Back Among the Living - Almost

HI! I am sorta back with you! After a weekend where I spent most of it on the sofa attached to a box of Kleenex, I seem to be on the mend. Not 100% but maybe 80%. This thing that I had/have is truly yucky. It's the worst cold/viral thing that I've had in a long time. I took my last sick day today so unless I want to go to the doctor, pay for the visit, and lose a days' pay, I'll be back to work tomorrow. At least I won't be sneezing and blowing my nose a gazillion times a minute. And maybe my co-workers would like that a lot. If I had my druthers, I would stay home another day, just so my fellow workers wouldn't grumble about the "Walking Sick" as we like to call those who come into work ill, spreading cheer and germs to anyone within a cubicle range. But I'll be at work tomorrow. Somewhat bright and somewhat early.

BUT my dear friends, ALL was not lost while I was snuffling and wheezing about the last few days. I stitched when I felt like I could. I even have pictures to prove it! See?

This is my progress on True Virtues. It's a slow stitch for me. I don't know why. But I am plugging a long Connie!


This is Bea on January 30th.

And this is MORE of Bea as of yesterday!

Only 11 more motifs to stitch! But, there is a snag. I am running out of AVAS 4216. There is just enough silk to stitch the sampler without a lot of waste . And I am very wasteful when it comes to thread. I use long leads when I start to stitch and end with long tails so that I can weave them back into the stitches. So now I am short. I purchased some thread today along with a ton of other things, gosh I was very bad and I am blaming my badness on this cold thingie, so I'll be back in business soon. I have enough thread to stitch a few more motifs so I won't have to completely put Bea away. I bought new Blackbird Designs and Plum Street Samplers, Love Notes, and all the patterns from Primitive Traditions to stitch Ann Colby's, Quaker Nantucket Basket. I shouldn't have but I am telling myself that my brain was foggy because my head was filled to the brim with snot.

I know that you are wondering why I am stitching Bea like the house is on fire. Well, I have this quirk. When a project gets about 3/4 of the way finished I really get motivated to finish it off. I get obsessed to get'r done. At the expense of all other stitching. And another reason to finish off Bea is that come March, all the WIPs are going into hiding, as well as, all the patterns that I want to start. The Wedding Sampler will take all of my attention if I want to finish it before July in time for the Bridal Shower. If Bea is around then I will be tempted to stitch on her and not on the Wedding sampler.

And now that I've brought up the Wedding sampler, I have mixed feelings about stitching it. I really want to stitch something spectacular for the Cadet and the lovely Jenna but I am not sure that it will be appreciated. I know that the Cadet will like it and he'll know that I put a lot of effort into it because he knows that needlework is my absolute passion but will Jenna feel the same way? Should I care? It will break my heart if they shove it into a closet to hang *someday*. What if she doesn't *get* it and sorta passes it off with a nod to "that's nice"? Part of me wants to stitch it for me to hang next to my wedding sampler. But part of me wants them to have something that I made specifically for them and because I want to commemorate their special day. I think that I feel this way because she is so very shy around me and I have a hard time reading her reactions. She never tells me if she likes or dislikes anything so I am left guessing.

So, what do you all think?

Well, other than Bea (which is about 3 weeks of work) and TV which is a Sunday's worth of work, I've also stitched my piece for the Prairie Schooler Exchange. Can't show you yet but it's really cute!

And there you have it! I want to thank all of you who left me comments wishing me to get better. I really appreciated them cause it made me feel loved. THANKS!

And to all who drop by, thanks to you too! I am glad that you care enough to read my thoughts. I wish all of you a wonderful evening filled with stitching!