited advice. You know how much that's worth, right? ;-)

a woman who is said...

We should meet for coffee and bring our rose catalogs. I am itching for the weather to change to something more enticing to outdoor activities myself.

Nicola said...

Blossom is beautiful Von. I like your substitution for the central motif, it looks much brighter now.

Giovanna said...

It's really lovely, so bright and colourful - great going!

Lynn said...

Wow,Blossom stitched up pretty quickly and it's looking so good!
Seeing your organizer makes me want to get started on my craft room. It got put on hold when all our other renovations took place.

Natasha said...

I love to orginize and rearrange things :) I just need more room LOL

Your WIP is coming along nicley I love the colors perfect for those rainy gray days.

Take care

Barb said...

Your piece is so pretty and bright. Great job on it.

doris said...

Pretty project progress (sorry, but I couldn't help it).

I remember the days (years) of braces and retainers at our house. Thank goodness for Tylenol.

mainely stitching said...

That's a great project to drive away the gray days!

staci said...

What a bright and cheery piece! That sawtooth border will really finish it off beautifully!!!

Sherry said...

I can't wait to get my new organizer like Vonna's! I have all the drawers already planned out.

Love the stitch! So pretty and colorful! Really gives you a taste of Spring.

Poor Kirsten. I can sympathize. I had braces - the whole works - for 4 long years. How I hated to have them tightened. My whole mouth felt like it was going to fall out the pain was so bad. Tell her it's worth it. Not much consolation now but.....

Siobhán said...

Von, your WIP is just stunning!! I love the colors.

Enjoy the organizing! I love to do it but then I get sick at the thought of just how much I've spent on some of the silks & overdyed cottons that I haven't used yet.

I hope Kirsten isn't in too much pain with the new braces! I second Jenna's warning... my brother had to get braces on as an adult because he wouldn't maintain his braces or wear his retainer when he was a teenager.

Anonymous said...

Blossoms is looking gorgeous :) Kirsten looks really cute! :D

Crazee4books said...

Hi Von,

Tidying the house is a pain.
Tidying stash drawers and
cupboards is never that. Lots
of fun seeing what's there,
which usually evolves into
lots of "Ohhh!! I forgot about
that. Ohhhh!! I really have
to stitch that!!!". Etc.

You can add my belated
congratulations and expressions
of admiration and delight to
those tendered when you finished
A Quaker Study. It really is a
beautiful finish and will look
wonderful framed and hung where
ever you decide to put it.

Your baking day was certainly
very productive, and I'm envious
of the lucky folk at your church
who got to enjoy the fruits (er..
cookies I mean) of your labors.
The cinnamon rolls made my mouth
water. I love anything with
cinnamon in it. I'll bet the
house smelled divine when you
were all done.

All those wonderful colors in
Dinky Dyes Blossoms certainly
are a welcome burst of summer
during this grey and dreary
time of year. Having said that,
it was sunny for quite a bit of
the day here today, much to the
delight of our cats who spent
the afternoon sunbathing in the
living room. But it was -11
Celsius outside this afternoon
so bitterly cold in spite of the
sunshine. Roll on Spring!

Cheers!