Stitching

Ugh. I haven't stitched all week because it's impossible for me to watch the Olympics and stitch at the same time. I tried, but it just doesn't work. The swimming races and gymnastics routines are too interesting to me to be going back and forth. Since the swimming is close to over, as are the gymnastics, I should be able to get some stitching done. Of course, now my upper back, shoulders and neck are hurting a lot from this cold I have, but I think I can deal with it. We'll see. Sometimes when I move it bothers me, other times it doesn't.

So much for finishing Deco Spirits in time to be framed for a Sept. 4 commitment ceremony. Oh well. I've read in etiquette books that you technically have up to a year to give a couple their wedding gift and since they like my work and I think will absolutely LOVE this design, I don't think they'll mind. I'll just mention it in the card and tell them they're going to like it but will have to wait, hee hee. I've worked about 5.5 hours on the third block, so I'm over halfway done and since there's no beadwork I don't have to go back and finish that. Sometimes that gets me.

I'm hoping that by Christmas I'll be able to finish Christmas Flourishes for myself as a gift. It probably depends on how much of what I "intend" to stitch for gifts actually get stitched and what I figure can be replaced with something smaller. I try to finish something large for myself every Christmas. However, I did finish Celtic Summer about a month ago so maybe that will qualify.

I'm also hoping that even if I can't finish Flourishes that I can at least get Titania framed. She's been done since LAST Christmas but I haven't had the money to frame her and my framer does a much better job with my large projects than I do and is really quite reasonable and fast, and she laces -- very important. Plus she's walking distance from my place, which is also very handy.

I think I'm going to wait on getting Celtic Summer framed until I finish the others. Actually, I'm thinking about paying Ames to make them into banners for me instead of getting them framed. It will be much less expensive and they will look very nice. I'm picturing a damask type fabric for the wall hanging, a different dark color for each one. I'll include the Christmas one but that will only be out at Christmas, while I envision the other four being out all at once in the hallway or one at a time somewhere else. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking:

summer -- violet fabric
fall -- dark auburn/rust/brown fabric (I'll be changing the colors in the chart)
winter -- blue fabric (have a version I will use for this conversion, even though I know she's coming out with one herself.)
spring -- dark green
Christmas -- very dark red, almost a maroon color

Of course, I haven't actually gone to see what colors are available, but those are what come to mine. I think since the designs themselves are very similar and the fabric will be the same but different colors, that it will be enough consistency to counter the different stitching colors and linen colors.

I always have such grand plans. I hope this time they actually come to fruition :-)